Casino Player Collects $100,000 Jackpot Price Won Last Year
Christmas 2011 came big for an Adelaide woman following the disappointment last year when casino officials refused to honour her slot machine win, denying her the $100,000 jackpot.
According to the local paper The Advertiser, Cecilia Cubillo nailed the jackpot combination of a poker slot machine she played on last year but her glory hour soon turned sour when Adelaide Casino refused to issue the winning cheque, citing regulatory provisions that prevent the payment.
Cubillo, The Advertiser reported, took over from a slot earlier occupied by a player who unknowingly left behind a $1 credit on the machine.
Casino officials explained then that the circumstances of Cubillo's ran in counter with the gambling industry's existing regulatory practice, which prohibits payment of winnings obtained through machines with abandoned credits from previous players.
That precise regulation, casino officials said, were being enforced to allow slot machine players some break while keeping their place on the spot they were playing with.
Cubillo, according to earlier assessment by the city's Office of the Liquor and Gambling Commissioner, won her $100,000 using a dollar that was not hers, prompting for the nullification of the huge bounty.
The commission upheld the decision of Adelaide Casino officials last year not to issue payment to Cubillo, obviously spoiling her joyous Christmas at that time.
Yet this time around, she had a huge payback as days before Christmas, as the regulatory commission reviewed the case and reversed its decision, ordering the management of Adelaide Casino to release the winnings to Cubillo.
The Advertiser reported that a $100,000 cheque was handed Thursday last week to Cubillo by Adelaide Casino general manager David Christian.
In giving the huge amount, Christian expressed his regret that Cubillo was made to endure an unfortunate episode before collecting the money that was rightly hers.
Christian stressed that a procedure was set in motion to study the details of Cubillo's case and then rectify the mistake.
"We are sorry for any stress and embarrassment caused to Ms Cubillo by this situation ... but clarity is needed to determine when a gaming machine is considered abandoned and the appropriate action relating to any remaining credits," the casino official was quoted by The Advertiser as saying.