bigendian wrote:
Certainly a malfunction. 42 949 672 95 is the largest number expressible using 4 bytes of data. If a number is stored in this format, then some computers / programming languages will evaluate 0 subtract 1 as this number, based on some sort of "wrap around". It looks like they were using such data types to track the the pay out in cents, and some programming error caused an unexpected subtraction. A CS Major will be able to explain this in more detail.
This should be POD. Fantastic sleuthing, majordomo! That is a nerdy and incredibly helpful response.
My own feeling is that the casino should award the woman some % of that payout. One percent, for example: $429, 496. That wouldn't dent the casino's profits and her lawyer and her just might find it acceptable.
They'd probably find 10% more acceptable.