When the winner is expecting an $86,000 prize.

A 77-year-old Atlantic County woman, who refused to accept a $20,000 jackpot instead, says she was rooked out of $86,000 that she believes she won last spring playing a nickel slot machine at an Atlantic City casino.

Angela Domino sued Harrah's Atlantic City and the slot machine's manufacturer, International Gaming Technology of Reno, Nev., last month in state Superior Court in Atlantic County.

Domino, of the Smithville section of Galloway Township, said she had played a Spin Poker machine May 3 at Harrah's. Spin Poker machines are electronically networked with other "progressive" slots at Atlantic City casinos, and their jackpots are cumulative.

The jackpot meter read just over $86,000 at 8:26 p.m. when she dropped a nickel into the machine, she said.

Domino, who has played the slots for 11 years, said she hadn't been prepared for what happened next.

The reels stopped spinning and landed on the winning combination. Bells rang. According to the jackpot meter, the $86,000 prize was hers. Or so Domino thought.

According to the suit, a Harrah's representative met Domino at the machine and congratulated her for winning $20,035.31.

A player at Trump Marina had won the $86,000 pot at 8:23 p.m., the slots supervisor explained. Because of that, the machine had been reset to the lower amount.

The suit states that a representative from the slot-machine maker confirmed Domino had won and asserted there had been no mechanical malfunction.

Domino "was crushed," her attorney, Scott Mitnick, said yesterday.

Domino protested the jackpot and demanded to see videotape from the casino's surveillance cameras. She said the casino had refused.

Finally, she rejected the $20,000.

When Domino played her winning nickel, Mitnick said, the machine still promised an $86,000 payout. It reset about 90 seconds later, he said.

He added that his client "is not an inexperienced player. She loves and knows her slots."

Domino sued on Jan. 23, seeking $86,000 plus attorney's fees and unspecified punitive damages.

A spokesman for Harrah's said the casino had no comment, citing the pending litigation.

Ed Rogich, a spokesman for International Gaming Technology, said the company also had a policy of not commenting on pending litigation.

Domino won a jackpot, just not the one she expected, said Rogich, who added that the company had reviewed the matter with the New Jersey Casino Control Commission.

"We're in the business of paying out jackpots," he said. "And in this instance, there were two that paid out in three minutes."

at 856-779-3838 or samwood@phillynews.com.