A couple of weeks ago, slot machines at several casinos across the country suddenly went haywire. From Louisiana to Oklahoma to Massachusetts, a handful of gambling houses reported issues with their slot machines. While those outages were ultimately resolved, it now seems that a couple of other casinos had problems with their own one-armed bandits. However, in this case, a much-dire picture is emerging, as the two casinos involved, both in Las Vegas, appear to have been the target of a ransomware attack that affected their entire operations.

The Four Queens Resort and Casino and Binion’s Gambling Hall, both sister properties owned by TLC Casino Enterprises, saw massive outages last week that forced machines to be taken offline. This past Monday, at least at Four Queens, the slots were back in operation, but were still unable to print winning vouchers. Binion’s, on the other hand, appears to be back in business.

Computer Business Review (CBR) explains that, for a few days, payouts at the venues’ machines were only possible in cash.  Websites for the two casinos were down, and loyalty program processing and paying for accommodations and other amenities was made virtually impossible. CBR goes so far as to assert that the stoppage was due to a hack, but it isn’t clear what type of malicious attack may have been carried out – it may have been a ransomware attempt, or it may have just been a hacker with too much free time on his hands.

The Nevada Gaming Control Board is apparently aware of the issues and has launched an investigation. It issued a statement indicating that it is “monitoring the situation,” but refused to provide any additional information. TLC has remained silent on the subject, as well.