A car key and a casino are at the center of a controversy after a woman said she won a luxury SUV, but Gulfstream Park SUV said not so fast.
Vicki Wersching said she came to Gulfstream Park after a promotional flyer was sent to her a few weeks ago. The flyer had a key attached to it and asked the recipient to come and try the key in a lock. Werschling said her key worked and bells and sirens went off in the casino signaling she won.
“I pushed it in a, you know, a little further, little further ‘till I felt it go all the way in,” Wersching exclusively told NBC 6’s Willard Shepard. “I turned it. The door opened and then the siren went off so I assumed I won. I was pleasantly surprised.”
Wersching said she followed all the rules in the promotional material mailed to her: she’s over 21, has a Florida driver’s license, and signed up for a player’s club card. But, Wersching said before she could get too excited, a manager came to talk to her.
“He (manager) came back after 15 or 20 minutes and said because I didn’t open it smoothly, that I wasn’t entitled to the car,” Wersching said.
“When he said that, what was your thought?” Shepard asked.
“I said the key did fit and I was able to open,” Wersching responded.
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The casino sent Wersching an email telling her that 150,000 flyers were sent out and that there were five winning keys. The casino manager wrote: “This is an obvious flaw in the construction of the box and we did not envision any rough handling of it, since the five keys easily and smoothly opened the door upon every test.”
Gulfstream told NBC 6 that the video showed Wersching violated the rules by manipulating the box.
“She had to turn the lock and she knew clearly she didn’t turn the lock,” said Michael Nyman of Gulfstream Casino. “It’s seen through our surveillance and through our player representative who was standing there watching her. She shook it open and was never able to turn the key.”
“The casino representative did not stop her in any way or notify her that she had violated the rules,” Shepard said to Nyman.
“That’s correct, but that wasn’t the point,” Nyman said. “She did violate the rules. And it was very clear on the mailer that we sent; you had to unlock the lock.”
The casino has offered Wersching $500 to gamble at the casino, but she said that offer was completely unacceptable.
“I think given the fact that this key did open that box that may have been defective by no fault of my clients; they should honor what the flyer says and give her the Range Rover,” said Wersching’s attorney David Kubiliun.
The casino said it was still planning to give the SUV away, just not to Wersching.
