Did Gambling Granny Break the Bank?

It is possible that some of you recall the story of the amazing piece of luck experienced by a Kimberly grandmother in November last year. Marie van Wyk was playing the Beach Life video slot at African Palace and had wagered around R80 when she recorded a win, a quick glance suggested R850 which she decided to cash out after attending to a few domestic chores. Returning to her PC later, she accessed her online account to find that her win was, in fact, R8.5 million, the third biggest jackpot ever paid out at African Palace Casino.

Marie was invited to a VIP lunch at which she was presented with the traditional outsized cheque and one would have thought that was the start of a brand new life as a multi-millionaire. This was not, in fact, the case. Come payout time African Palace declared they would pay the money not as a single lump sum but in a series of six instalments. This in itself must have proved a disappointment for Marie but, following the first two payments of R1.4 million each, the Palace defaulted on the third instalment due in April. It is now August and the fourth instalment is now due but there is still no sign of the amount in default and van Wyk fears that this instalment may also remain unpaid.

With her patience exhausted, the frustrated punter decided on stronger action and threatened to expose the company’s breach unless they honoured their agreement. In return, she received an attorney’s letter suggesting they seek a mutually agreeable solution without airing any dirty linen in public. No comment was forthcoming from the casino’s finance manager, Tagore Dhanraj, other than to say he was attempting to resolve matters. African Palace has capitalised heavily on Marie’s windfall, using it consistently in their advertising and publicity campaigns and making the cloud cast by their inexplicable failure to pay up, a potentially highly damaging one.

Marie has been a loyal customer of African Place Casino since November 2007 and her big win came almost on the anniversary of her signup. She is a frequent player and seemingly no stranger to winning. Mrs van Wyk has previously won R64K at African Palace and, back in 2000, she became one of Monte Casino’s first instant millionaires when she spun up an amazing R1.4 million jackpot.

She makes the point that, despite her previous substantial wins, this is the very first time that she has been paid out in instalments. Could it be that the Palace coffers are depleted? For the sake of both Marie and the casino’s latest big winner, Catherine A, who in April 2009, won a massive R11.75 million playing Gold Rally, let’s hope not.