A 2016 casino dispute has resurfaced on X after a video recounting the story of a New York woman who believed she had won nearly $43 million on a slot machine drew renewed attention online.
The post prompted debate over whether casinos should compensate players when slot machines display erroneous jackpots. Many users criticized casinos, while others argued that paying out on machine errors could create legal and financial complications.
The woman at the center of the dispute is Katrina Bookman, who visited Resorts World Casino in Queens, New York, in August 2016. She was playing a penny slot machine when the screen displayed a jackpot of $42,949,672.76, according to reporting from Inside Edition, which also showed a message indicating a cash ticket was being printed.
A single mother put 40 cents into a slot machine at a New York casino and won $43 MILLION. The casino offered her a steak dinner and $2.25 instead. A judge sided with the casino. She walked away with nothing.
— Aisar (@aisarcore) July 6, 2026
– Katrina Bookman grew up in foster care.
– She was homeless as a… pic.twitter.com/XA1k8QhDQb
An accompanying video from Inside Edition showed how patrons gathered around the machine as Bookman celebrated her life-changing win. But according to the casino, the maximum prize available on that machine was $6,500, so the nearly $43 million figure was impossible.
According to Inside Edition, Bookman was offered a complimentary steak dinner instead of the displayed amount. She later filed a lawsuit against the casino, but New York courts ultimately sided with the casino.
Slot machines commonly display notices that say "malfunctions void all pays and plays." This statement is also disputed in similar cases.
This casino will pay the judge $1 million to avoid paying 43 million
— Foxtrot Actual ? (@FoxtrotActual) July 6, 2026
One user argued the casino should have at least offered Bookman the machine's stated maximum payout of $6,500 as a goodwill gesture, even if honoring the full amount was not feasible. Another commenter wrote, "Casinos are scams."
Another user, however, noted that honoring erroneous jackpots could set a precedent that casinos might struggle to manage in the event of such issues in the future.
