Last August, Gary Hoffman was playing a nickel slot machine, Mystical Mermaid, at the Sandia Casino in New Mexico. Gary Hoffman hit what appeared to be a $1.6 million jackpot, but the Sandia Casino refused to pay, saying it was a machine malfunction. The slot machine had a disclaimer on it that indicated that the machine paid out a maximum win of $2500, and that tenchical malfunctions voided winnings. The Sandia Casino did offer to pay him the $2500 max jackpot, but Hoffman refused, insisting that he wanted his $1.6 million.

Gary Hoffman is now sueing the Sandia Casino, but it's a Native American casino, which means that they're not under the jurisdiction of a USA court. (Native American tribes are legally considered independent nations.)

Paul Bardacke is the attorney representing the Sandia Casino. He was quoted as saying: "If he had gone into a bank and deposited $1,000 and got back a deposit slip that said a million dollars, he doesn't get to keep the balance. It doesn't work that way."

Jeremy Kleiman is the ice chairman of the commercial gaming subcommittee of the American Bar Association. He explained that courts normally look at a player's expectation in a case like this. Quote: "The information seemed to indicate this was a stand alone slot machine with a maximum payout of $2,500. So when you sit down your expectation is to win no more than $2,500. This is not a fraud situation where a carrot was fraudulently dangled in front of a customer's face."

Officials from the Sandia Casino also pointed out that Gary Hoffman has visited the Sandia Casino over 70 times in 2007. (Since they refused to pay the jackpot.) Hoffman admits that this is true.

One has to wonder if Gary Hoffman really feels cheated if he continues to frequent the Sandia Casino so often.