The 6 Biggest Slot Machine Wins Ever

It’s the dream of every slot player, either in person or online to win the ultimate jackpot of millions. Whether you’re a person who plays slots every once in a while, or an online slots player every day, everyone dreams of seeing the reels line up just right.

Here are the stories of the six biggest slot machine jackpots ever won.

1. $39.7 million on Megabucks at Excalibur in Las Vegas, 2003

You’re about to notice a trend. Megabucks, a game from IGT, was one of the first big slot machines with a progressive jackpot, meaning a portion of every bet feeds into the grand prize.

Our lucky winner was 25-years-old and from Los Angeles at the time of his winning pull. He was staying at the Excalibur and in town to enjoy March Madness and do a little sports betting. At his uncle’s urging, he spent about $100 bucks on the machine until the three glorious golden eagles settled on the payline. Later the winner remarked he looked away from the machine for a second, looked back and his life had changed forever.

The win made the Guinness Book of World Records at the time, and remains the biggest win at a retail casino slot machine. If you’re wondering, Syracuse won the NCAA Men’s Basketball title that year, but no one won anything bigger than this player.

2. $34.9 million on Megabucks at Desert Inn in Las Vegas, 2000

Cynthia Jay-Brennan, then 37, was in Las Vegas and failed to get tickets for the show she wanted to see, so she, her fiancé and some friends, settled down in front of one of the six Megabucks machines on site and promptly lost her first eight bets ($24 bucks), but her next pull was magic as the Megabucks symbols lined up to deliver the big check. The official amount was just under 35 million.

Jay-Brennan kept herself anonymous for a while, but became a public figure a few weeks later when she was involved in a devastating car accident with a habitual drunk driver that killed her sister Lela and left her paralyzed from the waist down.

The Desert Inn was closed later that year to make room for the Wynn Las Vegas.

3. $27.6 million on Megabucks at Palace Station Hotel and Casino, 1998

Sometimes, it pays to keep trying. Sometimes it really pays.

Our next winner was a 67-year-old retiree who told the LA Times she had been an avid slot player for 23 years at Palace Station.

The winning spin happened just around 7:30 p.m. on a Sunday and our lucky winner exclaimed “I did it.”

Incredibly, it wasn’t the first time.

A month earlier, yes, a month, she hit a $680,000 jackpot on a Wheel of Fortune slot machine. That time she was there to celebrate her husband’s retirement.

She took a payout of $1.1 million for 25 straight years, which would mean the last payment was 2022.

4. $22.6 million on Megabucks at Bally’s Las Vegas, 2002

Another big win, another Megabucks.

74-year-old Johanna Heundl, a retired Austrian printer, was on her way to breakfast at the hotel when she paused to throw a few bucks in the Megabucks machine eyeing the $3,000 progressive prize.

At first, she was only going to spent $100, but after losing that C note, she dropped in another $100.

It was a good decision.

About 2/3 of the way through that second $100, everything lined up for Heundl. She took the money as a one-time lump sum promising to travel and visit her family.

5. $21.3 million on Megabucks at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, 1999

One spin.

He only needed one spin.

A 49-year-old businessman from Illinois was in Vegas when he dropped $10 into a Megabucks machine and watched the reels spin.

Dude, it’s not supposed to be that easy.

Bells went off and a crowd began to congregate. At the time it was the second biggest payout in Megabucks history, but the only one that only needed one spin.

Our winner, who at the time was not married, has remained anonymous. He walked away with over $21.3 million

6. $21.1 million on Megabucks at the Cannery Casino, Las Vegas, 2005

Elmer H. Sherwin is the luckiest slots player ever.

Sherwin makes this list after a $21.1 million win at the Cannery Casino on Sept. 16. 2005. He said it was his life’s dream to win Megabucks again.

Yes, again.

16 years earlier, in 1989, Sherwin was playing Megabucks at the newly-opened Mirage on the Las Vegas Strip and won a $4.65 million prize after playing for 90 minutes and investing about $100. At the time, it was claimed to be the biggest slot machine win ever in Las Vegas.

The odds of hitting a Megabucks jackpot are 1 in 49,836,032. Keep that in mind next time you spin the reels.

Sherwin donated money from his second Megabucks win to charitable causes. He died in 2007 at age 93.