$55mln jackpot trial: casino agrees on $300

A Vietnamese-American allegedly won US$55 million on gambling at a 5-star hotel but the casino just agreed to pay him $300, leading to a heated argument between the two at a court held in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 1 on Wednesday.

At the Jan. 2 trial, lawyer of plaintiff Ly Sam – the gambler - claimed that defendant Dai Duong Company who operated Palazzo Club where Sam gambled in 2009 must be responsible for paying his customer $55 million plus an interest of $3.5 million since there were no “software errors” in the game machine recorded.

In a response, the defendant’s attorney said the money Sam demanded was unacceptable and unjustified.

In line with the machine’s operation, if customer wins over $50,000, it will automatically stop operating and an announcement “please contact the staff to receive the cash prize” will be published on the screen, the lawyer said.

However, Dai Duong’s lawyer argued that it was impossible that the machine did not stop working as Sam continued the game after winning over $55 million and that continuing gambling without asking staff to give him the prize violated the rules of the game.

The company’s lawyer also cited some reports by several manufacturers of game machines and a verification company that the maximum prize from the machine No. 13 where Sam played was only US$46,000. Hence, the lawyer claimed the $55 million prize had been “a mistake”.

Therefore, the company just agreed to pay Sam $300, the amount of money he spent for gambling at the casino because according to current regulations, if a machine has technical problems, the casino will refund customers.

However, Sam’s lawyer debated that the company’s verification results are invalid because they have removed the PCB from the machine and sent it abroad without his customer’s witness and consent and without any supervision of concerned agencies.

Not agreeing, Dai Duong’s attorney said that removing the PCB was an internal decision but added that all data of recent games on machine No. 13 Sam are still available.

The court is expected to announce a verdict on January 7.

As previously reported, when Sam found the exact winning amount of US$55,542,291.70 shown on the screen of game machine No. 13, he asked the club for a written confirmation of his winnings. The club manager refused, but said Dai Duong would pay Sam within three days.

Sam made his own report and asked other players at the club to sign as witnesses. He also took some photos of the machine’s screen.