IN THE SUPREME COURT OF IOWA

No. 14–0802

Filed April 24, 2015

PAULINE McKEE,

Appellant,

vs.

ISLE OF CAPRI CASINOS, INC. and IOC BLACK HAWK COUNTY, INC.,

Appellees.

Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, 

Todd A. Geer, Judge.

A casino patron who sued to recover a bonus allegedly won on a 

slot machine appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment to 

the casino. AFFIRMED.

Stephen J. Powell of Swisher & Cohrt, P.L.C., Waterloo, and 

Steven R. Enochian of Low McKinley Baleria & Salenko, Walnut Creek, 

California, for appellant.

Stacey L. Cormican of Nyemaster Goode, Cedar Rapids, and Mark 

A. Schultheis of Nyemaster Goode, P.C., Des Moines, for appellees.
2

MANSFIELD, Justice.

This case requires us to apply ordinary contract principles to an 

extraordinary event. While playing a penny slot machine, a casino 

patron obtained a win of 185 credits, or $1.85, based on how the 

symbols had lined up. However, at the same time a message appeared 

on the screen stating, “Bonus Award - $41797550.16.” The casino 

refused to pay the alleged bonus, claiming it was an error and not part of 

the game. The patron brought suit against the casino, asserting breach 

of contract, estoppel, and consumer fraud. The district court granted 

summary judgment to the casino. The patron appealed.

On appeal, we conclude the district court’s grant of summary 

judgment was proper. The rules of the game formed a contract between 

the patron and the casino, and the patron was not entitled to the bonus 

under those rules. Further, the patron failed to prove the necessary

elements of either promissory or equitable estoppel. At no time did the 

casino represent to her that a bonus would be available if she played the 

game, nor did the casino promise to pay the $41 million after the notice 

was displayed. In any event, the patron did not detrimentally rely on any 

representation by the casino. Finally, the patron failed to present proof 

of an ascertainable loss sufficient to warrant recovery on her consumer 

fraud claim. We therefore affirm the district court’s ruling granting 

summary judgment to the casino on all three counts.

I. Background Facts and Proceedings.

On July 2, 2011, Pauline McKee, an eighty-seven-year-old

grandmother of thirteen living in Antioch, Illinois, was attending a family 

reunion in Waterloo. That evening, she and several members of her 

family gambled at the Isle Casino Hotel Waterloo operated by IOC Black 

Hawk County, Inc. (hereinafter jointly referred to as “the casino”), a 
3

combination hotel and casino where some members of the reunion party 

were staying. Around nine o’clock, one of McKee’s daughters invited 

McKee to sit down next to her and play a slot machine called “Miss 

Kitty.” McKee had played slot machines two to three times per year since 

she was approximately twenty-one years old, but had never played this 

particular game before.

The Miss Kitty game is a penny slot machine manufactured by 

Aristocrat Technologies, Inc. (Aristocrat). It displays five reels and fifty 

paylines on a video screen. To play the game, a patron selects the 

number of paylines and the amount bet per line. One cent buys one 

credit, and one half credit buys one line. A player’s total bet is calculated 

by multiplying the number of credits by the number of lines bet. 

Therefore, although it is called a penny machine, it is possible to bet 

more than just one cent per spin. As with other slot machines, a person 

wins at the Miss Kitty game by lining up different combinations of 

symbols from left to right on the paylines.

The game includes a button entitled “Touch Game Rules” in the 

lower left-hand corner of the screen. Tapping this button displays the 

rules that govern the game and a chart describing potential winning 

combinations of symbols, known as a paytable. The first page of the 

rules reads as follows:

TOTAL BET is the number of credits on the LINES 

button multiplied by the number on the BET button. TOTAL 

BET and lines played during the free games are the same as 

for the game that started the feature. Choose your number 

of paylines, then choose your bet per line to begin game. 

Highest win paid on any lit payline except for scatters which 

are added to payline wins. Scattered [moon emblem] wins 

added to payline wins. All wins shown in credits. All wins 

multiplied by credits bet per line except scatters. Wins on 

different lit paylines added. All wins on lines played except 

scatters which are added to payline wins.
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MALFUNCTION VOIDS ALL PAYS AND PLAYS. . . .

The next rules screen states, “All wins begin with leftmost reel, and 

pay left to right only on adjacent reels.” Additionally, the rules provide 

that when three “scattered moon” symbols appear left to right on 

adjacent wheels, the player wins double the total amount displayed. 

Furthermore, when three “scattered moon” symbols appear on the 

screen, the game enters a special mode called “Sticky WildTM Free Games 

Feature” that lasts for ten games. During these ten games, any wild 

symbol (represented by a Miss Kitty emblem) that appears on the screen 

“sticks” and stays in place for the rest of the ten games, thereby making 

it easier for the patron to complete winning patterns.

The third rules screen explains there are eleven symbols other 

than the moon and Miss Kitty wild images, each with varying credit 

values. The fourth screen displays the paytable entitled “Paylines.” 

Finally, a sign posted on the front of the machine reiterates, 

“MALFUNCTION VOIDS ALL PAYS AND PLAYS.”

The parties agree that all the potential ways of winning from lining 

up various combinations of symbols are accurately listed in the rules and 

paytable. The rules and paytable do not mention any additional 

bonuses, jackpots, or prizes available to a patron playing the Miss Kitty 

game. 

McKee did not read the rules of the game or look at the paytable

before playing the Miss Kitty game. Around 10:00 p.m., after McKee had 

been using the machine for a while, she wagered $0.25 on a particular 

spin. The following message appeared:

Credit Bet Win

1810 25 185

The reels have rolled your way!
5

Bonus Award - $41797550.16

Beneath this message was a five-by-four configuration of symbols. It is 

undisputed that under the rules of the game, McKee was entitled to a 

win of 185 credits, or $1.85, based on that alignment of symbols. The 

dispute, of course, concerns the “Bonus Award” of $41,797,550.16.

Believing she had won a large bonus, McKee and her daughter 

summoned a casino attendant to the machine. An employee responded 

and accessed the main door of the game to clean the central processing 

unit. The senior supervisor/shift manager on duty that night was also 

called to the machine to investigate. The supervisor photographed the 

display on the Miss Kitty machine. A slot technician restarted the game. 

The supervisor informed McKee and her daughter that she needed to 

make a few phone calls and gave McKee a $10 card to play other games

while she waited. Eventually, a casino manager instructed the 

supervisor to block off the machine pending further investigation. The 

supervisor paid McKee the $18.10 she had won on the Miss Kitty 

machine up to that point. The supervisor explained the casino was 

looking into the machine and informed McKee her room would be paid 

for by the casino. No employee of the casino ever informed McKee that 

she would actually receive the $41,797,550.16 bonus.

The next day, the vice president/general manager of the casino 

also investigated the incident and left a note and her business card for 

McKee. She concluded it was an “unusual situation” and comped the 

additional rooms that McKee’s family members were staying in. She 

explained the casino had informed the Iowa Racing and Gaming 

Commission (IRGC) of the situation and that the machine would be 

secured and studied.
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The IRGC conducted an independent investigation. As part of this 

investigation, it sent the hardware and software from the Miss Kitty 

machine to a testing laboratory, Gaming Laboratories Inc. (GLI), along 

with related documentation and other materials. GLI’s analysis

concluded as follows:

The logs on the machine do indicate that it thought it 

received a legacy bonus.1 However, in reviewing the legacy 

bonusing aspect of SAS [the casino’s “slot accounting 

system”] it was noticed that the SAS legacy bonus command 

can send a bonus up to $99999.99, which is far less than 

was awarded by the game. Furthermore, the system does 

not support legacy bonusing. As a result, it appears the SPC 

board [hardware inside the Miss Kitty machine] erroneously 

determined that it received a legacy bonus award from the 

system and sent it to the game.

. . . .

In conclusion, GLI was unable to definitively determine 

the exact cause of the erroneous bonus award. However, it 

is apparent, based on the reviewed information that the 

bonus award was not valid. Unfortunately, given the lack of 

conclusive evidence, GLI cannot confidently speculate as to 

how the bonus amount was received and displayed at the 

gaming machine in question. However, it is highly likely that 

the erroneous message originated from the SPC 2.0 

communication board and was then relayed to the game.

The IRGC also requested information from the manufacturer of the 

machine, Aristocrat. Aristocrat responded to the IRGC with a letter 

concluding that the bonus displayed on the screen was an error. It noted 

it had previously issued a bulletin regarding the issue:

ATI [Aristocrat Technologies, Inc.] has been aware of 

the possibility of an erroneous value being displayed under 

this type of situation, i.e., where “Legacy Bonusing” is 

enabled on the gaming machine without the required poll.

1Although the record is somewhat unclear as to what a “legacy bonus” is, it 

appears to be a form of bonus transmitted from the casino’s central system to the 

specific machine. Regardless, it is undisputed that bonuses were not a part of the Miss 

Kitty game.

 
7

In response to the possibility of this type of erroneous 

display, ATI previously provided a Technical Information 

Bulletin to the Industry in November, 2010. The Technical 

Bulletin outlined the issue and the course of action 

Aristocrat was taking in developing a new System Base and 

SPC2, as well as ATI’s recommendation to casinos for 

disabling of the bonus option as a preventative action.

The technical bulletin the casino had received from Aristocrat 

described the problem as follows:

A rare and unlikely circumstance has been discovered 

when legacy bonusing is enabled on the MKVITM platform 

when used with the SPC2.0 – an erroneous bonus amount 

can be awarded to the machine, which may cause the 

machine to go into an attendant hand pay condition with the 

erroneous bonus amount displayed on the screen. Aristocrat

believes that SPC2.0 component degradation over time may 

increase the susceptibility to this rare occurrence.

An accompanying product notification described the solution to the 

problem as a “Non-Mandatory upgrade” and stated “[t]he conditionally 

revoked version must be replaced in the field by August 31, 2011.”

The record also indicates that this machine had been serviced 

earlier in the evening of July 2 and that the CPU had been cleaned and 

reinstalled around 7:30 p.m.

As a result of the IRGC’s investigation, administrator Brian 

Ohorilko wrote a letter to the casino manager concluding the bonus was 

an invalid display. The letter stated, in relevant part:

Based on the information available and received, the 

jackpot amount displayed on the slot machine game screen 

is not valid. . . . The information pertaining to the maximum 

award was displayed on the pay table of the slot machine; 

therefore the maximum award information was available to 

the player prior to playing. In addition, the symbols on the 

slot machine game screen resulting from the spin by the 

patron demonstrated a combination that should pay out 

$1.85 as verified by the paytable on the slot machine . . . .

. . . .
8

In summary, IRGC staff has confirmed that the slot 

machine game malfunctioned and did not operate in 

accordance with the representation made to the commission.

Based on the IRGC’s determination that the bonus award 

displayed on the screen was not valid, the casino refused to pay McKee 

the $41,797,550.16.

McKee filed suit against the casino in the Iowa District Court for 

Black Hawk County on January 26, 2012. She alleged the casino had 

breached a contract to pay her the bonus, the casino should be estopped 

from refusing to pay the award, and the casino’s actions violated Iowa’s

Consumer Fraud Act. See Iowa Code § 714H.5 (2011).

The casino moved for summary judgment. In support of its 

motion, the casino attached numerous exhibits, including a copy of its 

license from the IRGC, a photograph of the screen displaying the award

message, the Miss Kitty instruction screens and paytable, a copy of the 

IRGC’s letter, and excerpts from McKee’s deposition. McKee resisted the 

motion for summary judgment and submitted her own exhibits, 

including two depositions from McKee herself, numerous excerpts from 

depositions of casino employees, copies of the GLI and Aristocrat letters, 

interrogatory answers from her expert indicating the award was not the 

result of a malfunction, and the log from the slot machine in question.

The district court granted the casino’s motion on all three counts 

in a ruling issued on October 15, 2013. With respect to the contract 

claim, the court stated that all gambling contracts in Iowa are governed 

by chapter 99F. See Iowa Code ch. 99F. Observing that this chapter 

grants regulatory authority to the IRGC, the court concluded the rules of 

the game approved by the IRGC constituted the contract between McKee 

and the casino:
9

These written, approved rules of the Miss Kitty game 

formed the gambling contract between McKee and the 

casino. McKee could have read the rules of play had she 

chosen to do so. Although she did not actually read the 

rules of the game, she was nevertheless bound by them 

when she chose to play the game. By doing so, she entered 

into a written, binding, “aleatory” contract with the casino. 

[A]n aleatory contract is one in which a party’s duty to 

perform is conditioned upon some fortuitous event, such as 

winning at a slot machine. . . . Under the aleatory contract 

in this case, McKee promised to pay a certain amount of 

money and place bets, and the casino promised to give her 

an award based on what bets she made and the way the 

“reels” lined up at the end of the game of chance. On the 

play in question, the alignment of the reels entitled her to a 

prize of $1.85, and the casino paid it to her, fulfilling its side 

of the contract.

. . . .

In this case, Plaintiff seems to simultaneously argue 

that the “bonus” shown on the game screen was both 

directly related to the playing of the game, and completely 

separate from it. On the one hand, during the hearing on 

the current motion, Plaintiff asserted that the bonus shown 

on the screen was not related to the alignment of the reels, 

but rather to a “legacy bonus payout system.” Plaintiff 

argued that such bonuses are marketing tools not subject to 

IRGC regulation, analogous to such “bonuses” as free rooms 

or meals for loyal patrons. As such, Plaintiff argued, the 

bonuses exist outside the written rules of the game itself.

The Court finds this argument unconvincing. 

Although the casino had enabled a “legacy bonus” feature on 

the slot machine, Plaintiff had no reason to believe that by 

playing the game she might be able to win any money 

beyond that related to the rules of the game.

(Alteration in original.) (Citations omitted.) (Internal quotation 

marks omitted.)

The court went on to grant summary judgment to the casino on

McKee’s equitable and promissory estoppel claims as well. It noted 

“neither version of estoppel can be used to undo the terms of an express, 

written contract.” It also concluded McKee’s promissory estoppel claim 

failed because she did not provide evidence of either a clear and definite 

promise or detrimental reliance. Additionally, the court rejected McKee’s 
10

consumer fraud claim, reasoning that she had not suffered an 

“ascertainable loss of money or property” based on fraud. See Iowa Code 

§ 714H.5(1). At most, McKee had not received a $41 million bonus she

claimed to be entitled to.

Subsequently, McKee filed a rule 1.904(2) motion asking the court 

to enlarge or amend its findings and reconsider its grant of summary 

judgment to the casino. McKee argued the court should not have 

considered the IRGC’s letter determining the Miss Kitty game 

malfunctioned. She maintained the letter was irrelevant since the IRGC 

did not have jurisdiction to resolve disputes between casinos and 

patrons. McKee also claimed the record evidence did not support the 

court’s conclusion that there was an express contract between her and 

the casino. She further urged that whether or not the machine had 

“malfunctioned” was a question of fact that precluded summary 

judgment. Likewise, McKee argued the evidence did not support a 

finding of summary judgment with respect to the estoppel or consumer 

fraud claims. Finally, McKee requested the court to consider several

depositions that had been taken after the summary judgment hearing 

but before the court’s ruling. 

The casino opposed McKee’s rule 1.904(2) motion, maintaining 

that McKee should not be permitted to offer new evidence and that the 

court’s initial ruling on summary judgment had been correct. On April 

23, 2014, the court ruled on McKee’s rule 1.904(2) motion. It stated it 

had reviewed all the new evidence, including McKee’s additional 

depositions, and still concluded that no issues of material fact precluded 

summary judgment in the casino’s favor.

McKee appealed on May 14, and we retained the case. The casino 

moved to dismiss the appeal, claiming it was untimely. It stated that 
11

McKee’s rule 1.904(2) motion was filed for an improper purpose (to 

introduce new evidence), and therefore did not toll the period in which to 

file an appeal, resulting in an untimely notice of appeal. We ordered the 

motion to dismiss submitted with the appeal.

II. Standard of Review.

We review grants of summary judgment for correction of errors at 

law. Freeman v. Grain Processing Corp., 848 N.W.2d 58, 65 (Iowa 2014). 

“Summary judgment is appropriate when there is no genuine issue of 

material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of 

law.” Rosauer Corp. v. Sapp Dev., L.L.C., 856 N.W.2d 906, 908 (Iowa 

2014). We view the record in the light most favorable to McKee because 

she is the nonmoving party. See Shelby Cnty. Cookers, L.L.C. v. Util.

Consultants Int’l, Inc., 857 N.W.2d 186, 189 (Iowa 2014). 

While actions brought under the Consumer Fraud Act are normally 

tried in equity and reviewed de novo, when they are resolved on a motion 

for summary judgment, our review is for the correction of errors at law. 

State ex rel. Miller v. Cutty’s Des Moines Camping Club, Inc., 694 N.W.2d 

518, 524 (Iowa 2005).

III. Timeliness of the Appeal.

We first address the casino’s motion to dismiss McKee’s appeal as 

untimely. Our court rules provide that a party must file a notice of 

appeal from a final order of the district court within thirty days. Iowa R. 

App. P. 6.101(1)(b). When an appeal is not filed within the limitations 

period, we do not have subject matter jurisdiction over the appeal. Baur

v. Baur Farms, Inc., 832 N.W.2d 663, 668 (Iowa 2013). However, if a 

party files a timely and procedurally proper motion under Iowa Rule of 

Civil Procedure 1.904(2), this extends the deadline for filing the notice of 

appeal to thirty days after the ruling on the motion. See Iowa R. App. P. 
12

6.101(1)(b). The casino contends that because McKee’s rule 1.904(2) 

motion was filed for an improper reason, it failed to toll the filing period 

for her appeal, and her subsequent notice of appeal was rendered

untimely. See In re Marriage of Okland, 699 N.W.2d 260, 266–67 (Iowa 

2005) (“[A]n untimely or improper rule 1.904(2) motion cannot extend the 

time for appeal.” (Footnote omitted.)).

Generally speaking, a party cannot use a rule 1.904(2) motion to 

introduce new evidence. See In re Marriage of Bolick, 539 N.W.2d 357, 

361 (Iowa 1995) (“Motions under rule [1.904(2)’s predecessor] are 

permitted so that courts may enlarge or modify findings based on 

evidence already in the record. They are not vehicles for parties to retry 

issues based on new facts.”). However, that was not the only basis for 

McKee’s motion. For example, McKee’s motion also challenged the 

district court’s repeated references to a “malfunction” in its summary 

judgment ruling, emphasizing that on the record as it existed before that 

ruling, whether the Miss Kitty machine had malfunctioned was a 

disputed issue of material fact. Furthermore, McKee noted the casino 

had not requested summary judgment on the basis of an undisputed 

malfunction. The district court in fact modified this aspect of its original 

ruling when it acted on McKee’s motion.

In Tenney v. Atlantic Associates, we determined the plaintiff’s 

motion was adequate to toll the appellate filing period, despite the fact 

the plaintiff had requested the court to consider new evidence, because 

the motion also had a proper purpose. See 594 N.W.2d 11, 14 (Iowa 

1999). We noted:

It is true the postjudgment motion relied on evidence that 

had not been included in the original resistance, but it also 

relied on evidence that had been included in the resistance. . 

. . The plaintiff’s motion asked the court to modify the 
13

judgment in light of this [existing] evidence and was a proper 

motion . . . .

Id. For similar reasons, we conclude McKee’s appeal was timely and the 

casino’s motion to dismiss should be denied.

IV. Merits of the Summary Judgment Ruling.

Having determined the appeal was timely, we turn now to the 

merits. McKee contends the court committed legal error in granting 

summary judgment on the three counts of her petition: breach of 

contract, estoppel, and consumer fraud. We will address each in turn.

A. Breach of Contract. McKee claims summary judgment was 

inappropriate on her contract claim because the court incorrectly 

concluded there was an express contract. She urges us instead to find 

that only an implied contract existed and it should be for the factfinder 

to determine its terms. She further claims that any contract between the 

two parties was ambiguous, thereby generating another fact question for 

the jury.

Gambling contracts are governed by traditional contract principles. 

See Blackford v. Prairie Meadows Racetrack & Casino, Inc., 778 N.W.2d 

184, 189 (Iowa 2010). A contract can be either express or implied. 

Rucker v. Taylor, 828 N.W.2d 595, 601 (Iowa 2013). We have recently 

explained the difference between express and implied contracts:

When the parties manifest their agreement by words the 

contract is said to be express. When it is manifested by 

conduct it is said to be implied in fact. Both are true 

contracts formed by a mutual manifestation of assent by the 

parties to the same terms of the contract. The differentiation 

arises from the method of proving the existence thereof.

Id. (internal quotation marks omitted). “[T]he law will not imply a 

contract where there is an express contract.” Scott v. Grinnell Mut. Reins.

Co., 653 N.W.2d 556, 562 (Iowa 2002) (alteration in original) (internal 
14

quotation marks omitted); see also 1 Richard A. Lord, Williston on 

Contracts § 1:5, at 40 (4th ed. 2007) (“The law may recognize an implied 

contract in the absence of an express contract on the same subject 

matter, but not where there is an express contract . . . .”).

We agree with the district court that the Miss Kitty rules of the 

game are the relevant contract here and that they form an express 

contract. “It is hornbook law that the rules of a contest constitute a 

contract offer and that the participant’s [entry into] the contest 

constitute[s] an acceptance of that offer, including all of its terms and 

conditions.” Sargent v. N.Y. Daily News, L.P., 840 N.Y.S.2d 101, 103 

(App. Div. 2007) (first alteration in original) (internal quotation marks 

omitted); see also Anthony Cabot & Robert Hannum, Advantage Play and 

Commercial Casinos, 74 Miss. L.J. 681, 682–83 (2005) (“Casino-style 

gambling involves a contract, which is simply a promise, or set of 

promises, between the casino and the player.” (Footnote omitted.)).

Further, it is undisputed the rules of the Miss Kitty game did not 

provide for any kind of bonus. Hence, in our view, McKee had no 

contractual right to a bonus. Any message appearing on the screen

indicating the patron would receive a $41 million bonus was a gratuitous 

promise and the casino’s failure to pay it could not be challenged as a 

breach of contract. See Margeson v. Artis, 776 N.W.2d 652, 655 (Iowa 

2009) (“[C]ontract law exists to enforce mutual bargains, not gratuitous 

promises.”). Consider the other side of the coin: Suppose the symbols 

had aligned so that McKee was entitled to a payout under the rules of the 

game, but the machine did not inform her of a payout. Would the casino 

have been obligated to compensate her despite the absence of a 

notification that she had won? We think so.
15

Nor is it relevant that McKee failed to read the rules of the game 

before playing it. It is sufficient that those rules were readily accessible

to her and she had an opportunity to read them. See Huber v. Hovey,

501 N.W.2d 53, 55 (Iowa 1993) (“[F]ailure to read a contract before 

signing it will not invalidate the contract. Absent fraud or mistake, 

ignorance of a written contract’s contents will not negate its effect.” 

(Citation omitted.)).

Courts in other jurisdictions, when confronted with bonus payout 

claims against casinos, have regularly applied the foregoing standard 

contract principles. In Eash v. Imperial Palace of Mississippi, LLC, the 

Mississippi Supreme Court held a patron was limited to the $8000 

payout listed in the game’s rules rather than the $1,000,000 bonus that 

had appeared on the game screen. 4 So. 3d 1042, 1048 (Miss. 2009). 

Eash was playing a slot machine at the casino when a message scrolled 

across the screen reflecting a 200,000 credit “Jackpot” totaling 

$1,000,000. Id. at 1043. The rules of the game as displayed on the 

machine, however, indicated the maximum available award was only 

$8000. Id. at 1043–44. The court concluded that the display of a higher 

jackpot amount than was available under the posted rules did not create 

an ambiguity in the gambling contract:

The fact that the electronic displays erroneously stated that 

Eash won $1,000,000 after she hit the winning combination 

does not create an ambiguity . . . . Though it unfortunately 

caused some confusion, there was no indication from 

anything on the machine before Eash began playing that 

indicated that a patron could win anything more than 

$8,000 with three double diamonds lined up on the pay line. 

In other words, there was no question, ex ante, as to what a 

winning combination was or what the corresponding award 

would be on the machine in this case.

Id. at 1047.
16

In Pickle v. IGT, the same court turned down a slot machine 

player’s claim under similar circumstances. 830 So. 2d 1214, 1223 

(Miss. 2002). There the machine displayed three symbols that, per the 

rules of the game, were not a winning combination. Id. at 1215. 

However, the machine simultaneously indicated the patron had won a 

jackpot, and the machine’s bells and whistles went off. Id. at 1215–16. 

An investigation revealed that the displayed symbols correctly depicted 

the outcome of the game (i.e., not a winner) rather than the jackpot 

notification sounds. Id. at 1218. The Mississippi Supreme Court upheld 

the investigator’s conclusion that “the symbols displayed by the 

machines correctly depicted the outcome of the game” and the patron 

was not entitled to the jackpot money despite the noises indicating a win. 

Id. at 1218, 1222 (internal quotation marks omitted).

In another case, the Alabama Supreme Court overturned a 

multimillion dollar award in favor of a casino patron, finding that 

genuine issues of material fact necessitated a trial. Macon Cnty. 

Greyhound Park, Inc. v. Knowles, 39 So. 3d 100, 112–13 (Ala. 2009). The 

patron, Knowles, had been playing an electronic bingo machine at the 

casino when she hit a “snake eyes” combination, which was worth only 

two credits according to the game’s paytable. Id. at 105–06, 112. 

Nevertheless, the machine’s lights went off and the credits on the 

machine began to accumulate up to an amount worth at least

$10,000,000. Id. at 106. Knowles contended, in part, that the rules 

should not govern the disputed payout because they were not visible on 

the face of the machine, but rather were only viewable if she pushed a 

button to read them—an action she did not do. Id. at 110. The court

found it immaterial that Knowles had not actually read the rules. Id. at 

111–12. It further determined that summary judgment for Knowles was 
17

improper because the casino’s evidence indicated the snake eyes display 

was worth only two credits. Id. at 112.

To the same effect is Miller v. Sodak Gaming, Inc., 93 F. App’x 847, 

848 (6th Cir. 2004). There, despite a patron’s claim she had won a $1.5 

million jackpot based on lights and music coming from the slot machine 

she was using, the court held she was not entitled to an award because 

there was “no genuine issue of material fact that Miller was not a jackpot 

winner under the rules of the game.” Id. at 848–49. These authorities 

support the grant of summary judgment in this case.

In contrast, the Louisiana Court of Appeals directed a casino to 

pay bonuses of $65,581.00 and $32,790.50 respectively to two patrons 

even though the bonuses were allegedly more than the maximum payout 

the machine had been programmed to award. Ledoux v. Grand Casino–

Coushatta, 954 So. 2d 902, 904, 909 (La. Ct. App. 2007). In that case, 

two plaintiffs on separate occasions had played the same slot machine 

game. Id. at 908. Both times, the monitor displayed a combination of 

three “7s” and indicated the patrons had won a “Bonus Spin.” Id. When 

the patrons played the bonus round, the monitor on the machine 

indicated they had won the large jackpots in question. Id. In both 

instances, although employees of the casino initially congratulated the 

patrons, the casino later refused to pay the bonuses because they were a 

higher amount than the machine was supposedly programmed to award 

for a display of three “7s.” Id. at 908–09. 

Ledoux is distinguishable from the present case. There, the casino 

did not dispute that the rules of the game included a bonus wheel and 

that the patrons had qualified for a bonus; moreover, there was no 

indication in those rules that the amount of any given bonus was limited. 

See id. at 909–10. This contrasts with the present case, where McKee 
18

seeks an award of a random bonus not available under the rules of the 

game. 

Additionally, in Ledoux, after rejecting the casino’s rules-of-thegame defense, the court then turned to the issue of whether there had 

been a machine malfunction, a second defense asserted by the casino. 

Id. at 910. At that point, the court found the casino had not presented 

sufficient evidence to show a malfunction had in fact occurred. Id. at 

910–11. The court explained, 

[W]here there was no apparent malfunction indication by the 

slot machine itself, a casino may not rely on the argument 

that the machine was not intended to register the particular 

jackpot to deny payment. That is to say, there must [be]

objective proof of a malfunction. 

Id. at 912. Here, the district court did not reach the question of 

malfunction, and neither do we.

Another case where the patron prevailed because recovery was 

available under the rules of the game is IGT v. Kelly, 778 So. 2d 773, 

774–75 (Miss. 2001) (en banc). There the Mississippi Supreme Court 

found a patron was entitled to a large bonus for a display of a royal flush

on a video poker game. See id. at 779. A sign on the machine stated 

that a sequential royal flush in hearts would garner a large sum of 

money. Id. at 774. In parentheses, the sign gave the example of a “10, J, 

Q, K, A” in hearts. Id. at 775. Kelly played the machine and received an 

A, K, Q, J, 10 of hearts. Id. at 774. The casino claimed that only an 

ascending royal flush—rather than a descending one like Kelly had 

received—was sufficient to win the prize. Id. The gaming commission, in 

a finding upheld by the Mississippi Supreme Court, determined the 

patron should prevail because the sign did not specify that only
19

ascending royal flushes would win or that the example on the sign was 

only accurate if read from left to right. Id. at 774, 779.

Unlike in Kelly, in this case, the rules made no mention of the 

possibility of bonuses or jackpots beyond the actual winnings based on 

different reel combinations. In short, “there was no question, ex ante, as 

to what a winning combination was or what the corresponding award 

would be on the machine.” Eash, 4 So. 3d at 1047. The parties’ express 

contract did not include the possibility of winning a bonus, but was 

rather limited to the display of different reel combinations and their 

corresponding credit values. Therefore, we conclude McKee should be 

limited to recovering the 185 credits worth $1.85 that the parties agree 

the displayed reels amounted to, rather than the additional 

$41,797,550.16 that did not correspond to the displayed reels or the 

paytable.

McKee counters with several arguments. We will discuss each of 

them, but we do not believe any of them is sufficient to create a genuine 

issue of fact that would preclude summary judgment. First, McKee

argues that her agreement was not an express contract dictated by the 

rules of the game, but simply an implied one that she would get whatever 

the machine said she would get. McKee cites no authority for this 

theory, and as noted above, it is contrary to precedent and general 

contract principles.

Alternatively, McKee insists the “legacy bonus” is separate and 

apart from the Miss Kitty game, and that she had both an express 

agreement (the game) and an implied agreement (the bonus) with the

casino. However, even assuming McKee could have had both an express 

agreement and an implied agreement with the casino at the same time,

cf. Scott, 653 N.W.2d at 562, she fails to explain the derivation of the 
20

latter agreement. McKee had no understanding—implied or otherwise—

that she might be eligible for legacy bonuses if she played at the casino, 

and she points to nothing that could have created an expectation in any 

patron that he or she might receive such a bonus. At most, the casino, 

through the machine, made a statement that McKee was going to receive 

a bonus, which it was entitled to withdraw so long as that statement was 

not part of a binding contract.

McKee also maintains there is a fact issue whether the machine 

malfunctioned or not. Therefore, McKee continues, a trial needs to occur 

on whether the casino can avoid liability based upon the sign on the 

machine and the statement in the game rules that “MALFUNCTION 

VOIDS ALL PAYS AND PLAYS.” However, we agree with the district 

court’s rule 1.904(2) ruling that the existence or not of a mechanical 

malfunction is beside the point. It is only necessary to reach the 

malfunction defense if McKee otherwise could receive an award under 

the terms of the contract. Hypothetically, if the casino declined to pay an 

award that was otherwise payable based on the alignment of the 

symbols, the casino would then have to establish that the slot machine 

had a technical malfunction in order to avoid paying the award. See, 

e.g., Sengel v. IGT, 2 P.3d 258, 262–63 (Nev. 2000) (upholding the gaming 

control board’s denial of a jackpot to the plaintiff after a slot machine’s

reels stopped in a jackpot alignment due to a malfunction). However, 

when the machine, as here, generates an award that is not within the 

rules of the game, isolating the cause of what happened is not necessary. 

It is sufficient for present purposes that the award was erroneous in the 

sense that it was not a part of the game.

Along related lines, McKee maintains that the casino has failed to 

establish a mistake as a matter of law. Mistake, however, is a defense to 
21

be raised when a party wants to avoid the effect of the actual contract 

terms. See Soults Farms, Inc. v. Schafer, 797 N.W.2d 92, 108–09 (Iowa 

2011) (“Where there has been a mistake, whether mutual or unilateral, in 

the expression of the contract, reformation is the proper remedy.”). The 

casino does not need to rely on a mistake defense because it is following

the contract terms, not seeking to avoid them.

On point is a decision of the Michigan Court of Appeals. See 

Coleman v. State, 258 N.W.2d 84, 87 (Mich. Ct. App. 1977). In Coleman, 

the plaintiff was erroneously announced as the winner of a $200,000 

lottery prize. Id. at 86. Although the district court had found for the 

plaintiff, the court of appeals reversed and rejected the plaintiff’s claim as 

a matter of law. Id. at 87. The appellate court reasoned,

A lottery winner’s entitlement to a prize is governed by 

the principles of contract law. In the instant case the 

bureau made a public offer that the purchaser of a lottery 

ticket would have a chance of winning a prize according to 

the advertised rules and procedures of the lottery. In 

purchasing her ticket Mrs. Coleman accepted that offer and 

agreed to the announced rules for determining prize winners.

Id. at 86 (citations omitted). The court further commented,

In granting judgment for Mrs. Coleman, the lower 

court relied upon general principles of contract law 

pertaining to unilateral mistake and recision. The original 

contract between Mrs. Coleman and the bureau, however, 

was clear and unambiguous and there was no mistake as to 

its terms. The body of contract law relating to unilateral 

mistake and recision, therefore, is not applicable unless it 

can be established that a new contract was created between 

the bureau and Mrs. Coleman as a result of the erroneous 

award. . . .

. . . In this case, the bureau did not impose additional 

conditions but only enforced the previously announced rules 

for the drawing.
22

Id. at 86–87; see also Sargent, 840 N.Y.S.2d at 103–04 (finding the rules 

of the game governed rather than an erroneous notification that the 

plaintiff had won a prize).

McKee further criticizes the casino for failing to heed the slot 

machine manufacturer’s warnings by continuing to use the Miss Kitty 

machine without affirmatively disabling the legacy bonus capability. 

However, this is a tort theory, rather than a contract one. From a 

contract law perspective, what matters is whether some express or 

implied agreement gave McKee a right to a bonus, not whether the casino 

may have been negligent.2

B. Estoppel. McKee claims the trial court erred in granting 

summary judgment to the casino on her equitable and promissory 

estoppel causes of action, as well as in failing to consider equitable 

estoppel as a defense.

Equitable estoppel requires McKee to prove the following elements:

(1) The defendant has made a false representation or 

has concealed material facts; (2) the plaintiff lacks 

knowledge of the true facts; (3) the defendant intended 

2As an additional defense, the casino argues that the $41,797,550.16 bonus was 

invalid because it was far above the maximum award the IRGC had authorized for the 

game. See Iowa Code § 537A.4 (stating gambling contracts are void except for those 

authorized by statute, including under chapter 99F); id. § 99F.4 (conferring regulatory 

and supervisory jurisdiction over all gambling contracts to the IRGC); Iowa Admin. Code 

r. 491—11.4(3) (requiring submission of game rules to the IRGC in advance); id. r. 

491—11.4(5) (stating all gambling games are required to “operate and play in 

accordance with the representation made to the [Iowa Racing and Gaming C]ommission 

and the public at all times”).

In Blackford, we stated, “The freedom to contract [for gambling under chapter 

99F] is not, however, unlimited. When a contract addresses an area of law regulated by 

a statute, the statutory provisions and restrictions are a part of the parties’ contract.” 

778 N.W.2d at 189. Here, the IRGC confirmed after the fact that the maximum award 

for the game, including any potential bonus, was $10,000. However, because we 

uphold the district court’s summary judgment based on traditional contract principles, 

we need not reach the casino’s additional argument that a $41 million bonus would 

have been illegal under regulatory provisions incorporated into the parties’ contract.

 
23

the plaintiff to act upon such representations; and (4) the 

plaintiff did in fact rely upon such representations to his 

prejudice.

Sioux Pharm, Inc. v. Summit Nutritionals Int’l, Inc., 859 N.W.2d 182, 191

(Iowa 2015) (internal quotation marks omitted).

The doctrine of equitable estoppel is a common law 

doctrine preventing one party who has made certain 

representations from taking unfair advantage of another 

when the party making the representations changes its 

position to the prejudice of the party who relied upon the 

representations.

ABC Disposal Sys., Inc. v. Dep’t of Natural Res., 681 N.W.2d 596, 606 

(Iowa 2004).

Here, there is no evidence the casino made a representation on 

which McKee relied to her prejudice. See Sioux Pharm, Inc., 859 N.W.2d 

at 191 (“Because Sioux Pharm did not rely on Summit’s website 

statement, it cannot prove equitable estoppel . . . .”). Until the “Bonus 

Award” message appeared on the screen, McKee had received no 

information about a bonus and therefore could not have played the game 

in reliance on the possibility of a bonus. Nor is there evidence that 

McKee prejudicially relied on the machine’s display of a $41 million 

“Bonus Award” to pursue any subsequent course of action.

McKee’s claim of promissory estoppel fails for similar reasons. 

“The theory of promissory estoppel allows individuals to be held liable for 

their promises despite an absence of the consideration typically found in 

a contract.” Schoff v. Combine Ins. Co. of Am., 604 N.W.2d 43, 48 (Iowa 

1999). Promissory estoppel requires a party to prove “(1) a clear and 

definite oral agreement; (2) proof that plaintiff acted to his detriment in 

reliance thereon; and (3) a finding that the equities entitle the plaintiff to 

this relief.” Id. (internal quotation marks omitted). Again, McKee has no 

evidence of detrimental reliance. See, e.g., Merrifield v. Troutner, 269 
24

N.W.2d 136, 138 (Iowa 1978) (“Edgar cannot rely on promissory estoppel 

because he has not shown he relied to his detriment upon any promise 

made by Claudia.”).

In Miller, the Sixth Circuit rejected the casino patron’s promissory 

estoppel claim under comparable circumstances. See 93 F. App’x at 851. 

The patron in Miller had played a slot machine that did not register a 

winning series of symbols. Id. at 849. Miller claimed, however, that the 

lights and sounds of the machine indicated a jackpot win. Id. The court 

determined the casino should not be estopped from denying payment to 

Miller. The court reasoned, “There is no evidence, however, that [the 

defendant gaming machine operator] made a promise to pay a primary 

progressive jackpot when a player did not win pursuant to the clearly 

posted rules of the game.” Id. at 851.

Likewise, in this case, the rules and paytable of the Miss Kitty 

game listed all the winning combinations of reels and did not include the 

possibility of additional bonus wins. The only possible representation of 

a bonus, i.e., the “Bonus Award” message, did not induce detrimental 

reliance on McKee’s part. The district court therefore properly granted 

summary judgment to the casino on McKee’s estoppel claims.

C. Consumer Fraud. Chapter 714H is the Private Right of Action 

for Consumer Frauds Act. See Iowa Code § 714H.1. It prohibits certain 

unfair and fraudulent acts:

A person shall not engage in a practice or act the person 

knows or reasonably should know is an unfair practice, 

deception, fraud, false pretense, or false promise, or the 

misrepresentation, concealment, suppression, or omission of 

a material fact, with the intent that others rely upon the 

unfair practice, deception, fraud, false pretense, false

promise, misrepresentation, concealment, suppression, or 

omission in connection with the advertisement, sale, or lease 

of consumer merchandise . . . .
25

Id. § 714H.3(1). The act establishes a private right of action: “A 

consumer who suffers an ascertainable loss of money or property as the 

result of a prohibited practice or act . . . may bring an action at law to 

recover actual damages.” Id. § 714H.5(1).

We agree with the district court that McKee cannot show “an 

ascertainable loss of money or property.” See id. McKee’s consumer 

fraud claim rises or falls with her breach of contract claim. If McKee had 

no contractual right to the bonus, and we have already determined she 

did not, then she could not have suffered an ascertainable loss of money 

or property when she was denied that bonus. This is analogous to the 

situation in Blackford, where we held the plaintiff’s lack of a contractual 

right to a jackpot foreclosed his conversion claim. See 778 N.W.2d at 

190. In addition, McKee made money on her gambling that evening, so 

she had no out-of-pocket loss.

McKee cites a decision of the Missouri Court of Appeals that 

reversed the dismissal of a casino patron’s consumer fraud claim. See

Raster v. Ameristar Casinos, Inc., 280 S.W.3d 120, 131 (Mo. Ct. App. 

2009). In Raster, the casino made changes to its compensation program, 

which was like a frequent-flyer program and rewarded customers based 

on their overall gaming volume. See id. at 123. These changes included 

restructuring the point-award formulas so it was more difficult to earn 

certain awards or achieve elite status. Id. at 123–24. The casino sent a 

letter to its program members, including the plaintiffs, indicating that 

“[n]othing really has changed” despite the new formulas and policies. Id.

at 124 (internal quotation marks omitted). The plaintiffs thought 

otherwise and brought claims under that state’s consumer fraud act 

which, much like Iowa’s, required the plaintiffs to have suffered an 

“ascertainable loss” due to an unfair act “in connection with the sale or 
26

advertisement of any merchandise.” Id. at 128 (internal quotation marks 

omitted). The appellate court concluded that the claims should go 

forward. Id. at 131.

We find Raster distinguishable. This is not a situation as in Raster 

where the casino changed the rules of the game after the plaintiffs had 

spent money and accumulated points, which were now devalued by the 

casino’s rule changes. See id. at 123–24. Rather, in this case, the rules 

of the game did not provide for the bonus in question and McKee 

therefore did not suffer an “ascertainable loss” when the casino refused 

to pay it. See Iowa Code § 714H.5(1).

V. Conclusion.

For the foregoing reasons, we affirm the district court’s grant of 

summary judgment.

AFFIRMED.