A woman who thought she'd won $43 million at a slot machine was dismayed to be told her 'win' did not count and that she could have a free steak dinner instead. 

Katrina Bookman hit the jackpot while playing on a slot machine at a casino in Queens, New York, and immediately took a selfie with the screen displaying her winnings of $42,949,672. 

But when she returned to the casino to claim her prize, casino management informed her that the slot machine had malfunctioned - something subsequently confirmed by the New York State Gaming Commission.  

Instead of her multi-million dollar jackpot, the casino offered Ms Bookman her actual winnings of $2.25, plus a complimentary steak dinner.  

Ms Bookman has now engaged a lawyer to fight the casino to pay out the slot machine's actual maximum prize - $6,500. 

"They win, and now the house doesn't want to pay out. To me that's unfair," her attorney Alan Ripka told CNN. "The machine takes the money when you lose. It ought to pay it when you win."

Ms Bookman said that the casino's offer of a bite to eat just didn't cut it. 

"I feel like I should treat him [the casino employee] to a steak dinner," she said. 

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.