Indian casinos can offer some of the best land-based gambling under the Sun. Indian casinos can offer some of the worst gambling under the Sun. These may have been the sentiments (in that order) of one gambler - Freddy Howard - who had won a $260,000 slot machine jackpot at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino and Hotel on the Seminole Indian Reservation in South Florida. Last week, Howard hit the huge jackpot, after which he was publicly celebrated by casino staff and made the center of attention for nearly three hours. However, when the celebration died down, Howard was brought into a private room and told by casino personnel that the machine he was gambling on had erroneously awarded him the money.

With the matter still under investigation, whether Howard gets his money or not depends on the Seminole Tribe. Indian casinos are located on sanctioned reservation lands, and so are not subject to local or State law. With such laws in place, Howard is essentially at the mercy of the casino. Depending on whether the tribe sees Howard's predicament as potentially bad press, and if so, if they are of the belief that any press is good press, Howard may not have anywhere to turn in terms of legal action. No word has been given if Hard Rock is advising the tribe or investigating the matter as well. Yet, it is quite likely they are paying close attention to the outcome, for their name is just as much at stake as the Seminole tribe.

The casino says they are investigating the chain of events and the supposed malfunction, which was on the Swipe and Win progressive slot machine. This particular progressive game targets returning casino gamblers who are members of the Seminole Hard Rock Casino Players Club by giving them the opportunity to swipe their player cards when they gamble, which in turn, accumulate bonus points that can offer a huge payout when a progressive jackpot is hit. Apparently, this is precisely what Howard was the benefactor of. However, in the meantime, Howard still remains without the $260,000 that he won, which the casino had ever so willingly made known to the rest of the gamblers that night.