Many casino enthusiasts often overlook slot games, assuming they provide low wins due to their low stakes. However, slot games have produced some of the biggest casino wins in history, thanks to progressive jackpots. One particular slot machine, Megabucks, has been responsible for every single winner on the list of biggest slot game wins ever claimed in land-based casinos.
Elmer Sherwin, a WWII veteran, visited the Mirage Casino in Las Vegas for its 1989 opening and walked away with $4.6 million after borrowing $20 from his wife. Sixteen years later, at the age of 92, he returned to the Megabucks game at the Cannery Casino in Vegas and won $21 million, making him the only person to win a Megabucks jackpot twice in one lifetime.
In 1999, a 49-year-old business consultant from Illinois won over $21 million with a $10 bankroll at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. He chose to receive his winnings in annual installments of $1.5 million per year over 25 years.
Johanna Heundl, a retired Californian celebrating her 74th birthday at Bally’s Casino in Vegas, won $22.6 million after depositing $100 and using the last $20 for a few spins on the Megabucks slot.
An anonymous retiree won $27.5 million at the Palace Station Resort in Vegas in 1998, just months after winning $680,000 on a Wheel of Fortune slot game. Cynthia Jay Brennan won $34.9 million at the Desert Inn Hotel and Casino in 2000 and used her winnings to donate to disability charities.
The largest jackpot on a slot machine at any casino took place at the Excalibur Casino in Las Vegas in 2003, where an anonymous software engineer from Los Angeles won $39.7 million after dropping $100 into the slot machine.
While these big wins have taken place in land-based casinos, online casinos such as Casino.com also offer progressive jackpot slots with top prizes reaching into the millions. One player in New Zealand scooped a $400,000 NZD ($240,000 USD) jackpot while playing the Sisters of Oz: WowPot Jackpot game at Casino.com. WowPot Jackpot slots offer some of the biggest jackpots, without the need for air travel to Vegas.
