Niamh Spence
Winning big money without knowing about it seems like a pretty cruel twist of fate, and as someone who is still hoping that my lottery numbers will come in every week, this is my worst nightmare.
Yet for one man he nearly missed out on a whopping jackpot of almost $230k when he left a Las Vegas casino without realising he'd won.
Robert Taylor from Arizona won $229,000 (£169,000) from a Las Vegas casino but walked away completely unaware he had just become very rich from playing on the slot machines in the Treasure Island Hotel and Casino.
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After trying his luck for a while, Taylor decided enough was enough and walked away. Yet due to a 'communications error', Taylor was not informed he had bagged the $229,368.52 jackpot and left without his winnings and headed back to Arizona.
A statement by the Nevada Gaming Control Board, authorities at the Treasure Island Hotel and Casino revealed how they could not identify Taylor before he left Las Vegas to go home, and that meant Taylor nearly didn't get his winnings.
They said: "Due to a communications error that occurred, the slot machine experienced a malfunction that prevented Mr. Taylor and casino personnel from realizing that a progressive jackpot had been won. By the time an extensive review of the slot machine and the communications technology was completed, confirming the jackpot had been won, Mr Taylor had returned home to Arizona."
Now that could have been it, and while Taylor would have been none the wiser, he also wouldn't have been any richer. Yet authorities didn't stop their search there, as the board’s Enforcement Division spent 'countless hours over two weeks' to try and identify him so he could be given his winnings.
Luckily for Taylor, he was eventually identified and located after officers went through several hours of surveillance footage across multiple casino slots, studied electronic purchase records and interviewed numerous witnesses at the scene.
The Nevada Gaming Control Board said this 'exhaustive investigation resulted in successfully identifying the patron as Robert Taylor.' The authority added that Taylor was informed on 28 January 2022 of his new-found riches, which he collected over the following weekend.
James Taylor, Chief of the Board’s Enforcement Division, said: "The Nevada Gaming Control Board is charged with the strict regulation of the gaming industry, the protection of the gaming public, and ensuring that the industry benefits the State of Nevada.
"I commend the agents of the Enforcement Division, particularly Agent Dan Nuqui, for ensuring that the public trust in the gaming industry remains strong by spending countless hours over two weeks to ensure that a patron is awarded winnings owed to him.
"I’d also like to thank the Nevada Transportation Authority for their assistance in confirming the identity of the patron.This has been a great example of government working together for the benefit of the public."