Casino-goers in Las Vegas (archive image)
Photo: Ethan Miller/ AFP
January 8th was a lucky day for Robert Taylor: he had traveled to Las Vegas from Arizona and tried his luck at a slot machine at Treasure Island Casino.
In fact, he won a total of around 229,000 US dollars, the equivalent of around 200,000 euros, on one of the »one-armed bandits«.
Taylor didn't notice any of that at first.
A "malfunction" of the device was to blame, according to a statement from the Nevada Gaming Control Board. As a result, neither Taylor nor the casino staff were informed that a jackpot had been won. When an investigation into the slot machine was completed and the jackpot win was confirmed, Taylor was back in his native Arizona.
However, it was not exactly easy to find the winner.
The statement speaks of an "intensive investigation" carried out by "several employees" of the gambling supervisory authority: the recordings from numerous surveillance cameras were evaluated;
in addition, witnesses were questioned and data from carpooling opportunities were analyzed.
In the end it was clear: Robert Taylor was the lucky one.
He was notified of his win on January 28th - almost three weeks after his lucky day in Las Vegas.
According to the gaming regulator, Taylor intended to travel back to the city to collect his winnings of $229,368.52.
In its statement, the gaming regulator thanked all the employees who had ensured “that public confidence in the gaming industry remained strong”.
Employees "spent countless hours over a two-week period to ensure that a customer was awarded the winnings owed to him."
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