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Buenos Aires (dpa) - An Argentine woman won close to 11.5 million dollars on Monday in a bingo game in the town of Lomas del Mirador, a western suburb of Buenos Aires.
But the establishment refused to pay up.
"Manual payment 35,663,093.02 pesos," the woman saw in white letters on the red screen before her. The amount is approximately equivalent to 11.5 million dollars, and the picture - which the not- quite-so-lucky winner claims is proof of the prize - was repeatedly shown on Argentine television.
However, the bingo management refused to pay, alleging there was a mistake since the machine could not deliver such a high sum of cash. Upon hearing such excuses the woman literally "hugged" the machine, refused to leave the premises and called the media.
After several hours of negotiations the private bingo company offered to pay 10,500 dollars and suggested the woman file a formal complaint before the Provincial Lottery that supervises the games parlour.
The winner's husband told local television that the couple had hired lawyers to look into the case and vowed to press charges.
Copyright 2006 dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH
