http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/08/04/faulty.slots.payoff.ap/index.html

Boy i dunno what i would do if it was doing this when i was there!!

Do you consider it stealing if you don't tell anyone about this problem and just cash in? Would ya have told anyone?

I don't gamble very often,I am just surprised this happend.

What are the odds on finding a machine with this problem?

Do you consider it stealing if you don't tell anyone about this problem and just cash in? Would ya have told anyone?


Of course it's stealing.

Yeah, it's stealing. It's money that belongs to someone else. Would you turn to a casino official & tell them or would you play?

I think the more pertinent question here is: If you had the good fortune to play on this machine, would you keep the money even if you considered it stealing?

It's not stealing at all. The casino employees have a responsibility to upkeep and test their machines. It's not my fault if their machine malfunctions. It's theirs.

I would turn the money in and most likely the casino would reward me for my honesty.:)

I might meet them halfway & give back a bit of money & bask in the reward's glow.

It's not stealing at all. The casino employees have a responsibility to upkeep and test their machines. It's not my fault if their machine malfunctions. It's theirs.

Tell that to the judge. It's no different than if an ATM started spitting out money randomly, or a bag of money falls out of the back of a Brinks truck. You know the money doesn't belong to you, and if you keep it that's theft.

Here's an example of a state statute that covers this situation:


AS 11.46.160. Theft of Lost or Mislaid Property.

(a) A person commits theft of lost or mislaid property if the person obtains property of another knowing that the property was lost, mislaid, or delivered under a mistake as to the nature or amount of the property or the identity of the recipient and the person fails to take reasonable measures to restore the property to the owner with intent to deprive the owner of the property.

(b) As used in this section "reasonable measures" includes notifying the identified owner or a peace officer.

I'll also add that keeping the money would violate your sig. :)

I guarantee you that every criminal law professor in the country just thought up a question for their next final exam.

However, this is not an ATM, it's a slot machine and it's called gambling not withdrawing. You put in a certain amount of money with the hope that you'll get a greater sum back. You don't go the the ATM with that intent, and the owners of the slot machine don't put it out with the intent that it only gives back what you inform it too. It's random. If it was not, then the casino is at greater fault as what they'd be doing is fraud. After a win--and what I claim should be regardless of the award--at a slot machine, it's no longer the casino's money, it's yours.

However, this is not an ATM, it's a slot machine and it's called gambling not withdrawing. You put in a certain amount of money with the hope that you'll get a greater sum back. You don't go the the ATM with that intent, and the owners of the slot machine don't put it out with the intent that it only gives back what you inform it too. It's random. If it was not, then the casino is at greater fault as what they'd be doing is fraud. After a win--and what I claim should be regardless of the award--at a slot machine, it's no longer the casino's money, it's yours.

You might have a point if the payback occurred after playing the machine, but that wasn't the case here. From the article:


Kathryn Ford of Louisville realized something was wrong July 23 when she and her husband sat down at two of the machines, called Extra Money.

When she put in a $20 bill the machine registered it as $200. She tried another $20 bill and the same thing happened, she said.

Ford said she put eight $20 bills in the machine and received vouchers that could be redeemed for $1,600 in cash -- without even playing.

Other gamblers noticed.

"There was even a young woman who jumped in while I was sitting there. She ... reached across me, popped a hundred in, popped out a thousand, and then she took off," Ford said.

Ford and her husband reported the problem to a security officer.

Everyone knows you shouldn't get free money from a slot machine without at least pulling the lever, and if you do, it's a mistake.

Yeah, it's stealing. It's money that belongs to someone else. Would you turn to a casino official & tell them or would you play?

I would turn it in. Mainly because anyone with comon sense would know that they are gonna start an immediate investigation. After they finish reviewing all of the survelliance cameras I'm sure that it wouldnt be long before they came after you, and not only are you gonna have to pay the money back, you are also going to lose even more money in legal fees as well as face losing your job due to jail time :(

I see your points about legality. Someone else made a statement about the slot machine being a random. It is conceivable that this outcome would be as random as possible, thereby, the machine is doing it's job. The statements that the lever wasn't pulled or button wasn't pushed just prove the occurance to be that much more random as it's certainly unexpected.

Isn't there a disclaimer that all machine malfuctions make the transaction null and void?

007.

The statements that the lever wasn't pulled or button wasn't pushed just prove the occurance to be that much more random as it's certainly unexpected.

Ah, but that's not part of the randomness. Regardless, it's not truly random. Slot machines have chips in them that set the odds on winning. Usually state laws set the minimum odds and casinos may make the odds a little better to attract more gamblers.