Rampart Casino, Las Vegas – $14.3 Million
Easily one of the luckiest spins in recent memory, this amazing cash haul came out of a Megabucks slot machine in the Rampart Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. According to the Las Vegas Sun, the player –– who chose to remain anonymous but did, however, pose with a giant check for the Rampart’s Twitter page –– was apparently visiting the casino with a friend from out of town in December 2014. He then went on to spend about 5 minutes and $20 total at the same machine before receiving a whopping jackpot payout of $14,282,544.
What makes this story even sweeter is that the lucky winner is said to have donated most of the money to charity, including his church which holds services in a high school gymnasium.
M Resort, Henderson – $17.3 Million
This next win deserves a lot of credit: free credits, to be exact. A woman playing in the M Resort in Henderson, Nevada decided to use some of her outstanding free casino credits in the statewide Megabucks slot machine. The result? $17.3 million and the 9th highest-earning slot machine spin in history.
Like our previous winner, this player decided to remain anonymous and did not disclose what she intended to do with her winnings. But one thing is for sure: she’s a testament to the rule that, no matter how meaningless you think they are, you should never toss away any free casino credits.
Online gaming, Betway – £13.2 Million
Not all of the big bucks are waiting inside a casino. Sometimes, finding a massive payout is as easy as hopping online, which is exactly what one very lucky player did back in 2013 when he captured £13.2 million, or roughly $20.8 million.
Jon Heywood, a 26-year-old soldier from Great Britain, bet a meager 25p online in a Mega Moolah slot machine at the popular online Betway casino before learning of his huge windfall. After keeping the news under his hat for a few days, even going to work the next day as if nothing had happened, Heywood claims to have used some of his winnings on medical procedures for his sick father.
Cannery Casino & Hotel, Las Vegas – $21.1 Million
They say that lightning rarely strikes the same place twice. But that can’t be said for the next entry on our list. Elmer Sherwin, a retiree and devoted fan of casino playing, was trying his luck at the slot machines at the Mirage Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas back in 1989. Amazingly, he managed to win $4.6 million on a Megabucks machine.
Fast forward sixteen years and that same Elmer Sherwin, still a keen gambler, went into the Cannery Hotel & Casino and walked out with an additional $21.1 million –– again, from a Megabucks slot machine. He is arguably the only person to win so much on two separate occasions by playing the slot machines: over $25 million in total winnings. But it was his most recent 2005 win at the Cannery that officially put him on our list.
Caesars Palace, Las Vegas – $21.3 Million
Another winner, another Megabucks slot machine. This one happened back in 1999 at the world-famous Caesar’s Palace, when a 49-year-old business consultant from Illinois, scored a whopping $21.3 million on the lucky wheel.
The player who, like many others before him, chose to remain anonymous, apparently only put down $10 before striking it rich. Hopefully, that full amount went into a savings account and was left alone because, interest aside, adjusted for inflation from 1999 money, that payout nowadays would be worth over $35 million. Either way, we're sure that the Illinois winner has no regrets.
$22.6 Million – Bally’s, Las Vegas
Johanna Heundl, a 74-year-old retired printer from California, got the surprise of her life back in 2002 when playing at the iconic Bally’s Casino in Las Vegas. The win: $22.6 million.
Heundl was on her way to breakfast in the hotel before she walked past the casino and decided to drop $100 into a Megabucks machine. By the time she ran out of dough, she considered moving on and grabbing a plate of food, but instead broke out another $100 –– by the time she was halfway through her second bill, she managed to hit the jackpot and crack the top of our all-time list.
Online gaming, NETENT – €17.8 Million
A wheel on the popular global gaming website NETENT paid over €17.8 million to a player in Finland who spun one of the Mega Fortune slot machines in 2013. But the most incredible part of this story is that the lucky winner only managed to spend the equivalent of 25 cents before cashing in the nearly $23.6 million haul.
A record win for online gaming slots, the anonymous winner played for the jackpot at PAF.com, a company based in Scandinavia that not only specializes in digital gambling but also manufactures and distributes physical slot machines that feature in casinos and cruise ships all around the world.
$27.6 Million – Palace Station Casino, Las Vegas
A local Las Vegas-area woman and retiree, who remained anonymous throughout the years, won $27.6 million on a Megabucks machine in one night in 1998 after pledging to only fork out $100. A casino regular, she ultimately spent $300, but did go on to enter third on this list so the splurge was likely worthwhile.
According to the payout rules at the time, the lucky lady will receive $1.1 million each year for the next 25 years –– which means that yep, she’s still getting paid to this day.
Desert Inn, Las Vegas – $35 Million
Close, but no cigar: this second-place payout won by 37-year-old Cynthia Jay Brennan, dates back to 2000 but is no less impressive. She managed to win $35 million by playing a Megabucks slot machine in the Las Vegas Desert Inn casino.
However, in a cruel twist of fate, Brennan was paralyzed not long after her win in a car accident.
Excalibur Casino, Las Vegas – $39.7 Million
Finally: the big one! The absolute largest slot machine jackpot win of all time happened at the famed Excalibur Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The history-making win was pulled off by an anonymous 25-year-old man who was in town to visit his family. Spurred on by the March Madness college basketball tournament taking place at the time, the man considered putting some money down on sports before heeding the advice from his (very smart) uncle who encouraged him to, instead, try his hand at one of the Megabucks slot machines. At that point, the jackpot has swelled to nearly $40 million –– the player apparently put down no more than $100 before walking away with the largest jackpot slot machine win in history. And the rest…is history.
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