Bregenz casino pays out a million for ‘software glitch’

Our readers may recall the case of Behar Merlaku (26), the Swiss punter who hit a Euro 40 million slot jackpot at a land casino in Bregenz, Austria owned by Casinos Austria, but was fobbed off with an offer of free meal vouchers on grounds that the hit was disqualified due to a ‘software error’.

Merlaku was having none of it, and hung in for a better settlement of Euro 5 million, finally settling this week when Casinos Austria agreed to pay him a million Euros at a court hearing in in Feldkirch, Austria.

The Swiss punter said he plans to use the cash to pay for an operation for his physically disabled new born baby.

Thomas Kerle, Merlaku’s Austrian lawyer said his client had accused Casinos Austria of refusing to let independent experts check the slot machine in question. He also criticised the police for doing too little in investigating the case.

The Casino agreed an out-of-court settlement, with spokesman Martin Himmelbauer admitting the original jackpot win amount had been displayed.

“We wanted to apologise but he did not want to co-operate,” said Himmelbauer. ”We offered to pay out the cash (60 GBP) that he did win, but he refused to accept it. Usually these matters are sorted out with a meal for two but in this case the man was not prepared to settle for anything less than the full payment.”

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