Biggest Ever Gambling Win
Baccarat is the world's biggest casino game by the sheer amount won. While casinos court high rollers who bet big bucks on the game, baccarat is not without its risk to the casino. Top 10 Biggest Casino Wins 10 – $10.6 million The Megabucks machine at the Aria in Vegas was on fire back in April of 2011 and a lucky gambler hit the jackpot almost three months after another big payout. Here is a look at the top lottery prizes ever won (so far). $1.586 billion (Powerball) This Powerball drawing from Jan. 13, 2016, for which three winning tickets were sold, remains history's. Of course, the sportsbook were reluctant to pay out, but eventually gave in and Barkley banked his $800,000 win. Win Some, Lose Some. Of course, even the sharpest bettors with the biggest bankrolls don’t come close to winning every bet. Take a quick peek at the biggest.
- Biggest Ever Horse Bet Win
- Biggest Gambling Win Ever
- Biggest Ever Sky Bet Win
- Biggest Ever Gambling Wins
Photo of Trinadad Torres courtesy of Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino.
Admit it. You have the same dream we do.
Everything conspires and you find yourself in the right place at the right time – seated in front of a Megabucks slot machine that’s primed and ready to hit. You push the button (of course, pulling a lever would be more dramatic, but this is 2015 and the one-armed bandit has gone the way of the horse and buggy). The logos on the reels all line up. And then the moment you’ve been waiting for finally arrives…you realize you’re a millionaire.
Correction: A multimillionaire.
IGT’s Megabucks has been paying out ginormous life-changing jackpots for almost 20 years. Its slogan is “Dream big. Win big.”
A network of slot machines linked throughout Nevada, Megabucks boasts a top prize that builds from a base amount of $10 million. To play it costs $1 a spin, but to quality for that top amount you’ll have to shell out $3. That sounds pretty steep, we know. But trust us, if you hit Megabucks with only a buck or two invested, you’ll leave with a jackpot in the thousands instead of millions. And just imagine trying to live with that.
As you’d expect, Megabucks lays claim to having paid the largest slot jackpots in Vegas history. It last hit here in mid March at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino. The lucky winner was Trinadad Torres, a 78-year-old woman from Magna, Utah. She played $100 before netting the $10,744,292.71 jackpot. Her plans include traveling to the Philippines and buying a yellow Mustang.
While nothing to sneeze at, Torres’ windfall just misses placing her on our list below of the 10 biggest slot jackpots ever won in Sin City.
Photo of Excalibur courtesy of MGM Resorts International.
Jackpot amount: $39,710,826.36
When: March 21, 2003
Where:Excalibur
More than 12 years ago, a 25-year-old software engineer from Los Angeles, who wanted to remain anonymous (and who can blame him?), hit the city’s largest slot jackpot after playing $100 on a Megabucks machine. A C-note in return for nearly $40 million…now that’s what we’d call a damn good investment.
Photo of Cynthia Jay-Brennan at the Desert Inn courtesy of Ethan Miller / Las Vegas Sun.
Jackpot amount: $34,959,458.56
When: Jan. 26, 2000
Where: Desert Inn (imploded in phases in 2001 and 2004 to make room for Wynn Las Vegas)
Gobs bigger than any tip she’d received, cocktail waitress Cynthia Jay-Brennan, then 37 years old, hit the second largest Megabucks slot jackpot in Vegas (at that time it was the city’s highest Megabucks payout). But her story took a tragic turn when her car was rear-ended about six weeks later by a drunk driver. Her older sister Lela died in the accident, and Jay-Brennan was left paralyzed.
Photo of Palace Station courtesy of Station Casinos.
Jackpot amount: $27,580,879.60
When: Nov. 15, 1998
Where:Palace Station
Ignoring your budget isn’t always a bad thing. Just ask the then 67-year-old retired flight attendant from Vegas who racked up the city’s third largest Megabucks slot payout. She’d only intended to play $100 at Palace Station that day, but wound up putting $300 in…and we’re pretty she doesn’t regret overspending one bit.
Jackpot amount: $22,621,229.74
When: May 27, 2002
Where:Bally’s
How does that old expression go? The early bird catches…the $22.6 million slot jackpot. Well, that’s how Johanna Heundl (then 74 years old) of Covina, California, might remember it. She was on her way to breakfast when she decided to stop and play a Megabucks machine. Having looked away for a moment, she couldn’t believe her eyes when she turned back and saw all the logos aligned in the payline.
Photo of Caesars Palace courtesy of Caesars Entertainment.
Jackpot amount: $21,346,952.22
When: June 1, 1999
Where:Caesars Palace
An Illinois man, then 49 years old and described as a “self-employed business consultant,” put a $10 bill into a Megabucks machine at the Roman-themed property and hit this whopping multimillion-dollar slot jackpot on his first spin. Here’s what we want to know: Is he still consulting? Can we hire him to help us get into the business of being millionaires?
Jackpot amount: $21,147,947
When: Sept. 15, 2005
Where:Cannery Casino Hotel
One man, two times a Megabucks winner. What are the odds? They’ve got to be astronomical. Certainly, anyone would be happy to score a single multimillion-dollar slot jackpot. But not everyone is Elmer Sherwin. A frequent Vegas visitor, Sherwin hit his first Megabucks jackpot of $4.6 million at The Mirage back in 1989. It was a sign of even better things to come. Sixteen years later, at the age of 92, that lucky son of a gun (kidding, we’re not jealous…really) did it again, adding another $21.1 million to his bank account.
Photo courtesy of the M Resort.
Jackpot amount: $17,329,817.80
When: Dec. 14, 2012
Where:M Resort
Oh, the best things in life are free…especially when they lead to a $17.3 million jackpot. A Las Vegas woman stopped by the M Resort in Henderson to gamble with her “free play” credits and enjoy a meal with some dining vouchers. Before she knew it, she’d become a multimillionaire.
Photo of “Rampart Lucky Local” courtesy of the Rampart Casino.
Jackpot amount: $14,282,544.21
When: Nov. 30, 2014
Where: Rampart Casino
Late last year a Las Vegas man put $20 in a Megabucks slot machine at the Summerlin-area Rampart Casino. Within five minutes he’d hit a jackpot worth $14.2 million. His plans were altruistic (unlike ours). The man, dubbed the “Rampart Lucky Local,” said he would make a donation to his church. The church, which had been holding services in a high school gym, can now have its own location built.
Photo of Aria courtesy of MGM Resorts International.
Jackpot amount: $12,769,933
When: Jan. 21, 2011
Where:Aria
A woman visiting her niece in Vegas decided to drop $6 in a Megabucks slot machine before heading back to her room. Her reaction when the winning symbols lined up: “The machine broke.” Luckily, her niece was there to clarify things. We think we should book a room at Aria because about four months after that jackpot occurred, another Megabucks jackpot hit at the resort for $10,636,897. Talk about lightning striking twice!
Photo of New York-New York courtesy of MGM Resorts International.
Jackpot amount: $12,510,549.90
When: April 14, 1997
Where:New York-New York
New York-New York opened its doors on Jan. 3, 1997. Perhaps due to a little of the “city that never sleeps” magic, Vegas resident Suzanne Henley made her fortune at the Big Apple-themed megaresort just a few months later. On her way home from work, she stopped in to play a Megabucks machine – one that she’d had an inkling might hit. Henley waited in line an hour before she could play. And at 1:44 a.m., after putting $100 in, her diligence paid off…to the tune of more than $12.5 million.
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When it comes to the most popular games in Las Vegas casinos, three games stand above the rest.
Slot machines, roulette, and the blackjack tables draw the lion’s share of gamblers. These games are fast-paced, exciting and for the most part very easy to learn; factors which alone are reason enough to play, for most casino visitors.
There is however, one more factor. A factor that is always present in the back of the mind of every gambler that steps foot into a casino. The chance of a big win. A huge, life-changing win. This is the one factor that brings new gamblers in, and keeps long time gamblers coming back.
Lets take a look at three of the biggest wins in Las Vegas history – to date. One from each of the most popular casino games.
The biggest slots jackpot
In March of 2003, Ethan Miller, a 25-year-old software engineer from Los Angeles won $39.7 million after wagering $100 in the Megabucks slot machine at the Excalibur casino.
His odds of winning at the time? A staggering 1 in 16.7 million.
Ethan’s win still stands as the biggest slots jackpot won in Las Vegas. No word if Ethan ever went back to his software engineering job.
The biggest roulette win
In 2004, English gambler, Ashley Revell sold all his possessions, including his clothes, and wagered the proceeds, amounting to $135,300 USD on a single spin of the roulette wheel at Plaza Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
The moment was captured by Britain’s Sky One television channel for their mini reality series “Double or Nothing”.
Needless to say, wagering your life savings, or any amount which you cannot afford to lose is a lousy idea.
Biggest Ever Horse Bet Win
For those planning to wager responsibly, online casinos present a convenient opportunity to try one’s luck and win real money without having to travel to Vegas. You need much less to gamble online but the win may be the biggest in the history of online casino.
The biggest blackjack win
Australian billionaire Kerry Packer, a gambling legend in his own right, won between USD $24 million and USD $33 million playing blackjack (and some baccarat) at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Rumor has it that Packer tipped a doorman a cool million dollars that night, and that several high-level MGM Grand employees were fired for permitting Packer to make huge bets.
Biggest Gambling Win Ever
What’s really interesting is that online casinos are starting to rival the winnings of Vegas with no deposit slots like Mega Moolah regularly turning regular people multi-millionaires. In just one example, British soldier Jonathon Heywood from Cheshire, United Kingdom, won £13.2 million.
Biggest Ever Sky Bet Win
Stay tuned for our future article covering the biggest and most exciting wins in European casinos. And remember, if you gamble, please gamble responsibly.
Biggest Ever Gambling Wins
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