The popular Miss Kitty slot from games developer Aristocrat was at the centre of controversy this week after it was ruled that a payout worth nearly $42 million to one player was made in error.
Pauline McKee, 87, from the US state of Illinois, won what she believed was a life-changing sum when the slot told her she had triggered a win worth $41,797,550, equivalent to €38,277,897 and £27,347,259 when she playing at the Isle Hotel Casino in Waterloo, Iowa.
However, to her shock, when she went to collect her winnings the casino staff told McKee that the win was an error and that the actual amount she had won was the comparatively tiny figure of just $1.85 due to the top prize on the slot being limited to 10,000 coins.
The casino decided not to offer McKee any compensation payment due to a sign being present on the game stating that “Malfunction voids all pays and plays”. McKee disputed this decision but the Iowa Supreme Court ruled in favour of the casino.
Justice Edward Mansfield concluded “Any message appearing on the screen indicating the patron would receive a $41 million bonus was a gratuitous promise and the casino’s failure to pay it could not be challenged as a breach of contract. McKee did not read the rules of the game or look at the paytable before playing the Miss Kitty game.”
It has been reported that Aristocrat were aware of the glitch related to the Miss Kitty slot and requested all casinos offering the game disabled the part of the game that tells players they have won an amount larger than the maximum jackpot available. Unfortunately, Isle Hotel Casino had taken the appropriate action allowing the error to occur.
Miss Kitty slot is available in both an online version and mobile version, Gamingslots has reviewed both.