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Woman Awarded $1M Casino Jackpot13 July 2000PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA – July 13, 2000 – As reported by the Philadelphia Daily News: "…yesterday, moments after an eight-member civil jury declared that she had really won the $1 million jackpot that night, and after the casino agreed there would be no appeal of the jury's verdict, Rena Gottlieb, a diminutive 66-year-old physician's wife from Cheltenham, flashed a big smile and hugged and kissed her husband, and gave her lawyers a peck on the cheek, too, all in a quiet lady-like sort of way. "…The lawyers also had fond words for two middle-aged women from Brooklyn, Anne Marie DiMatteo and Irma Galione, who didn't know the Gottliebs but who were standing behind them in line at the Tropicana July 24 at the Fun House Million Dollar Wheel Promotion. "…The two Brooklyn women told the jury earlier this week that they watched the prize-wheel stop on the $1 million jackpot after Gottlieb pushed the spin button. "…`She was hysterical. She couldn't believe it,' DiMatteo told the jury, referring to Rena Gottlieb. 'She said, 'I got a million bucks.' I was very surprised and happy for her. It was great!' "But the casino attendant wasn't watching the big computer-generated virtual wheel on the wall behind her. Instead, she was peering into a computer monitor below a glass counter. The attendant, who was not a trial witness, insisted right away that Gottlieb hadn't won, refusing to look at the wall. "By all eyewitness accounts, the attendant then did something with the computer that made the wheel on the wall spin again. "The arrow had rested on the $1 million prize for about 20 seconds, but when the attendant moved her hand, the wheel moved about half circle, and the arrow now pointed to another prize, two free show tickets, worth less than $100 bucks…" |