{"id":323778,"date":"2024-06-26T14:16:11","date_gmt":"2024-06-26T19:16:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=323778"},"modified":"2024-06-26T14:32:11","modified_gmt":"2024-06-26T19:32:11","slug":"7-biggest-slot-jackpots-in-las-vegas-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/7-biggest-slot-jackpots-in-las-vegas-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Seven Biggest Slot Jackpots in Las Vegas History"},"content":{"rendered":"

The top seven slot jackpots in Las Vegas history were all hit on Megabucks progressive machines, which is no surprise. These slots present by far the longest odds of winning, but also the greatest payouts to those who somehow manage to beat the odds.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Megabucks was created in March 1986 by IGT as a way to win back some of the business Nevada casinos had been losing to state lotteries, which paid megamillion-dollar jackpots.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Whenever someone takes a Megabucks spin, a small portion of the bet gets placed into a jackpot that anyone, at any of Nevada\u2019s approximately 750 Megabucks machines, can win at any time. The longer the interval between jackpots, the higher the amount.<\/p>\n

Most of the information below was provided by International Game Technology (IGT), which pays out the Megabucks jackpots. Contrary to a popular myth, the casinos don\u2019t.<\/strong><\/p>\n

As for why the latest jackpot on this list happened in 2012, they still hit. For example, three did so in Vegas just last year, for $10.4-$12.2 million. However, for some officially unexplained reason — or perhaps for no reason at all — they haven’t paid off enough to make the top seven.<\/p>\n

1. $39.7 million<\/h2>\n

March 21, 2003<\/strong>
\nExcalibur <\/strong><\/p>\n

An unknown 25-year-old software engineer from LA holds the record for the largest jackpot win ever, in Vegas or anywhere else. The winner, who exercised his right to remain anonymous, was visiting family members in Las Vegas when he played about $100 in a machine, then turned his head away for a second. When he looked back at the machine again, the winning symbols were lined up.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Cynthia Jay celebrates the second-largest slot jackpot in Las Vegas history in 2000. (Image: Las Vegas Sun<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

2. $34.9 million<\/h2>\n

Jan. 26, 2000<\/strong>
\nDesert Inn\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cynthia Jay-Brennan, a 37-year-old cocktail server at the Monte Carlo, made nearly 1.3 million times her $27 investment back. But this story has no happy ending.<\/p>\n

Jay-Brennan married her boyfriend and they made plans to travel the world. But just six weeks later, Clark Morse, a drunken driver with 16 prior arrests, slammed into the back of her car while it was stopped at a red light. The collision killed her sister, Lela Anne Jay, 45, and shattered Jay-Brennan\u2019s spine.<\/p>\n

Morse received a 28-year prison sentence. Jay-Brennan remains permanently paralyzed below her upper chest. And far too much of her jackpot has been spent on medical expenses.<\/p>\n

This barely believable \u201cTwilight Zone\u201d of a horror story sparked the myth of the Megabucks curse.<\/a><\/p>\n

3. $27.5 million<\/h2>\n

Nov. 15, 1998<\/strong>
\nPalace Station<\/strong><\/p>\n

Before this off-Strip locals’ casino became famous for O.J. Simpson\u2019s memorabilia robbery, a much better headline was made by an anonymous 67-year-old Las Vegas woman who set aside only $100 to play her favorite machine.<\/p>\n

Worrying that she would deeply regret violating her limit, she played a second hundy and hit this whopper only $40 in.<\/p>\n

4. $22.6 million<\/h2>\n

March 27, 2002<\/strong>
\nBally\u2019s (now Horseshoe)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Johanna Huendl, a 74-year-old tourist from Covina, Calif., made her fortune on a Wheel of Fortune Megabucks while waiting for her breakfast. She was already $1,000 in the hole during a gambling day that had hardly begun. It remains unknown whether Huendl ended up eating that breakfast.<\/p>\n

5. $21.3 million<\/h2>\n

June 1, 1999<\/strong>
\nCaesars Palace<\/strong><\/p>\n

This was won by an anonymous 49-year-old business consultant from Illinois on his very first Megabucks spin ever. It cost him $10 to change his life.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Elmer Sherwin begat the persistent myth that Megabucks jackpots are more likely to hit on a casino\u2019s opening night. (Image: Facebook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

6. $21.1 million<\/h2>\n

Sept. 15, 2005<\/strong>
\nCannery Casino<\/strong><\/p>\n

Elmer Sherwin, a 92-year-old Las Vegas resident, was not only a veteran of WWII, but also of Megabucks jackpots. On Nov. 22, 1989, he turned $100 into a $4.6M at The Mirage.<\/p>\n

“Hitting a Megabucks jackpot twice is \u201clike getting struck by lightning while sitting on your living room couch without a cloud in the sky,\u201d\u00a0<\/em>Anthony Lucas, a professor of casino management at UNLV, told\u00a0Casino.org\u00a0<\/em>in 2023.
\n<\/em>
\nSherwin is also the second person on this list whose Megabucks win sparked its very own Vegas myth.<\/a> That\u2019s because his Mirage jackpot happened on the casino\u2019s opening night. Since that win, 47 Las Vegas casinos have opened without producing a single Megabucks jackpot on opening night. In addition, Sherwin\u2019s second win occurred more than two years after the Cannery\u2019s opening night.<\/p>\n

But try explaining that to the throngs who predictably beeline for a Megabucks slot on the opening night of every new Las Vegas casino.<\/p>\n

7. $17.3 million<\/h2>\n

Dec. 14, 2012<\/strong>
\nM Resort<\/strong><\/p>\n

Technically, the M is in Henderson, not Las Vegas, but unlike a Megabucks spin, we’ll except close enough.<\/em> The winner, who chose to remain anonymous, won by using a free play and food voucher. He didn\u2019t even realize he had won the top prize until another player pointed it out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The top seven slot jackpots in Las Vegas history were all hit on Megabucks progressive machines, which is no surprise. These slots present by far the longest odds of winning, but also the greatest payouts to those who somehow manage to beat the odds. Whenever someone takes a Megabucks spin, a small portion of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":323784,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[81886,69293],"tags":[81998,91474,82083,91473,91476,82976,89080,84827,83365,91475,23,82012,83162,84824,81994,89079,87801,82926,82111,81890,91477],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSeven Biggest Slot Jackpots in Las Vegas History - Casino.org<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The top seven slot jackpots in Las Vegas history were all hit on Megabucks progressive machines, which is no surprise. 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