Bally appeals order to pay disputed jackpot

Friday, Feb. 4, 2000 | 10:41 a.m.

Las Vegas-based Bally Gaming Inc. has appealed an order by the Nevada Gaming Control Board to pay a slot patron a disputed $112,500 jackpot, claiming the ruling could cause significant damage to the industry if it stands.

Last month, the unit of Alliance Gaming Corp. was ordered to pay the jackpot to California resident Sylvia Gutierrez, who claimed she had hit the progressive jackpot on a "Betty Boop" machine at a Reno casino. The board found that the three jackpot symbols had not lined up exactly on the payline, but ordered Bally to pay anyway, saying a player, from the position Gutierrez sat, would think the winning combination had been hit.

Without payment, a control board investigator ruled, the public's confidence in the integrity of Nevada's gaming industry would be shaken.

On Thursday, Bally appealed this decision to state court.

"The decision to appeal the Board's ruling was a difficult one for Bally," the company said in a statement. "We prefer to pay jackpots. (But) a final ruling that 'close counts' in slot machines would affect the way slot machines have been designed an operated for decades.

"Before we go to such extreme measures, we believe it prudent to ask a court to review the board's decision."

Bally said it has placed the entire disputed amount into an account, and will pay Gutierrez the funds with interest if it loses its appeal.

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