Swiss Man Sues Austrian Casino after Nullifying his $55 Million Slots Win

When 26-year-old Behar Merlaku from Switzerland was playing slot machines at a land casino in Bregenz, Austria he did not expect to hit a big jackpot of $55 million and definitely did not expect for the casino to refuse to pay out his winnings.

However all of the above did happen to Merlaku when he played this passing March when he was playing in Casinos Austria AG facility in Bregenz. While he was playing a slot machine the machine suddenly started to make loud noises and the winning jackpot was shown on the screen. Merlaku was quick to take pictures of his win using his mobile phone.

Merlaku said that when he won “the jackpot came up loud and clear. There was music and the sum I had won – nearly 43 million Euros – was displayed on a screen. I was so overjoyed and in my head I began calculating what I could do with all this money.”

When Merlaku approached casino employees to claim his reward he was turned away with the claim that the slot machine’s jackpot only appeared due to a software glitch. The casino offered Merlaku a $90 compensation and a free meal at the casino’s restaurant. Merlaku refused the casino offer and following his refusal he was banned from the casino.

Now he is bringing a civil action against the casino operator asking for the courts to award him his winning jackpot. He will have a hard time winning his case as Austrian law prohibits offering jackpots that are higher than $2.5 million and the casino can use this fact as a means to prove the the excessive jackpot was a mere software glitch.