Casino Gambling Fairness
Players of casino games, whether offline or online, have always been sticklers for fairness, and rightfully so. For gaming to be enjoyable as well as legal then one needs to be sure that the casino is playing by the rules, and hasn’t set things up (over and above the vital house edge) so that the player cannot win. However, casino gambling fairness needs to work both ways, and for casinos to remain viable as businesses it is equally important that players are trusted to play by the rules as well.
A recent case in the USA has highlighted this point. A man playing in a casino in Tampa was having a good time on a slots game that boasted a maximum payout of anything between $2,500 and $90,000, depending on the stake used. The man was playing with a $1.50 stake that, according to the rules, made it possible for him to win up to $2,500 and not a penny more.
Unfortunately for everyone, the slot machine malfunctioned and told the player that he had won $166,666,666. So what did the player do? Laugh at the error, accept that the machine had clearly malfunctioned and take the amount that he was really due? Sadly not. Instead he decided to try and make the casino pay out the $166.6 million sum by getting his lawyers involved.
The casino eventually settled out of court for an undisclosed sum, but in our opinion it shouldn’t have had to do that. Whilst we are always ready to champion the rights of the casino player, we also maintain that the casinos similarly deserve to be treated fairly by the players, and trying to take unfair advantage of a malfunction that nobody had planned is really not on.
When a bank ATM machine goes wrong and people start withdrawing money after becoming aware of the malfunction, the law views deliberate withdrawals as theft. The exact same principle should apply when a malfunction occurs in a casino environment – taking advantage of the malfunction should be viewed as stealing.
If an administrative malfunction resulted in a player’s credit card being accidentally charged more than was requested, the player would rightfully complain and ask for his money back. The player in the Tampa casino should have understood that a machine malfunction puts the casino in a similar position, and accepted a simple correction to the fault rather than viewing it as a opportunity to try and extort unearned values from the casino.
Casino gambling fairness is the foundation upon which all legal gaming is based. If we insist on casinos being fair and honest then we should also adhere to those same standards ourselves. Remember, malfunction voids play.
Article Published: 26/05/2010 10:02:42
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