How Common Is It To Be Paid for a Royal when a Hand Gets Screwed up?

I was playing quarter Bonus Spin Poker (9 lines) in Laughlin. I was dealt 3 to the royal and due to a bad button, 1 of the 3 cards to the royal wasn't held. I did get dealt the other 2 cards for the royal on the bottom line. I played a couple more hands, then complained to the slot technician, who the button in question only worked about 6-7 times out of 10. The slot supervisor reviewed the past hands, understood that I would have held the 3 to the royal, then paid me the $1,000 for the royal flush. Is this common? Or perhaps I’m at the highest level in the players club at this particular casino? I think the slot supervisor talked to my host, since he told me my host said to say hi. Due to this situation, I continued to visit this casino. I'm fairly certain I put the $1,000 back into the casino's pocket over the next couple of visits.

[Editor's Note: Bob Dancer has a lot of experience with situations like these, so we asked him to respond.]

First of all, you did the right thing. When something like this happens on something major (I’d call a 4-of-a-kind or larger major), it’s definitely smart to call over a slot person and see if some sort of remuneration can be made.

Sometimes the answer is yes. Sometimes the answer is no. It often depends on the casino. It can sometimes depend on the player.

Although you indicate the button wasn’t consistent, the bottom line is that it’s the player’s responsibility that the buttons hold before hitting the draw button. Ultimately, the player is in complete control. The casino has no legal liability to make you whole in a situation like this.

If the patron is a long-term winning player, there’s a good chance the casino won’t go out of its way to help out. It's similar if the patron isn’t a particularly big winner, but has been a pain in the butt for various reasons. For a losing player, the casino will tend to be more generous in order to keep such a valuable customer.

After the pandemic, casinos have been less likely to reward customers like you were. We’re still in the phase where casinos are crowded, because so many people were deprived of their gambling fix during the shutdown. So casinos aren't going out of their way to provide this kind of customer service. When the current rush subsides, I suspect casinos will become more competitive again.

I was once told by a slot supervisor words to the effect that, “We’ll do it once for you. But never again after today. You need to be more careful in hitting the buttons.” This is why I never call over an attendant if I’ve lost on a high pair or 3-of-a-kind. I never know if I’ll get a mulligan or not, but I don’t want to waste that possibility on something relatively trivial.

Finally, why did you continue to play a machine with a faulty button? When this happens, and it does, find another machine to play. This is a disaster waiting to rear its ugly head and it doesn’t always turn out as rosy as it did for you this time.

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Comments

David Miller Aug-07-2021

Another way to gouge...

 The casinos should be held accountable for offering games on equipment that is malfunctioning. If a machine malfunctions, costing a player a win, after paying the player their deserved win, then the machine should be taken out of service and repaired. This should be the proper way to handle such situations and should be standard practice.

Donzack Aug-07-2021

Pay table and buttons

Don’t touch a machine with a bad pay table or sticky buttons. I was playing at the Rivers casino in Chicago when it first opened. The deal/draw button on the right was sticking. A tech and supervisor came by. The tech tried to fix the button but said it needed to be replaced and they had no new buttons for this IGT machine. The casino was wall to wall people and of course wouldn’t shut the machine down for a occasional faulty button. I told the supervisor maybe this is an easy way to stiff unsuspecting seniors out of their savings and local reporter Chuck Goudie might be interested. Goudie was reporting nightly about possible mob influence in newly legalized gambling in Illinois. The startled supervisor told the tech to fix the machine. He said we don’t have any buttons. I said swap the left deal button for the right. I’ve never seen anybody use the left button. Problem solved with the supervisor thanking me and asking if there was anything else she could do for me.

Dave_Miller_DJTB Aug-07-2021

Gouge ???

I’ll remind my namesake that all machines have some sort of sign or markings on the screen that says “Malfunction voids all play” or something similar. 

In other words, it is the player’s responsibility to make sure that the hold buttons hold the cards desired. The casino is under no obligation to review the hands or pay the player.

Frankly, that rule probably also removes any obligation to take the machine out of service after a player complains - although I would hope that the casino would take it out of service…

David Miller Aug-07-2021

Really?

I find it hard to believe that anyone would say that "it is the player’s responsibility to make sure that the hold buttons hold the cards". Really? It IS the responsibility of the casino to ensure that ALL machines work properly. If the casino knows that their machine is not working correctly, then the casino is at fault and is not adhering to the Gaming Commission rules and regulations. Secondly,When asked, it IS the casino's responsibility and obligation to review hands when asked.

Lotel Aug-07-2021

Call service.

if a button does not work. press the service button. I think most machines have them now. The service people have been very nice to me and fixed the machine.   Or go to another machine. It should be the players responsibility. On a big payout hand I check to be sure all the cards are held.

Llew Aug-07-2021

Not a royal but...

Several years ago I was playing $1 JOB at the Taj.  I was dealt 3 eights. I held them all, of course. The word “hold” showed above each one. When I hit the draw button, the fourth 8 popped up but one of the other eights disappeared!  
Called a slot attendant. She checked the screen inside the machine and said I didn’t hold the 8 that disappeared. I asked her why would I hold two eights and not the third.  
I also told her that, a few nights previously, I had been dealt quads at another casino. Playing too quickly, I drew before I realized that one of them didn’t hold. I lost the quad. Oh, well, my fault. (Luckily, it was “only” quarters.) 

Got a slot supervisor. Asked him to check the surveillance video. Sorry, no video in that section.  
Don’t know if that last request convinced him that I was telling the truth, or if he just wanted me to shut up (although I wasn’t  yelling, our conversation was attracting a lot of attention) but I got paid for the quad. 😁 💥

Jerry Patey Aug-07-2021

Sticky buttons

It has happened to me several times at Orleans and Fremont. You do not keep playing several hands   You call the tech when it first happened. Call when it happens. Most of time they just pay me. At Fremont I was dealt 3 duces on DDB. When I hit the button I was deal another two but one of the other 2’s flipped. Slot manager opened machine and saw I was dealt 3. 2’s and obviously would have helt them. I got the money. Be nice!!! In these situations

Jerry Patey Aug-07-2021

Sticky button

They don’t always shut down and check the machine. Orleans did not. Some say nothing when it happens.

Andyb Aug-07-2021

bad button

How about if you like where you are playing always let someone know when the machine isn't working correctly. Bad button, paper out, bad screen. This will let them know to fix it and it will also be the right thing to do for the next player.

Doc H Aug-07-2021

simple solution....

Sticky button or something not working right on a machine? Stop playing that machine immediately and move on to another machine. And of course let casino staff know.

Carl LaFong Aug-07-2021

Alternative to sticky buttons

If you are so determined to continue playing a machine with this problem, use the touch screen method of holding the card, etc.

 I do not like to play "touch screen", so it's not something I regularly do, but I have been in a situation where my crappy button machine was the only one available... which is probably why it was THE ONLY ONE AVAILABLE. No one else would play it.

Lysle Pietsch Aug-09-2021

Really dumb luck

On a rare occasion a sticky button can be to your advantage. A couple of years ago I was playing quarter Bonus poker at Suncoast Casino and the buttons seemed kind of sticky but I didn't pay close attention. My wife was playing two machines away from me and I was watching her more closely than my own machine. She was just learning how to play. Then I noticed I was delt 2 aces which I immediately held and hit the draw button. Wow two more aces and a deuce.  The machine just went crazy. What? why?  Somehow these sticky buttons switched me to triple double bonus poker at the 2 dollar level. An eight thousand dollar jackpot! I almost felt guilty because I never would have played that game at that level. But I decided to accept the 8 grand anyway.

Question of the Day - 07 August 2021

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