Megabucks Casino Winners
WWII Veteran Scoops a Total of $25.6 Million in two Unbelievable Wins. Stories of humongous. Sam's Town Hotel & Gambling Hall. 5111 Boulder Highway. Las Vegas, NV 89122. 702-456-7777 Don't let the game get out of hand. For Assistance call 800-522-4700.
Postal Worker Walks away with an $11 million Win at Megabucks Slot big wins have been around, and this is a classic example of how slot machines can turn a player’s fortune. While vacationing in Las Vegas in 1991, John Tippin, a postal worker, landed a humongous $11-million-dollar Megabucks jackpot. $13M Megabucks jackpot hit at Henderson casino A hotel guest struck it rich Sunday, hitting a $13.2 million Megabucks jackpot after just a couple of minutes of play on a machine at Sunset Station.
Origins: The potential for great wealth creates its own lore, which is why Las Vegas is a hotbed of Megabucks-related rumors. For the uninitiated, Megabucks is a network of linked progressive slot machines whose top prize starts at
In general, Megabucks rumors fall into one of three categories:
- The unhappy fate of previous winners.
- Startling tales of flawed wins.
- Where the next one is going to hit.
On 21 March 2003, the largest-ever slots prize was awarded in
- Fatally overdosed at The Palms (a trendy Las Vegas casino resort greatly favored by the 20- and
30-somethings). - Died in a plane crash.
- Been killed in a gang fight in Los Angeles.
Although the mode of the unnamed winner’s demise changed from telling to telling, the basic rumor remained intact — this man so favored by Fate one day became its victim on another. His luck ran out soon after the win, said the rumor, felling him before he’d had any chance to enjoy his millions.
The “overdosed at the Palms” version carried the further implication of the man’s good fortune having been his undoing. In the unspoken subtext
of that telling, the lucky winner had used his new wealth to hole up in a swank hotel and dabble in drugs. In attempting to live like a rock star, he instead died like one.
The rumor (all versions of it) was false. According to Connie Fox of International Game Technology (IGT), the maker of Megabucks machines and the distributor of its prizes, the young man has not been harvested by the Grim Reaper. He lives on, wealthy and anonymous.
It is possible memories of a tragedy that befell a previous Megabucks winner have fueled this tale of good luck turned chillingly bad. On
A year later, 58-year-old Clark Morse, the driver who caused this carnage, was sentenced to
On the one hand, it would be easy to see the ‘dead Megabucks winner’ rumor as a misremembering of the circumstances that have placed Cynthia Jay-Brennan in a wheelchair for the rest of her life. Yet on the other, whispers about Megabucks winners having been struck down by
misfortune have been part of gaming culture long before the March 2000 tragedy. In one well-traveled Megabucks rumor, an elderly gambler who lined up the three winning symbols on his machine suffered a heart attack and died on the spot. (Shades of Vegas Vacation and Sid Caesar kicking the bucket after hitting a $30,000 keno jackpot, that.) That particular tale had for so long been part of the Megabucks canon that it came in for mention in a 1998 newspaper story, described even then as one of the many rumors IGT had been called upon over the years to debunk. Another whisper (also around since at least 1998) claimed that every Megabucks winner under the age of 50 was now pushing up daisies. (Not true, says Connie Fox of IGT. While she doesn’t know the fate of everyone who has won Megabucks, all those she has become acquainted with or has heard of through her work are still alive.)
I would hazard the opinion that such tales say a great deal more about our sense of envy than anything else. Every time a large jackpot is hit (Megabucks or otherwise), for every gobsmacked winner there are countless thousands — maybe even millions — of gamblers who were not awarded the prize. For at least some of them, a measure of solace is drawn from
‘misfortune followed soon afterwards’ tales, both for their sour grapes (“That lucky schmuck might have won a great deal of money, but it didn’t bring him happiness, did it?”) and ‘disaster narrowly avoided’ (“Just think, if I’d won the money I’d be the one left lying dead in a pool of blood”) values. The legends we tell are our way of mentally chewing over concepts that disquiet us, and very few feel at all comfortable with the realization of their feeling envious.
Other rumors about the mystery man who won the
This last whisper brings us to the most common wild tales associated with the big jackpot: the flawed win. Over the years, I have heard the Megabucks ‘one that got away’ story told three ways:
- The underage winner who could not be awarded the riches he’d won.
- The casino worker who was ineligible for the prize because he had, against the rules, played the machine at the property where he was employed.
- The player who lined up the three winning symbols on the pay line but who hadn’t wagered the full $3 necessary to qualify for the top prize.
Connie Fox of IGT denies there ever having been an underage Megabucks winner. However, such rumors did attach to the anonymous UNLV student who hit the
Although Megabucks has yet to have an underage claimant, other large slots jackpots have. A young man who hit a big one at Caesars Palace in 1987 was denied his prize because he was underage. Kirk Erickson, a 19-year-old from Royal, Arkansas, lined up the winning combination on
a dollar slot machine called “The Million Dollar Baby,” but he was not paid the $1,061,812 jackpot for it. Erickson took the matter to court, and in 1989 a District Court judge ruled against him.
As for casino workers being barred from playing the Megabucks slots at their place of employ, although individual properties might have such a policy, it is to be doubted that were such a person to play anyway and win that a prohibition against his gaming on the
The one class of folks who could not possibly collect on such a win are IGT employees and all members of their households
At least once, Megabucks has been hit by someone playing less than full coin. On
An additional bit of Megabucks lore confidently states the jackpot will be hit at the newest resort casino in operation. Savvy frequent visitors to Las Vegas will sagely nod as they inform you the next Megabucks is “set to go” at whichever glitz palace just opened. That too is hogwash. Where the jackpot is hit is determined by pure chance, not by anyone high in the casino industry paying off IGT for the prestige of having one of its machines register the win. (And prestige is all that would accrue to the casino, because unlike some lotteries which distribute cash premiums to the venues that sold winning tickets, Megabucks does not award a small piece of the prize to the casino for having been the building that housed the winning machine. Although most of the money being dropped into play by jackpot seekers goes to fund the game’s prizes, some goes to IGT, and some goes to the gaming establishment that hosts the machines, so casinos already receive compensation whether their Megabucks units are winners or not. Also, casinos that have been the sites of multi-million dollar strikes do very well just on the prestige alone because gamblers are attracted to luck, figuring if one guy hit the big one there, there’s a fair chance they might be just as lucky if they went to the same spot.)
If the Megabucks jackpot appears to be awarded more often at the newer casinos, it’s due to their being better attended — more people through these gambling halls means more people playing the machines. The more people who play the machines at any one location, the greater the chances the jackpot will be hit there. And that’s all there is to it.
Many of the instant millionaires Megabucks and its ilk create are reluctant to sign the releases that allow their names and some information about them to be made public, worrying that strangers will appear on their doorsteps to pressure them for money. But from what Connie Fox of IGT has seen, the ones these people have the most to fear from are their nearest and dearest, the very kith and kin they were moved to telephone in the first blush of excitement over their astonishing good fortune. Connie has gotten to know a number of Megabucks winners over the years, and she has seen through the lens of their experiences with their loved ones how a large prize can shake up relationships and redefine the pecking order. A large win can and has in some cases changed the family dynamic, overnight making the fortunate slot player the de facto head of the family — that person suddenly finds everyone looking to him for everything. It has also changed the power balance between couples, making the partner who had previously been the follower into the decision-maker for that pair. Some couples and families weather these shifts without too much trouble, and some do not.
Wisconsin Megabucks Winners
Barbara “so there you have it — oranges, lemons, cherries, and a few sour grapes” Mikkelson
Additional information:
Last updated: 1 June 2014
Sources: |
Clarke, Norm. “NBC Commits to Katzenberg Series Featuring Sigfried & Roy Cats.” Las Vegas Review-Journal. 15 April 2003 (p. A3). Koch, Ed. “When Good Luck Turns Bad.” Las Vegas Sun. 5 April 2000. Schoenmann, Joe. “Megabucks Slot Bursting at Seams as Record Jackpot Continues to Grow.” Las Vegas Review-Journal. 4 April 1998 (p. B1). Wagner, Angie. “Morse Gets 28 Years for Injuring Vegas Jackpot Winner.” The Associated Press. 20 April 2001. Associated Press. “Judge Denies Jackpot to Underage Gambler.” 27 June 1989. Reuters. “$7.96 Million Jackpot Just a Dollar Away.” The San Diego Union-Tribune. 17 March 2001 (p. A4).
For most of us, a night at the casino is considered a success if we return in one piece, with a shirt on our back, and some money left in our pocket. Online or offline, a casino should be all about having some fun, playing some games, and – if we are lucky – coming home with a little stack of chips.
Every casino promises a million-dollar jackpot, but few of us ever think that we could actually win the mother lode. But dreams do come true and – for these lucky punters – the fantasy of first-class flights, Michelin-starred food, and emptying the hotel mini-bar, is a waking reality.
They spun. They won. They played. They slayed. They came to the casino in a car and left in a Learjet.
Tri State Megabucks Winner
1. El Gordo
They might like their food in bite-sized tapas but, when it comes to tasty jackpots, the Spanish enjoy a banquet; and it’s called El Gordo: the Fat One. Every Christmas, the Lotería Nacional runs the Lotería de Navidad. It’s the biggest draw of the year and has been held continuously since 1812 – even throughout the Spanish Civil War.
The biggest year to date for El Gordo was 2012, when the prize pool totalled (sit down) a mind-blowing $3.3 billion. The ball drawing ceremony takes three hours and there are hundreds of winners. The El Gordo ball is the jackpot. This is usually split between many people. This is the lottery that can make an entire village millionaires.
2. Back Packer
No list of mighty casino wins can be complete without mention of antipodean gambling legend Kerry Packer. Packer was the whale who would have casinos simultaneously quaking with fear and trembling with excited anticipation.
Packer was a media tycoon, with a fortune estimated at £3.5 billion when he died. He was a heavy smoker and a keen gambler. He famously humbled a Texan millionaire, who was bragging about his $60 million fortune during a poker game, by offering to flip a coin for the entire amount.
Legend has it that Packer won between $20 to $40 million at the MGM Grand Casino, in Las Vegas, in 1997. He was playing six hands of blackjack at a time, for $200,000 a hand. Although Packer may have hit the jackpot on that occasion, he also lost £15 million playing four tables of roulette simultaneously at a London casino. Enormous swings and ridiculous roundabouts.
3. The Megabucks Multimillionaire
The odds of winning the Megabucks slots progressive jackpot are one in 16.7 million. There are 100s of the popular slot machine in more than 160 different casinos, in Las Vegas. The progressive jackpot fills quickly and the punters love it.
On Friday, March 21, a 25-year-old software engineer from Los Angeles, chanced his luck on Megabucks at the Excalibur Hotel and Casino. He won the $39.7 million jackpot; setting a record which stands to this day. Even now, the winner remains anonymous and the Megabucks jackpot keeps getting bigger.
4. Online and Out of this World
When it comes to online jackpots, there is really only one winner: the Mega Moolah progressive slot from Microgaming. The African-themed five-reel, 25-payline, online slot has been a favourite for online casino fans for many years.
In September, 2018, one lucky player won €18,915,872.81, setting a new jackpot record for the game. The anonymous winner hit the jackpot with a 75-cent bet on his mobile phone. To date, the Microgaming progressive jackpot pool has paid out in excess of €1 billion.
5. You Only Live Twice
Another permanent fixture on any list of great casino winners is the late Elmer Sherwin. Sherwin was 76 years old when he won the Megabucks jackpot, at the Mirage Casino, in 1989. His $3 stake earned him $4.65 million; a slot machine jackpot record at the time.
No big deal, you say. The odds of winning that jackpot were one in 50 million spins. Sherwin did it again, 16 years later, in 2005. This time, the insanely lucky slots fan won a further $21 million. At the tender age of 92, Sherwin gave much of the money to the Hurricane Katrina relief fund and his family.