It’s taken nearly three years but David Joe has finally received payment due to him after a slot machine win at a Sydney casino.
On October 25, 2019, the Platinum Vantage VIP member was at the Star Casino and decided to play the Year of the Tiger slot machine. David has motor neurone disease so needed the help of his friend Lois Lie to make his $10 stake.
Low and behold, that $10 won him the $285,000 jackpot but then his problems began. The casino bosses told him that his friend had signed a voluntary exclusion order in October 2016. Doing so meant she was banned from the casino so they refused to make the payment seeing he had operated the slot machine.
This led to court action and Mr Joe has now received a payment of $320,000. This amount equates to the $285,000 jackpot and a total of $35,000 in interest.
Judge Robert Montgomery decided that the $10 stake belonged to David. Although it was Lois who pressed the buttons on the slot machine, it was his friend who had told her which ones to press. Without that assistance, the win would not have taken place.
In his ruling, the judge said: “In the context of their playing machines for several hours, (Mr Joe’s) truly significant disability, plainly deprived him of the ability to operate the machines himself for enjoyment.
“The whole of the economic stake wagered during the operation of gaming machines by Mr Lie, whilst (Joe’s) card was inserted and he watched and gave Mr Lie directions, was (Joe’s) money.
“Accordingly, (The Star’s) failure to pay the winnings to (Joe) … was misconceived and breached the contract of wager between the plaintiff and the defendant.”
The judge also ruled that Joe did not know that his friend was banned from the Star Casino. Lie had told the court that no attempt had been made to stop his entry into the casino on several occasions. In his opinion that meant the exclusion order must have been revoked so playing at the casino was allowed.
It’s more bad news for the Star Group who own this and other casinos. They recently reported a $198.6 million loss. Most of the blame for that huge loss was placed on the fact casinos had to be closed due to the pandemic and this had “presented significant challenges.”. There had also been “regulatory and other uncertainties.”
