ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. -- He didn’t know it at the time, but Jan.8 was Robert Taylor’s lucky day.
The young man from Arizona was in Las Vegas with his family for the weekend to celebrate his brother’s recent graduation from the University of Arizona when he decided to drop into the Treasure Island Hotel and Casino to try his luck on a slot machine or two.
After about 10 minutes of playing, Taylor’s machine briefly indicated that he might have won a progressive jackpot, but then stated that an error had occurred. The machine prompted him to call for an attendant. Progressive slot machines are networked to other machines and offer bigger payouts than standalone slots. This particular machine was linked to several slots in Nevada and other states and was connected to a remote server.
Taylor summoned an attendant who called for a slot technician to examine the machine. After about an hour, the technician was unable to identify the problem and Taylor’s family arrived to take him to a dinner reservation at a different hotel. Treasure Island gave Taylor a little money for his troubles and sent him on his way … without getting his name or any contact information.
In the days that followed, Treasure Island contacted the slot machine manufacturer who determined that Taylor’s machine had indeed hit on a progressive jackpot in the amount of $229,368.52, but a problem with the server blocked the payout.