Sengel v. IGT

• Decision Date: 14 June 2000
• Docket Number: No. 32833.,32833.
• Citation: 2 P.3d 258,116 Nev. 565
• Parties: Cengiz SENGEL, Appellant, v. IGT, and the Silver Legacy-Reno, Respondents.
• Court: Nevada Supreme Court

2 P.3d 258

116 Nev. 565

Cengiz SENGEL, Appellant, v. IGT, and the Silver Legacy-Reno, Respondents.

No. 32833.

Supreme Court of Nevada.

June 14, 2000.

White Law Chartered, Reno, for Appellant.

Lionel Sawyer & Collins and Dan R. Reaser, Reno, for Respondents.

BEFORE THE COURT EN BANC.

OPINION

LEAVITT, J.:

While appellant was playing a slot machine, an internal malfunction suspended the game, abruptly stopping the reels. The reels stopped with three jackpot symbols appearing in an uneven line across the pay line. The internal error was cleared, causing the game to reset, and a non-winning combination appeared on the reels after play resumed. The Nevada Gaming Control Board agent dispatched to the scene conducted an investigation and concluded that appellant did not have a valid win because of the malfunction and the uneven alignment of the jackpot symbols. Appellant petitioned the Nevada Gaming Control Board for reconsideration and the Board affirmed the agent's decision. Appellant petitioned the district court for judicial review and the district court dismissed the petition, affirming the Board's decision.

We affirm the district court's judgment upholding the Board's decision, because the decision was supported by adequate evidence and was not arbitrary or capricious or otherwise contrary to law.

FACTS

On September 21, 1996, appellant Cengiz Sengel was playing an IGT Quartermania Triple Diamond slot machine at the Silver Legacy Casino in Reno, Nevada. The IGT slot machine was part of a statewide, progressive jackpot system of inter-linked slot machines. Sengel placed two quarters, the required number to play for the progressive jackpot, into the machine and initiated a play. The progressive jackpot amount at the time of the play was approximately $1,797,000, to be awarded for an alignment of three Quartermania symbols across the sole pay line.

The slot machine malfunctioned when the microswitch on the cash door of the bill validator reported to the machine's internal monitoring system that the cash door was open. This malfunction caused the slot machine to immediately suspend play: (1) the reels abruptly stopped spinning with three Quartermania jackpot symbols appearing in an uneven line across the pay line; (2) a tilt code appeared in the "winner paid" window; (3) the light on top of the machine flashed a maintenance signal; (4) the progressive jackpot amount did not stop; (5) no sirens or music came from the slot machine; and (6) no jackpot win registered on the inter-linked computer system.

Sengel claimed a jackpot win, but the casino's slot shift manager concluded that there was not a valid win because of the apparent malfunction and the misalignment of the symbols. Sengel disagreed with the shift manager, who immediately contacted the Nevada Gaming Control Board (hereafter "Board") and the slot machine manufacturer, IGT. Board agent Robert Johnson arrived at the Silver Legacy and conducted a thorough investigation of the dispute.

The tilt error code was cleared by a casino employee, through a manual adjustment of the microswitch on the cash door, and the game was reset. As soon as the game reset, play resumed and a non-winning combination, three blanks, appeared on the slot machine. The Board agent performed several tests on the machine and verified that Sengel did not have a valid jackpot. The agent concluded his investigation and sent a letter to Sengel, stating that there was not a valid win because the game had been suspended due to a malfunction and when the game was completed the result was a non-winning alignment.

Sengel filed a petition for reconsideration with the Board. A two-day hearing was held before a Board hearing examiner, who concluded that Sengel had not demonstrated by a preponderance of evidence that the Board agent's decision should be modified or reversed and recommended that the Board affirm the agent's decision. The Board subsequently accepted that recommendation and affirmed the denial of the jackpot.

Sengel filed a petition for judicial review with the district court. After a hearing, the district court dismissed the petition and affirmed the Board. This appeal followed.

DISCUSSION

The Nevada Gaming Control Board has exclusive jurisdiction to resolve a disputed claim, such as Sengel's, by a patron of a gaming licensee for payment of a gambling debt that is not evidenced by a credit instrument. NRS 463.361(2)(a).¹ No other remedy exists to enforce a gaming debt not evidenced by a credit instrument. NRS 463.361(1). Once the Board resolves such a gaming dispute, any person aggrieved by the Board's decision may obtain judicial review of the Board's decision, subject to the following limitations on judicial review:

The reviewing court may affirm the decision and order of the board or the hearing examiner, or it may remand the case for further proceedings or reverse the decision if the substantial rights of the petitioner have been prejudiced because the decision is:

(a) In violation of constitutional provisions;

(b) In excess of the statutory authority or jurisdiction of the board or the hearing examiner;

(c) Made upon unlawful procedure;

(d) Unsupported by any evidence; or

(e) Arbitrary or capricious or otherwise not in accordance with law.

NRS 463.3666(3).

I. Decision supported by "any" evidence

Sengel implicitly argues that reversal of the Board is justified under NRS 463.3666(3)(d) because the Board's decision is not supported by any evidence. Sengel states that there are no disputed facts, yet consistently recasts the factual findings of the Board throughout his argument. Therefore, we will address the issue as though raised explicitly.

The district court exhibited some confusion as to whether the "any" evidence or the "substantial" evidence standard applied. The district court stated that because there was "overwhelming" evidence supporting the Board's decision, there was enough evidence to affirm the Board under either standard. After reviewing the record, we agree that the Board's decision was supported by both "substantial" evidence and "any" evidence, although the district court should have conducted its review under the "any" evidence standard. NRS 463.3666(3)(d). Because the district court arrived at the correct decision, even though based on the wrong standard, we affirm that decision. See Hotel Riviera, Inc. v. Torres, 97 Nev. 399, 403, 632 P.2d 1155, 1158 (1981) (holding that a correct decision of a district court will be affirmed, even if based on the wrong reason).

In order to give clear direction to the lower courts and prevent the application of the wrong standard in the future, primarily in cases with less than substantial evidence in which using the wrong standard could make a difference, we take this opportunity to clarify that the "any" evidence standard applies. NRS 463.3666(3)(d) uses the word "any" instead of "substantial," indicating that a reviewing court should affirm a decision of the Board which is supported by any evidence whatsoever, even if that evidence is less than "that which `"a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion."'" City of Las Vegas v. Laughlin, 111 Nev. 557, 558, 893 P.2d 383, 384 (1995) (defining the "substantial" evidence standard) (quoting State, Emp. Security v. Hilton Hotels, 102 Nev. 606, 608, 729 P.2d 497, 498 (1986) (quoting Richardson v. Perales, 402 U.S. 389, 401, 91 S.Ct. 1420, 28 L.Ed.2d 842 (1971))). This comports with the "great deference" we afford a decision of the Board on appeal. See Redmer v. Barbary Coast Hotel & Casino, 110 Nev. 374, 378, 872 P.2d 341, 344 (1994).

With this standard in mind, we examine Sengel's contentions.

Sengel contends that the slot machine did not malfunction because it acted exactly as it was designed to operate. By stopping abruptly upon receiving an error code, the machine produced a result on the reels in a manner in which it was designed. Because, argues Sengel, the reels were stopped in a manner in which they were designed to be stopped, the result was not a malfunction.

However, the Board heard evidence that the slot machine was only designed to produce jackpots via the random number generator. It was not designed to produce a final game result with the sudden stoppage of the reels caused by an error code. Any result shown on the reels during suspension of the game was designed to be just that: a suspended result. Upon a reel shutdown caused by a tilt code, the machine was not designed to recognize the suspended result as a legitimate outcome, be it an apparent winning or non-winning alignment. Respondents' witnesses testified that, while the game did do what it was designed to do, which is to immediately shut down upon detection of an error code, the game was not designed to produce a final play alignment of the reels until after the error code was cleared. Sengel's own expert witness admitted on cross-examination that a door tilt code would have to be considered a malfunction. Further, the Board took evidence from Board agent Robert Johnson that the machine itself showed a malfunction code and in other ways visually appeared to not have a valid jackpot. The abrupt stop of the reels, the uneven alignment of the jackpot symbols, the tilt code in the "winner paid" window, the maintenance light on top of the machine and the absence of jackpot lights, the continued running of the progressive jackpot amount, the lack of sirens or music coming from the slot machine, and the fact that no jackpot win registered on the inter-linked computer system all support the Board's finding that a malfunction occurred. Accordingly, Sengel's argument is without merit, because there is evidence to support a finding that a malfunction occurred.

Sengel challenges the Board's finding that the malfunction was part of the slot machine, not part of associated equipment. He argues that the slot machine itself is a "gaming device," as defined in NRS 463.0155, but...