Casinos Explained

In April 1973, FedEx opened for business and grew rapidly. Rising fuel costs eventually caused FedEx to become deeply in debt.

Apparently, there is a casino jackpot responsible for the 300,000 jobs held by FedEx

The story goes that during the company’s founding years, there was only $5,000 left in the accounts but a fuel bill of $24,000, so the owner Fred Smith gambled it all at a Las Vegas Blackjack table and managed to win $27,000 to keep the company afloat. The formative years of FedEx were characterized by a great deal of risk-taking on Smith’s part.

Smith’s actions are reminiscent of the phrase ‘desperate times call for desperate measures,’ given the desperation he had after his business loan application was denied.

Frock, one of the founders of the company, said he asked Smith where the money came from and he responded that the meeting with General Dynamics was a bust, but he took the money to Las Vegas and won $27,000. He answers, “What difference does it make?” when Frock asks him what he was thinking. The company survived even though Smith literally gambled its future on blackjack. The luck of Fred was again with him, as Frock put it. Although it wasn’t much, it came at a crucial time and kept them in business for another week.

During the following weeks and months, FedEx managed to accumulate enough money to continue growing. His decision to put everything on the table had worked out for him by 1983 when FedEx had revenues of more than a billion dollars. Eventually, Fred Smith became one of the world’s wealthiest men after simply turning $5,000 into $27,000 by playing blackjack.

Over the years, Las Vegas has paid out some huge jackpots to many people and businesses in need. The opposite of course is also the case.

Unsurprisingly, 44-year-old Katrina Bookman could hardly believe her eyes when the ‘SphinxWild’ slot machine that she was playing at the Resort World Casino in Queens, New York displayed ‘Printing cash ticket $42,949,672’. At no point did she stop to think that the basic, five-reel, 40-payline ‘penny slot’, which she was playing at $0.40 a spin, was not connected to the progressive jackpot network and, therefore, only capable of paying out up to $6,500. Instead, she excitedly took a selfie with the ‘winning’ message and, the following day, duly presented her ticket for payment.

However, she was quickly informed that the message was displayed as the result of a malfunction and, rather than the massive prize shown on the screen, she had won just $2.25. Dan Bank, spokesperson for Resort World, later told CNN, ‘Upon being notified of the situation, casino personnel were able to determine that the figure displayed on the penny slot was the result of an obvious malfunction.’ He offered to pay Bookman the money she had actually won, along with a complimentary steak dinner, to compensate for her disappointment.

Bookman, a single mother-of-four, furiously refused both. She had previously told ABC7 New York, ‘I can’t even describe the feeling. It’s like my whole body just got numb. I kept thinking about my family. The struggle I’ve been through, it’s hard to cope.’

Devastingly disappointed though she may have been, the Sphink Wild machine bore a disclaimer stating, ‘Malfunctions void all pays and plays.’ Consequently, after what was, palpably, an error, the decision not to pay out what would have been the largest jackpot in slot machine history was upheld by the New York State Gaming Commission. Bookman took the case to court but, at the time of writing, has still yet to receive any substantial settlement.