Imagine winning over $200,000 on a slot machine. It must be a great feeling (one day perhaps?) but what if you didn’t know you’d won it?
You might think this can’t happen. All you do is press the start button, the reels spin and when they stop, you’ve either won or lost. Well, a man from Arizona went to the Treasure Island Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas and had a rather strange experience.
It was on January 8 of this year that Robert Taylor played a slot with a progressive jackpot. It was up to $229,368.52 but there was a malfunction with the slot machine. The jackpot had indeed been won but it failed to tell both Taylor and those working at the casino, that the massive prize had been landed.
The slots player had ended his trip to Las Vegas, totally unaware of his win, before an extensive review of the slot machine ended. Communications technology revealed that the jackpot win had taken place, but the winner hadn’t been notified.
Mystery Jackpot Winner
Now the big question was just who was the jackpot winner? Two weeks later the answer was discovered. The fortnight had seen the board’s enforcement division working overtime to solve the puzzle. They carried out several interviews and took a long look at surveillance footage. Purchase record and rideshare data also had to examined in the search for the mystery winner.
Finally, the two-week search discovered that Robert Taylor was indeed the successful player. On January 28, he received the shock of his life when being told he’d won the progressive jackpot. His winnings were collected in the first week of February. That meant a return trip to the Treasure Island Hotel and Casino.
He’s obviously delighted that they took the time to find out about his win. “I commend the agents of the Enforcement Division … for ensuring that the public trust in the gaming industry remains strong by spending countless hours over two weeks to ensure that a patron is awarded winnings owed to him,” said the lucky player.
This isn’t the only case of players winning huge amounts without knowing about it. Laura Spears from Michigan, USA, won $3 million in the Mega Millions lottery draw held on the last day of 2021. The lottery player had no idea she was a millionaire until finding an email from the Michigan Lottery in her spam folder.
A man from Granite Falls in Washington, USA, won $2 million playing Powerball last November. He didn’t find out about his win for a month. He cleaned out his car and discovered the winning ticket on the dashboard.
