Katrina Bookman started making plans when the slot machine she was gambling at flashed a $42.9 million win.
"I kept thinking about my family," Bookman said, according to ABC7. She was going to buy a barbershop for her son and give a big chunk of change back to her community with her apparent jackpot that was won late August at Resorts World Casino in New York.
However, her dreams came crashing down.
When she won the apparent jackpot, she was surrounded by customers, casino personnel and security. She was then escorted off the casino floor and told to come back the next day.
"I said, 'What did I win?’” Bookman told the news station. "[The casino representative said,] 'You didn't win nothing.’”
The only thing she was offered was a steak dinner.
According to the report, the New York State Gaming Commission said that the slot machine Bookman was using had malfunctioned and that the statement "Malfunctions void all pays and plays" is a warning shown on all the slot machines in the casino.
The machine was pulled off the floor and fixed and then returned to the casino, according to the gaming commission.
"They win, and the house doesn't want to pay out. To me that's unfair," Alan Ripka, Bookman's attorney, said.
Ripka and Bookman say they believe that she should be given the maximum allowed on the Sphinx machine, which the casino said was $6,500.
"The machine takes your money when you lose. It ought to pay it when you win," Ripka stated.
However, the gaming commission said that the casino could not legally award the max payout. Bookman, the gaming commission said, was only entitled to her winnings of $2.25.
Bookman said she plans to sue the casino.
Read more at ABC7.