HomeHot PicksBally’s pays out the jackpot winner, whose immigration status was cited as an issue

Bally’s pays out the jackpot winner, whose immigration status was cited as an issue

JACKPOTS05 Jan 2026
2 min. read
Handshake
  • An immigrant and asylum seeker who contacted the media to report Bally’s withholding of a jackpot has received his money
  • In late December, the gambler, identified as Nick, won $1,250 pl; playing at the CBS Chicago
  • He was refused a payout due to his immigration status, but the issue has since been resolved amicably

Following a CBS Chicago report, Bally’s Casino in Chicago has paid out a patron his owed $1,250 jackpot, which he won during the holiday season.

The person was denied payout initially, with the property arguing that it could not settle the payment due to his immigration status.

Immigrant runs into issues trying to cash out a jackpot with a legitimate ID


The man, who is an immigrant and who has applied through the official channels to stay in the United States and is awaiting a decision on his asylum-seeker status, argued that the withholding of the jackpot money was unjustified.

The person even had a government-issued temporary driving license from the state of Illinois, which was an official document. A driver’s license is usually enough to obtain jackpots in most casinos in the country, an expert told CBS Chicago, which broke the original story.

However, Nick, as the winner, said that the casino did not offer specific reasons for turning down the jackpot payout of $1,250 - an amount that Nick said was not negligible, especially during the Christmas holiday.

Following the report, however, Bally’s has stepped up seeking to remediate the situation, and contacted the player, deciding to payout his winnings. The gambler contacted the media to confirm that this was indeed the case.

Bally’s chooses to solve things amicably and apologizes

According to Nick, he was offered the property’s apologies, the full amount of the jackpot, and a free dinner for his troubles.

Nick told the media that he largely believed the fact that CBS Chicago broke the story had influenced the property’s decision to settle the jackpot payout.

The current property is a temporary casino, as Bally’s anticipates the opening of its fully fleshed and finalized property.


Image credit: Unsplash.com

05 Jan 2026
2 min. read
Comments
Nobody has commented on this article yet. Be the first one to leave a comment.

Send us a tip

Would you like us to cover a specific story? Send it to us!

Latest gambling news right in your inbox

Subscribe to our newsletter and receive a weekly dose of the most important events from the gambling industry.
Stay up to date
Would you like to be notified about latest gambling news and updates?
Allow