$1.24M Slots Jackpot Lawsuit Reaches Satisfactory Conclusion

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Monday, August 14th, 2017 | Written by Stephen Smith

A lawsuit out of the 414th State District Court of Texas reveals just how complicated things can become when a lucky person or persons wins a jackpot at a casino. One such case involving Stephen M. Cutbirth and Lacey Newman has recently been resolved by the courts, and can serve as a cautionary tale of just what can happen when you let someone else gamble on your dollar.

Case Background

According to the story shared in court, Cutbirth offered to take Newman on an all expenses paid trip to a casino in Bossier City when he learned that she was planning to divorce her husband. He testified that he told her that he would cover all costs for her to stay and gamble and that they could split any winnings fifty-fifty. Allegedly, Newman agreed to the terms, likely never dreaming that they would walk away with any major winnings.

As fate would have it, Newman did win big, scoring a $1.24 million jackpot on a Wheel of Fortune slot machine, with Newman and Cutbirth then agreeing to an $868,000 cash buyout from the casino. Because Newman was the one who pushed the button, though, the check was put in her name, and after she returned home, she subsequently reconciled with her ex-husband and the two of them then refused to give Cutbirth the half of the winnings that was originally promised.

Cutbirth Receives His Share

In an 11-1 decision, the jurors found in favor of Cutbirth. In the meantime, during the course of the trial, it was revealed that Newman now owes more than $500,000 to the IRS for back taxes, penalties and interest. This is because the entire sum of the winnings was in her name. Nevertheless, it is likely that Cutbirth will be asked to pay a portion of that money through a subsequent court battle.

Newman shared in her testimony that she purchased a $63,000 truck with her winnings and bought another $41,000 truck for a male friend. When she became financially strapped due to the tax money owed, she claims that she took the truck back from the friend and returned it.

For his part, Cutbirth has already spent most of the money as well. He paid $65,000 in taxes on the winnings and gave his children a monetary gift. Then, he invested most of the remainder into equipment upgrades for his hay baling business.

Conclusion

After the verdict was handed down, Cutbirth emerged from the courtroom smiling and victorious, while the attorney for the Newmans expressed his displeasure with the findings, stating that his clients were the victims of a fraud attempt from Cutbirth. He did concede, however, that the jury had spoken and had now settled the matter.

The complex and dramatic case points to the fact that things can get very sticky when you gamble at brick-and-mortar casinos. Friendships and even close family relationships can be destroyed by the fallout when people begin to argue over how to divide winnings.

Other Bizarre Case

One of the most bizarre cases related to the dangers just mentioned occurred on January 31st of this year, once again involving friends enjoying a night out at the casino. In this instance, Jan Flato and Marina Medvedeva were playing the slots at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, with Navarro subsequently gambling $50 a go at the slot machine situated in the high-roller room. For a bit of extra luck, he then got his friend to push the button, which instantly resulted in a $100,000 jackpot being struck.

In turns out that the casino has a rule that whoever hits the slot button is handed the jackpot, and so after Marina Medvedeva received the money she promptly kept the lot, and left the casino while requesting protection from Flato by the casino as she made her exit. Despite the perceived injustice of the situation, no lawyer would apparently touch the case for Flato as his chances of wining were deemed to little. Commenting upon the bizarre situation, Global Gaming Business editor Frank Legato, stated:

“It is accurate to say that that same jackpot result would not have landed if Mr. Flato had pressed the button. For that to happen, Flato would have had to press the button at the exact same nanosecond that the woman did, which is practically impossible.”

In the meantime, Flato said that he had never come across such a rule in all his many years gambling at casinos, and sounding a cautionary message to others, explained:

“I want everybody to know what happened so it won’t happen to them. I’ve played slots all over the country and never had a problem like that. Even the people handing out the money said, ‘This isn’t right.’”