Top 10 Biggest Slot Machine Wins of All Time

Reading Time: 4 minutes(Last Updated On: July 21, 2023)

How Progressive Jackpots Work in Online Slots?

Whenever you see big slot wins, chances are someone has landed a progressive jackpot.

Unlike standard jackpots, which are fixed, their progressive counterparts grow continuously. What does that mean? Every time a player stakes coins, a small portion counts toward the jackpot. As long as nobody wins, the amount will keep growing with every stake.

Once the luckiest player wins the jackpot, it resets back to its seed prize, which can vary.

But what triggers a jackpot on a slot machine? With progressive jackpots, some of the payouts are random. In most cases, however, they are triggered through a specific combination of symbols or a bonus feature within the game. To activate a progressive jackpot, players often need to place the maximum allowable stake per spin, or “max bet” requirement. By meeting this condition and wagering the biggest amount, players become eligible for the progressive jackpot.

Biggest Jackpot Wins at a Casino

Does anyone ever win big on slots? Even though they’re scarce, they do happen from time to time. However, you need to be extremely fortunate. Let’s put things into perspective — the chance of winning a progressive jackpot on the Megabucks machine is 50 million to one. On the other hand, the chances of being struck by lightning and dying are one in 500,000.

The odds of hitting the lottery are even bigger compared to winning some progressive jackpots. Of course, we cannot claim this for all contests either, as there are different kinds of lottery games, including their sweepstakes counterparts.

In this section, we are going to take a look at the top ten biggest jackpot wins.

10. £13.2 Million (Jon Heywood)

One of the largest progressive jackpots came after a British soldier Jon Heywood spun the digital reels of Mega Moolah. He won the Guinness World Record for the largest online progressive jackpot prize with this substantial sum. However, another slot player broke it several years later, as you’ll see below.

9. $14.3 Million at Rampart Casino (Anonymous Winner)

Not much has been revealed about the anonymous player who managed to become a multi-millionaire overnight by spending only $20 before hitting the progressive jackpot. We only know that it happened in 2013 at Rampart Casino, a gaming property in Las Vegas. As you’ll come to learn soon, the majority of the wins on this list landed in Sin City.

8. $17.3 Million at M Resort (Anonymous Winner)

M Resort in Henderson became a hotspot for slot lovers after a player managed to land a massive $17.3 million when playing Megabucks, one of the most popular land-based games with a progressive jackpot. Remember the name of this game, as we’ll mention it at least once more.

7. $21.1 Million at Cannery Casino & Hotel (Elmer Sherwin)

A person named Elmer Sherwin has the word win in their last name. Is it a coincidence? Their history with slot jackpots suggests otherwise, as the $21.1 million win at Cannery Casino & Hotel in Las Vegas wasn’t their first rodeo. As a matter of fact, before scoring this win in 2005, Sherwin landed a $4.6 million win in 1989.

6. $21.3 Million at Caesars Palace (Anonymous Winner)

This player from Illinois was 49 when they won a huge jackpot during their stay in Las Vegas in 1999. It happened at the legendary Caesars Palace, one of the most famous casinos in the Entertainment Capital of the World. The winner only made a $10 stake on no other slot than, you’ve guessed it — Megabucks.

5. $22.6 Million at Bally’s Casino (Johanna Heundl)

Johanna was celebrating her 74th birthday in Las Vegas and decided to spin some reels at the iconic Bally’s Casino. At first, she wasn’t that lucky, losing around $100 due to unsuccessful spins. After that, she took a risk and went all in, landing the primary and the secondary jackpot, which resulted in more than $22 million.

4. $23.5 Million at an Online Casino (Anonymous Winner)

Megabucks have come up several times in this article, but this is not another occasion when someone managed to land a big prize thanks to the popular land-based progressive slot. This time, it was another well-known name: Mega Moolah, which the lucky player won at an online casino. The winner decided to remain completely anonymous to the public, and that’s completely fine. After all, most people wouldn’t like to parade around with so much money.

3. $27.6 Million at Palace Station Casino (Anonymous Winner)

A retiree decided to test their luck at Palace Station Casino in Las Vegas in 1998. Are you able to guess the game they played? It was Megabucks! They initially didn’t have any luck, spending more than $100 on slots. However, they decided to invest a total of $300, which ended up being a good decision.

2. $34.9 Million at Desert Inn Casino (Cynthia Jay-Brennan)

At the turn of the century, a waitress named Cynthia Jay-Brennan ended her shift and chose to take a walk to Desert Inn Casino instead of going home. It turns out it was a multi-million dollar decision. She stayed in the casino for about an hour, playing Megabucks for $3 a spin. Lady Luck was by her side as she managed to land one of the biggest progressive jackpots ever recorded.

1. $39.7 Million Excalibur Casino (Anonymous Winner)

The current Guinness World Record for the largest progressive jackpot is almost $40 million. An individual from LA won the prize in Excalibur, Las Vegas, in 2003. We only know that they spent around $100 on the slot before landing the prize. The game they were playing was none other than the legendary Megabucks.

Conclusion

In reality, you probably aren’t going to win millions of dollars by landing a progressive jackpot. Still, you can always play for fun and even join a VIP program to get additional benefits at social casinos. Even so, taking a little risk is always fun; just make sure not to overdo it and play slots responsibly.

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