Oregon resident Justin Curzi is suing the Oregon State Lottery, and a whole host of slot machine manufacturers and programmers for $134m in damages, over claims that their ‘auto-hold’ promises are false.
$134m.
Now that’s what I call a lot of money.
That’s the price that has been thrust forward by Beaverton attorney Jay Zollinger after being hired by Oregon native Justin Curzi to fight his corner in a classic case of David versus Goliath.
Zollinger, and his legal team, are set to take on the might of the Oregon State Lottery, IGT (INC), GTECH USA, LLC and WMS Gaming INC., in a class action lawsuit that accuses the bunch of David’s of fraud, misrepresentation, negligence, and unjust enrichment.
Curzi believes the people of Oregon have lost upwards of $134m as a result of the defendants deliberately misleading them into using the ‘auto hold’ feature on a variety of video slot machines the court papers referred to as ‘rigged games’: Flush Fever, Flush Bonus Poker, Wild 2’s Poker, Joker’s Vault Poker, Triple Ace Poker, 4 of a Kind Bonus, Deuces Wild Poker, Flush Fortune Poker, Jacks or Better Poker and Multipay Poker are the machines cited in the lawsuit.
The court papers state that the Oregon State Lottery has been reducing amounts paid out to the players of the above quoted games by intentionally misleading players into believing that by selecting the ‘auto-play’ function – and thereby speeding up the action – the computer will maximize the potential for the winning hand to be drawn.
By pressing the ‘auto hold’ function a player is allowing the computer to play for them. It’s the easiest, and fastest, way for the game to be played, and the function was introduced to speed up profits for the video slot machine owners. Players idly sat by and let the machine do all of the work for them. It now seems the job was not being done properly.
Curzi has produced evidence that alleges the ‘auto-hold’ feature doesn’t do what is says on the tin, and instead does sometime pick the mathematically incorrect hand for the player.
“The lottery knows how the players perceive the auto-hold, and the lottery hasn’t done anything affirmative to address that perception,” Zollinger told Oregon Live.
The case continues.
