Hard Rock Jackpot Error Blamed on Casino Employee

Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino President Mike Bloom announced today that an employee error was the cause of the recent $260,000 jackpot error.

We reported last week that South Florida resident Freddy Howard had played one of the "Swipe and Win" kiosk games at Seminole Hard Rock Casino and was told that he had won the $260,000 jackpot. The Hard Rock even brought out an oversized check with his name on it. The Hard Rock later decided that he did not actually win the prize at all.

The President of the Hard Rock Casino explains, "It was a human error, not a computer error". Casino employees are accused of misreading results and assuming Howard had won the top casino jackpot before full-verification. According to Bloom, employees failed to follow proper procedure for verifying a top prize winner.

The Hard Rock casino, which is located in Hollywood Florida, is raking in millions of dollars per year and is run by the Seminole Indian Tribe. The tribe receives special tax breaks and incentives to operate the casino on native lands under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.

The mistake at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino has many patrons in the South Florida area extremely upset. Some are calling on a boycott of the gambling casino until Freddy Howard is paid in full.

"They need to step-up and fix their error. No one (Freddy) should have to go through this mess", said Barry Kristofer of Margate, FL.



2006-09-13