Alliance Gaming ordered to pay disputed jackpot to Californian

David Strow

Friday, Jan. 14, 2000 | 10:58 a.m.

In a rare decision, the Nevada Gaming Control Board on Thursday ordered Las Vegas-based Alliance Gaming Corp.'s Bally Gaming unit to pay a disputed $112,600 jackpot a California woman claimed she hit at a Reno casino last year.

The board voted unanimously that 74-year-old Sylvia Gutierrez, a resident of San Ramon, Calif., should be paid, despite the fact that the jackpot symbols did not line up exactly on the payline.

A Control Board agent had initially denied payment, but was reversed by a hearing examiner.

"The board felt the hearing examiner's decision and reasoning were well-founded in law, and that the jackpot should be awarded to the patron," said board Chairman Steve DuCharme.

The dispute arose over an incident while Guiterrez was playing a "Betty Boop" slot machine at the Sands Regency hotel-casino Sept. 30. The machine was hooked up to Bally Gaming's "Thrillions" system, which connects slots across Nevada to create a progressive jackpot.

Guiterrez, playing a slant-top machine, thought she had lined up three jackpot symbols on the payline to win the machine's progressive award. Control Board agents later found the machine had not malfunctioned, though the machine's programming did not indicate a jackpot should have been paid on the spin.

From a seated position, the jackpot symbols appeared to have stopped on the payline, investigators found. From a standing view, however, it was clear the symbols had not exactly bisected the payline, though they were touching the payline. The machine did not lock up, nor did any lights or bells sound, as is typical for a jackpot combination.

The hearing examiner, Todd Westergard, acknowledged that the symbols had not lined up in the proper position for a jackpot. But he argued the public's trust in the gaming industry would be hurt if payment was denied.

"Based upon the alignment of (the) symbols Mrs. Gutierrez did achieve, denying her payment of the progressive award for that game would be contrary to promoting the public's trust and confidence that Nevada gaming is conducted fairly," Westergard wrote. "Absent a malfunction or game tilt event, a patron must be able to rely upon the visual display at the conclusion of the reel-spin to discern the outcome of the game."

Bally Gaming, rather than the Sands, is responsible for payment because it is the operator of the Thrillions system.

Mark Lerner, assistant general counsel at Alliance Gaming, said the company was disappointed with the decision.

"We obviously saw it differently, or we would have paid her from the get-go," Lerner said.

Alliance can appeal the decision to Nevada state court within 20 days, though Lerner said the company hasn't made a decision whether to appeal yet. He also said Bally Gaming hasn't decided whether it will change similar Betty Boop machines across Nevada to prevent a recurrence of the incident.

In other action, the board granted approval to Wichita Greyhound Park Inc. to share in revenues from off-track pari-mutuel race wagering within Nevada.

The board's approval of the Wichita Greyhound Park -- owned by Frontier hotel-casino owner Phil Ruffin -- marked the first time off-track pari-mutuel wagering on dog racing has been permitted in Nevada.

Pari-mutuel wagering on out-of-state horse races has been legal in Nevada, but until changes were made to gaming regulations in November, pari-mutuel pools weren't allowed on dog races. Casinos could accept wagers on off-track dog races, but couldn't pool these bets with other casinos.

With the approval, Wichita Greyhound plans to simulcast its races to participating casinos, which can then create a pari-mutuel pool. But unlike horse races, the pari-mutuel pool for dog races can only accept bets from inside the state of Nevada, even though the races will occur in Kansas.