A Ho Chi Minh City court delayed a suit brought by a Vietnamese American businessman against a casino operaterating in the five-star Sheraton Saigon Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City for US$55.5 million.
HCMC judicial officials said the delay was due to the fact that they need more time to investigate the case.
The court did not reveal when the trial would open.
Ly Sam, 61, said that on October 25, 2009, he was playing a game called "Landlord" on machine number No. 13 at the Sheraton Saigon Hotel's Palazzo Club when the machine's credit meter displayed a line of numbers implying that he'd won a US$55.5 million jackpot.
According to Sam, he asked the club manager to confirm and pay the prize, but the manager refused to provide Sam with written confirmation of his winnings.
Sam took photos of the winning machine and collected witness signatures at the casino corroborating his account of what had happened.
He waited several days before contacting the club's operator, Dai Duong Joint Venture Company, and demanding that it pay him the prize money.
However, Ewarton Management Co., Ltd, an affiliate of Dai Duong, later responded that the jackpot was invalid because it resulted from a malfunction in the machine.
Sam argued that the machine had functioned fine when it collected his money while he was losing. Why then, he asked, woult they refuse to pay him when he won?
Since the casino management refused payment, Sam filed a lawsuit against the Dai Duong company and has already spent VND1.1 billion ($52,600) on legal fees in filing the suit.
According to the District 1 People's Committee, this is the first lawsuit involving a jackpot dipute ever handled by a Vietnamese court.
