Top > Entertainment > 2006 > September > 2006-09-22

Gambler takes home decent prize

Freddy Howard had been paid nearly $260,000 by the Seminole Hard Rock Casino and was even presented with a big cardboard check, when suddenly the casino managers apologized, saying that the whole thing was a big mistake. Needless to say that Howard did not like the sound of that. He had won the jackpot by swiping his Players Club card and could care less about the computer malfunction that caused the mix-up.

At first casino officials were persistent about denying Howard of the payment, saying that the Players Club card he used was his father`s and that made him ineligible for the prize anyway, but after Howard hired an attorney and threatened to picket the casino, the managers gave him the money. Chairman of the Seminole Gaming Commission had this to say: "We are making this payment as a gesture of good will, and I am pleased to tell you that Mr. Howard has accepted".

Howard plans to celebrate with his relatives and friends, and has agreed not to discuss the details of his deal with the casino. In search for answers on what exactly went wrong, tribal officials said an independent testing facility, Gaming Laboratories International, determined a communications glitch between computers had created the problem that indicated Howard had won.