In the July issue of Strictly Slots magazine, the editorial, written
by Melissa Fine, describes the sad circumstances which befell an
elderly slot player.
One of the SS readers had emailed Ms. Fine that, while visiting an
(unnamed) Atlantic City casino, with her 91 year old mother, she left
her mother playing a slot, while she took a bathroom break. She
related that she was only gone for 10 minutes. When she returned, her
mother was in tears. She saw on the slot that her mom had hit a $425
jackpot. The mother told her that as soon as she hit the jackpot, two
men approached her. Despite her protests, one hit the cash-out button;
the other grabbed the ticket stating that he would cash it in for her.
Of course they never returned. When the daughter heard this, she
yelled for security and searched for a security guard. None was in
sight. She then tried to get help from a nearby store, and was
directed to the security desk, far from where her mother was sitting.
At security, she was asked a lot of questions, and finally, after some
more time passed, was accompanied to where her mother was sitting. At
this point a woman came over, stated that she had seen the robbery,
and verified the story, but was only able to give a sketchy
description of the thieves. The security guard apologized, said he
would report the incident and left. The daughter followed a few days
later with the security manager, who apologized but did nothing
further. Not even a note of apology was received from the casino.
Melissa Fine says that she intends to pursue this matter, on behalf of
the mother and daughter, with the hotel president and Casino Control
Commission, and get some equitable resolution for them. She also
asked that readers send her their opinion as to what should be done
for justice to prevail in this situation, what should the daughter
have done at the time she discovered the crime, and what the other SS
readers would have done if they had been victimized in this manner.
Ms. Fine also states, at the beginning of the editorial, that she has
omitted names because the "investigation is on-going".
While I understand her intent, I do think that a casino with such
poor security should be named. Players could then make an informed
decision as to whether to favor that casino with their play.
As to the rest of the unfortunate happening, I would suggest that if
one is a casino with a very elderly (or essentially helpless person)
that should they have to leave them, for any reason, that they summon
a slot attendant/security person to sit with their companion, until
they return. Of course, this should only be done for very short
periods of time, and an appropriate gratuity should be bestowed on
the "sitter".
I also think that, if something like this happened to me, I would
scream at the top of my lungs, as if I was being murdered, until
security appeared. I think it was probably a mistake for the daughter
to start running around the casino, trying to locate help.
In this instance, I think that "justice would be served" by the casino
offering to reimburse the jackpot, and also offering a comped
room/food etc. to the mother and daughter, for a future stay. A
written apology would also be in order.
Most of all, I think we must all be extremely vigilant when we have
scored a lot of credits while on a TITO machine. I know that I've
never worried much about this before. However, from now on I'm going
to be extremely concious of any lurkers in my vicinity.
Best regards to all for a happy 4th of July, and be careful out there!
Babe