Katrina Bookman Verdict
Was Katrina Bookman a Queens woman cheated out of recent Jackpot slot winnings of close to $43 million after a casino said her machine had malfunctioned?
Katrina Bookman won $42.9 million, Jerry Rape won $1.3 million and Veronica Castilla hit the $8.5 million jackpot at different casinos, playing different jackpot slot machines.Their celebration lasted barely a few minutes, when they had the unpleasant experience of security approaching and giving them the bad news – their winnings are declared invalid since the machines have supposedly. Commentators have taken to the web after Katrina Bookman a Queens woman who believed she had won $43 million jackpot in a slot machine was told that her winnings were null and void on account of the machine purportedly being faulty. News of Bookman’s experience made national headlines when it was uncovered by a local TV station in the fall, and people immediately drew comparisons to a 2015 case when an Iowa grandmother was.
Commentators have taken to the web after Katrina Bookman a Queens woman who believed she had won $43 million jackpot in a slot machine was told that her winnings were null and void on account of the machine purportedly being faulty.
The woman was playing at the Resorts World Casino when her numbers came up, with the excited woman going so far as to take a selfie next to the winning slot machine back in August.
Read the slot machine: ‘Printing cash ticket,’
‘$42,949,642.76.’
But instead of a giant check like the big-time lottery winners get, Bookman said all she received was an invitation to eat a meal for free. Say what?
Told the stymied woman via wabc: ‘I said what did I win?’
‘The casino rep said ‘you didn’t win nothing.’’
So much for the free steak dinner…
The commission said any malfunction makes the game, and any jackpot, null and void. The slot machine was pulled from the casino floor and fixed after the incident.
Instead the Gaming Commission said the woman was only entitled to winnings of $2.25.
A spokeswoman for the commission according to a report via the nydailynews has said the agency had no comment.
That though isn’t stopping Katrina Bookman who now plans to file a lawsuit against the casino.
Told Bookman’s lawyer, Alan Ripka: ‘She’s upset obviously,’
‘She thought her life and family’s life would have been changed forever.’
Ripka said the casino should honor the advertised payout. He said the casino used the same broken machine to take money from players, and that everyone who used the machine should at least get their money back.
‘You can’t have it both ways,’ Ripka said. ‘They’re saying that the machine was broken.’
Adding: ‘Doesn’t that mean a place can claim a machine is broken every time somebody wins.’
Despite the decision to deny Bookman her winnings, the woman said she is used to disappointments, having been raised in foster care, homeless as a teenager, while raised four kids as an adult.
Toldthe woman who intends to sue, ‘The struggle I’ve been through, it’s hard to cope.’
Lawsuits Against Lucky Red Casino
What do you think? Has life duped Katrina Bookman one more time, or does she only have herself to blame for ever thinking she could beat a casino house’s odds?
Katrina Bookman lawsuit: A Queens woman files a suit against a local casino after refusing to pay a $43m jackpot they claim was an error.
Katrina Bookman, a Queens woman has launched a lawsuit against New York’s Resorts World Casino after contending that the casino offered her a free steak dinner instead of $43 million jackpot earnings.
Katrina Bookman Verdict Photos
It was while Bookman was playing at the Rockaway Beach venue last August that Bookman took a screenshot in front of the ‘Sphinx Slot Machine’ showing she’d just won the grand prize of f $42,949,672.76.
Easier said than done.
When bookman went to collect her cash, casino employees told her she hadn’t actually won and offered her a complimentary steak dinner and $2.25 — the prize they claim her slot machine actually should have delivered.
Bookman’s lawyer, Alan Ripka, told CNN Money his ‘outraged’ client turned down the offer. Instead, the mother of four filed a lawsuit against the casino off Rockaway Boulevard in the Queens County Supreme Court on Wednesday after repeated attempts of an an out-of-court settlement were snubbed.
Ripka is seeking $43 million in damages from the resort. The suit also takes aim at Genting New York LLC, the casino’s parent company, and International Game Technology — the maker of the slot machine — for alleged common-law negligence, breach of contract and negligent representation, according to the 17-page complaint.
‘You can’t claim a machine is broken because you want it to be broken. Does that mean it wasn’t inspected? Does it mean it wasn’t maintained?’ Ripka told CNN. ‘And if so, does that mean that people that played there before (Bookman) had zero chance of winning?’
A resort spokesperson had previously claimed Bookman’s win was the ‘result of an obvious malfunction,’ noting the Sphinx Slot Machine’s highest payout was $6,500.
Which is to wonder, instead of offering Bookman a scant $2.25 why didn’t it offer the woman who had played the game in good faith at the very least $6500?
Lawsuits Against Casinos
Adding to the fissure, the state Gaming Commission also dismissedthe win as the machine displays a sign stating ‘Malfunctions void all pays and plays.’
The machine was taken out of service, repaired and put back a day later, the commission said.
Which is again to wonder, if it was malfunctioned, what was doing it being put out for the public who played the machine in good faith and who in hindsight never stood a chance of winning, despite the casino happily taking their money.
Since lodging her complaint, Bookman alleges the entire ordeal has caused her ‘mental anguish’ and resulted in a financial setback because she did not have ‘the chance and/or opportunity to win.’ Which is to also wonder, what is a mother who has four children dependent on her doing gambling any spare money she has at a casino?