Recent Slot Machine Winners
Slot machines have always been popular among casino visitors; gamblers like slots for their simple rules, plenty of themes and plots, and bright designs. However, one of the primary reasons attracting most players is that sometimes a single spin can turn you from an ordinary person to a millionaire. This article features eight of these cases; each slot machine winner in the USA mentioned on this page made their dream come true.
List of the Most Famous Casino Slot Machine Winners of All Time
Gambling is always about risk, and real money bets can leave you without funds or deliver a really significant winnings amount. Sometimes, gamblers manage to hit minor jackpots of several thousand US dollars, but there are single persons that went down in history as players who become millionaires after only one spin of the reels. Let’s discover their short but impressive stories.
Marc Thayer
Marc owned a security systems company and traveled to Las Vegas with his friends to spend the weekend; on Monday, he returned home with a $1.25 million win; Marc hit the jackpot while playing the Buffalo Diamond slot on Sunday.
There is no information about how much money Thayer invested in the slot machine before winning, but it is known that Marc played for a maximum bet of $4 per spin.
Johanna Heundl
In May 2002, Joanna stayed at Bally’s Las Vegas to celebrate her 74th birthday. One day, before going to breakfast, she decided to spin the reels of a Megabucks slot and lost her first $100. However, the woman from California was not upset and decided to bet another $100, which brought her the jackpot of $22.6 million.
Cynthia Jay Brennan
This woman had been at the top of the list of the most significant casino slot machine winners in the USA for a very long time. In 2000, Cynthia decided to go to the Desert Inn Casino in Las Vegas and play a little after finishing her work shift. She chose the Megabucks slot machine produced by IGT, where she spun the reels at $3 per spin. She began playing with $21 in her pocket, but just one hour later, Cynthia walked out of the casino with an astonishing $34.9 million jackpot.
John Heywood
In October 2013, only £0.25 was enough for a UK soldier from Cheshire to hit a massive jackpot.
John Heywood, 26, was playing a slot at £0.25 per spin when the Mega Moolah Jackpot bonus game appeared on the screen. This time, instead of a minor, mini, and large jackpot that happens from time to time, an unbelievable mega prize of £13.2 million came up. The prize pool amounted to about $18.5 million when converted to US dollars.
It only took John Heywood seven minutes to become a millionaire; he made 25 bets and spent only about $35 in the slot.
Elmer Sherwin
Elmer Sherwin’s story is so incredible that it is hard to believe it to be true immediately, as he is probably the only player who has been lucky enough to hit the big jackpot twice.
The first time Elmer won $4.6 million in the Megabucks slot machine happened in 1989 at the Mirage Casino in Las Vegas. At that time, he was 76 years old, and to make the fateful bet, Elmer had to borrow $20 from his wife; ninety minutes later, he was a millionaire.
In 2005, Elmer was lucky enough to hit the $21,147,947 jackpot on the same Megabucks slot at Cannery Casino & Hotel; he was 92 years old at the time.
Anonymous Player from Las Vegas
The biggest jackpot to date was won by a lucky man at Excalibur Casino in Las Vegas; in 2003, he bet $100 on the Megabucks slot and grabbed a mindblowing $39.7 million prize. The casino had to negotiate to pay it in equal parts over several years, as it could not afford to provide it instantly.
Anonymous Venetian Player
Another recent slot machine winner turned a $5.88 bet into a jackpot of nearly $3 million at The Venetian Resort Las Vegas. The lucky player wished to remain anonymous, and the total winnings amounted to $2,835,768. In order to win the prize, the casino customer had to guess three symbols in the Fu Babies bonus round of the Dancing Drums Explosion slot machine, and he managed to do that.
Anonymous Woman from Las Vegas
In November 1998, an anonymous woman invested $300 in a Megabucks slot machine and won an incredible $27.6 million prize at Palace Station Casino in Las Vegas. The woman initially planned to spend only $100, but it didn’t bring her anything. Then she added another $200 and kept spinning the reels, which led to hitting an unbelievable jackpot.
Interestingly, a few months earlier, the same woman won $680,000 in the Wheel of Fortune slot at the same casino.
Biggest Slots Wins
According to some gambling sites and land-based venues’ customers, it is complicated to win in slots because the advantage is always on the casino side; this is the so-called house edge. However, gambling history knows a lot of slot machine winners; only one successful spin was enough for them to grab a six or seven-figure cash prize. The most remarkable thing is that some slots provided jackpots twice or even more.
| Slot | Provider | Jackpot Amount | By Whom and When Was Hit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Megabucks | IGT | $21.3 million | Illinois businessman in 1999 |
| $14.3 million | Anonymous Las Vegas resident | ||
| Mega Moolah | Microgaming | $11.6 million | Someone called D.P. in 2016 |
| $8.6 million | A Greek businessman named Georgias | ||
| $7.41 million | Raviri Pow in 2016 | ||
| Mega Fortune | NetEnt | $24 million | Anonymous player in 2013 |
| $12.5 million | Young man in 2011 | ||
| $9.6 million | Swedish player |
As we can see, more often than not you can hit grand cash prizes in progressive slots; jackpots in these slot machines are formed from all customers’ bets; there is a certain percentage. RTP in these slots is usually lower than in slot machines with fixed prize funds; that’s why it is much more difficult to get any winnings.
What Kind of People Winning on Slot Machines
It is impossible to derive some stereotype of a player who can hit a big jackpot; all people winning big prize pools have different activities and hobbies, live in different cities and countries, and belong to different social strata. In general, these customers have nothing in common; this fact once again confirms that a big win is a matter of chance and depends only on your luck.
However, if you have a big desire to try your luck and chase a jackpot, here are some tips from gambling sites’ regulars:
- Try to choose slots marked “Hot Drop” or something like that, as these slot machines are set up so that someone has to win within a given time or when the prize pool reaches a certain amount. These titles are relatively rare, but you can find them in several gambling venues.
- Before playing a particular slot, learn its rules carefully; in some slot machines, you need to play at the maximum bet to reach a jackpot round
- Use offered bonuses; they speed up gameplay and increase the chance of winning the main prize.
Before thinking about hitting the jackpot, you should determine how much money you are willing to lose; do not count on luckiness and becoming a millionaire in a few spins. Most players lose their bankrolls trying to chase the desired jackpot, so when you are ready to start playing, clearly define the maximum amount you can afford to lose and do not exceed it.
