One Las Vegas spot full of excitement and big payouts is the ARIA casino floor. There’s always something new happening at the ARIA Casino, where you can bet a penny, a dollar or $5,000 and still become one of the biggest Vegas winners to date. I play a variety of slots from High Limit to penny slots, so you might see me betting $25,$15,$10,$5$ a spin or more on some slots or low rolling on a penny slot for around $2.00. The latest win came nearly two years after a woman hit a $12.7 million Megabucks jackpot Jan. 21, 2011, at the Aria. The record remains $39.7 million to a California software engineer March 21.
Everyone wonders how big some jackpot wins are. If you've wondered what is the most money ever won on a slot machine, you're in good company. We wondered the same thing and did some digging to see what we could find out.
Megabucks Slots Often Leads to the Biggest Slot Machine Wins
Megabucks slots is a progressive jackpot slot from IGT. It's linked to many of the biggest payouts on slot machines. Since it's debut in 1986, it's paid out more than $1 billion dollars in prizes. #1 – 25-Year-Old Software Engineer Wins $38.7 Million While killing time before the 2003 NCAA tournament started on TV, an anonymous 25-year-old software engineer decided to risk $3 on a slot machine at Excalibur Hotel Casino in Las Vegas. That $3 turned into a stunning $38.7 million jackpot on Megabucks slots. #2 – Cynthia Jay-Brennan Wins $34.9 Million In 2000, Cynthia Jay-Brennan won $34.9 million playing Megabucks slots at the former Desert Inn in Las Vegas. Sadly, weeks after claiming her jackpot prize, a drunk driver crashed into the car she was in. She was paralyzed and her sister did not survive the crash. #3 – An Anonymous Woman's $27 Million Win At Palace Station Hotel in Las Vegas, one woman played Wheel of Fortune slots and won $680,000. She opted to keep playing, In just a few months, she hit a $27 million jackpot on Megabucks slots. #4 – Woman Wins $22.6 Million at Bally's There is a pattern with Megabucks slots leading to some of the biggest slot machine wins in history. In 2002, a woman playing at Bally's Las Vegas won $22.6 million on that same game. #5 – Elmer Sherwin's $21 Million Win Elmer Sherwin fought in WWII and often played slots in Las Vegas after retirement. Shortly after The Mirage opened its doors for the very first time, Sherwin won $4.6 million playing Megabucks slots. His luck repeated itself in grand fashion when he won $21 million just shy of two decades later at the age of 87. Once again, he was playing Megabucks slots. #6 – Anonymous Player Wins Just Under $12.8 Million Megabucks slots paid a prize of just under $12.8 on a $6 bet. The player was at Aria in Las Vegas for her niece's birthday when she hit the jackpot. She said she'd chosen Megabucks slots completely by chance. #7 – Rodolfo T. Wins $11.8 Million Betting just $3 on Megabucks slots, Rodolfo T. of California won the jackpot worth just over $11.8 million. That 2017 win at the Fremont Casino isn't one of the biggest from Megabucks slots, but it still made him a very happy man.
Are Any Other Slot Machines Linked to Huge Payouts?
While Megabucks slots certainly is linked to many of the largest slot prizes in history, there are some games that have also made players very happy. At Harrah's Las Vegas, a man won $1.18 million playing Wheel of Fortune slots in July 2018. This was the second large payout from that machine. Earlier in the month, a player won almost $250,000 on Wheel of Fortune at the Cosmopolitan. A Gulf Breeze, Florida, man took home a jackpot of almost $1.3 million playing Double Diamond slots in Biloxi, Mississippi. He kept playing and won an extra $14,000 a little while later. That's not the largest win in the area. Hard Rock Casino reported that the largest prized they'd given away was $14 million to a player playing Wheel of Fortune slots.
There's One More Crushing Win
In 2016, Katrina Bookman was playing Sphinx slots in New York when the machine told her she'd won a $42.9 million jackpot. It would have been the largest prize in history. The problem is the top prize on the slot machine is $6,500. She was told the machine had malfunctioned and that the most the casino could do is give her the last prize she'd won of just over $2 and a complimentary steak dinner. She is suing the casino and IGT. There's one thing all of these players have in common. They never expected they'd win the jackpot when they placed their small bets. You could join them. Whether you try Megabucks slots or something else, Lady Luck could put you on the list of the biggest slot machine wins in history. To accomplish this, you need to play slots online or at your favorite land-based casino.
Slots player denied $8.5m prize
Maribel Sanchez has said the Newcastle Casino in Oklahoma is refusing to award her almost $8.5m which she won playing slots at the facility. The venue claims the win was due to a game malfunction.
The gambler from Oklahoma proceeded to inform the FOX 25 news station, which provided details of the incident on Twitter. Sanchez also shared an image of the slot machine screen indicating the win amount:
Liberty 7s machine shut down after win
Sanchez said she visited the Newcastle Casino at 7am on Friday morning. She decided to play the Liberty 7s slot and had wagered only $1.25 when she hit the jackpot. But as soon as the win occurred, the machine shut down and the screen went black.
Sanchez took a photo of the on-screen win announcement, which showed a total of $8,469,498.95.
Maribel’s daughter, Linda, commented on the incident, stating:
It says clearly the amount that she won, but now they’re saying it was a malfunction and not give (sic) her the amount.”
Taking legal action
Sanchez is working on taking legal action to receive the payment she claims she is owed by the casino. Her attorney, Bill Zuhdi, said:
We’re going to look at all her legal options and aggressively pursue her rights. She should be paid what she won.”
FOX 25 contacted the Newcastle Casino about the incident. The gambling facility responded, saying the claim is currently under review following the venue’s protocols, and that it is working with Sanchez through the process. The casino added it is unable to comment on the review at this time.
Aria High Limit Slot Wins
Aria Slot Winners
Daughter Linda also described it as “crazy” and “pointless” that the casino would rely on a malfunction excuse to withhold winnings from a patron. She added that someone could easily lose all their money at the venue and ask for their money back, claiming the loss was due to a machine error.