Gambling and the Law

I would like to share an article on Machine Malfunction with the community which i stumble across earlier by Professor I. Nelson Rose. I find it well written and definitely clear up most of the question that the gaming community had in mind all these years. Here's the link of the article, http://www.bjrnet.com/member/gatl/index.cgi?read=4

It must be frustrating thinking you've just strike a big jackpot but only to be told "Sorry, it was just a machine malfunctioned". Unfair? It seems to be unfair, but when was the last you heard casino pay back player who have lost money on a defective machine? I know I haven't.

There aren't anything clearer than "Malfunction void all plays & pays". The law does not require any gambling operator to pay any player who has not really won and the reasoning is simple (according to Professor I. Nelson Rose, Whittier Law School, Costa Mesa, CA):-

1) Gaming operators make their profits by having a statistical edge in every game. This requires that the games pay off as designed. A single false jackpot on a wide area linked progressive could wipe out a small casino. Courtenay Thompson of the Oregonian reported that the disputed $2.9 million jackpot is equal to one-tenth of Spirit Mountain Casino's profits for 1996.

2) Gambling is an all-cash business that has always attracted organized crime. An easy way for casino insiders to skim money is to pay off confederates posing as players. If malfunctions were paid, regulators would have to investigate each "winner" to make sure the "malfunction" was not the result of a pre-arranged conspiracy.

3) Legal gambling is still viewed as a morally suspect industry and is not given all the rights taken for granted by other legal businesses. Gambling debts, for example, are almost never enforceable in a court of law. Unless there is a specific statute stating otherwise, casinos may not sue players and players may not sue casinos. If a casino refuses to pay, patrons can only file complaints with an administrative agency, like the Nevada Gaming Control Board.

The problem for players is that many administrative agencies are overly friendly to the businesses they are supposed to regulate. And if the Gaming Control Board rules in favor of the casino, the complaining player has very little chance of having a court overturn that decision. Courts do not want to get into the business of reviewing administrative rulings and being swamped with appeals.