The Manitoba Lotteries Corporation has declined to pay the amount of $209,000 after two Canadian players hit jackpot on a Keno slot machine.
The players, who opted not be named, successfully matched 5 numbers on the Keno machine and a message informed them of a jackpot winning of over 4 million nickels.
According to the casino what happened was a serious software error as their nickel machines do not usually have pay-outs of over $3,000.
Manitoba Lotteries Corporation Vice-President Susan Olynik insisted that it was a complete malfunction and it so happened that the players were "unlucky" to experience the rare machine breakdown.
Olynik added that their Keno machines are posted with a sticker reminding the players that any malfunction shall void all winnings.
John Weinstein, the men's official lawyer, said in an interview last Tuesday at CBC Radio, "It's our position that it's not a mistake that my clients should be paying for, if it was a mistake. We don't have results of independent testing."
Weinstein said that his clients are considering the idea of filing legal actions against Manitoba Lotteries.
While American experts are currently investigating if there has been a software error, speculations has it that Manitoba Lotteries is luring the two players with a lesser prize.
Sunday, July 23 , 2006
Louis Blechdom
