Jury Begins Deliberations in Suit Over Slot Machine Jackpot

A jury must decide whether a California schoolteacher should be compensated for a jackpot won on a slot machine she had been playing before leaving to eat breakfast.

The machine Heather Devon had played for hours at the old Frontier hotel-casino eight years ago was supposed to have been locked down and reserved for her while she ate breakfast. Testimony at a civil trial indicated that the machine was opened by casino personnel for another player after $20 exchanged hands.

That was in violation of casino policy, and Devon lost her opportunity to win, her attorney, Cal Potter, argued during closing arguments this week.

The Orange County teacher testified that she knew the dollar progressive slot machine was ready to burst forth with its $97,000 reward. It did, but someone else was pulling the handle. Devon sued, charging Unbelievable Inc., the owner of the Frontier in 1991, owed her the jackpot plus compensation for her legal fees. The Frontier was sold nearly two years ago.

Steve Cohen, the lawyer for the former owner of the Frontier, said slot machines are never “due to hit.”

The eight-member jury began its deliberations Friday.

If the jury decides the purported payoff to reopen the machine constituted a fraudulent act, it could open the door to punitive damages in addition to reimbursement for the lost jackpot.

Cohen said that even if the machine had not been reopened and Devon had returned, it wouldn’t have meant the machine would have paid the jackpot for her.

“Whether someone had a feeling or a dream, it doesn’t matter,” Cohen argued. “I’ll concede that Heather Devon had a hunch and what happened is that the hunch and the payoff coincided,” he continued. “But everyone who plays has a hunch. Why else would they play?”

Potter said Devon should be compensated because the casino violated its policy about opening machines that are being reserved and by not giving her a required closure slip that would have specified when the machine would be reopened.

“She had an opportunity to win and this case is about lost opportunity,” Potter said.