A woman named Katrina Bookman hit the jackpot while playing slot machines at Resorts World Casino in Jamaica, Queens. The number that appeared on her screen, $42.9 million, would have been the biggest slot machine payout in the history of American casinos. That is until the casino claimed that the machine had malfunctioned, and they owed her nothing. 


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Upon seeing her winnings, Bookman took a selfie with the machine, and recounts that her "whole body got numbed." After a few minutes of chaos on the casino floor, employees walked her away from the slot machines and told her to come back the next day for a decision on her winnings. Instead of money, they offered her a steak dinner. 




Katrina grew up in foster care and was homeless as a teenager before raising four children on her own. The money would have been more than life-changing. She says she would have used it to help her community, and buy a barbershop for her son. 


According to the casino, it is clearly displayed that malfunctions do not lead to winnings. The specific machine Katrina was playing typically only carries a max payout of $6,500. Katrina's legal council argues that at the very least she should be entitled to that much.