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Woman, 67, Wins Megabucks

written by Jace Radke and Ed Koch

The largest slot jackpot in history was won Sunday night, but instead of it occurring at the Bellagio as so many had anticipated, a local woman won nearly $27.6 million while chugging along at Palace Station.

The winner of the Megabucks jackpot was a 67-year-old woman who chose not to be identified Sunday night. The 23-year resident of Las Vegas said she has been gambling at Palace Station for many years.

"There was all this talk about it hitting at the Bellagio, but I told people that it wasn't going to hit there for sure," said Ed Rogich, spokesman for International Gaming Technologies, the company that has operated Megabucks since its inception 11 years ago.

Early today, Rogich said no news conference had been set because the winner was still shy of publicity.

"We have encouraged her to enjoy her celebrity, but that does not appeal to her at this time," Rogich said, noting that past winners have been asked to appear on major network talk shows and newscasts.

On Oct. 15, Megabucks players stood in long lines hoping to cash in on the jackpot during the opening of the Bellagio hotel-casino, believing that big jackpots tend to hit at newly opened casinos.

Megabucks was won by Las Vegan Suzanne Henley at the New York-New York hotel-casino on April 4, 1997, shortly after that resort had opened, which helped fuel the myth of Megabucks hitting at new properties.

Sunday's record jackpot of $27,582,539.48 was hit about 7:30 p.m., at which time the winner said, "I did it," according to a witness.

Sunday's big score wasn't the winner's first big jackpot. In October, on the day her husband of 42 years retired, the woman hit a $680,000 jackpot on a Wheel of Fortune slot machine.

On Sunday, she lined up three Megabucks symbols on a single-line slot machine with the maximum $3 wagered. She hit the jackpot in the south-central part of the casino.

That portion of the casino had reopened just last week after repairs to the area were completed. On July 20, a storm caused the roof in the east wing of Palace Station to collapse, causing that part of the resort to shut down.

Although IGT plans to do no advertising or other promotions for Palace Station, the resort is sure to gain far-reaching publicity as the home of the world's largest slot jackpot, Rogich said.

"She wasn't yelling real loud, but from the tone of her voice I could tell something great had happened," said a man who was playing a slot a few feet away Sunday night. "It was nice to be here and nice to see it happen. I can't get over it."

Rogich, who visited with the winner in a room provided by Palace Station, said that she was very happy but also a little scared and overwhelmed by the experience.

"She has family that live here, and she has three children," Rogich said. "Her and her husband are regulars, and they are both upstairs."

The woman was playing about $300 and had about 62 credits left when she made the pull that changed her life, Rogich said.

She received her first of 25 installment payments Sunday night for $1,104,895.06 million. The other installments will be $1,103,235.18 apiece, Rogich said, noting that the reason the initial payment was higher was because it included a secondary jackpot, which also was hit.

The jackpot should be more than enough to put the winner in the 30 to 35 percent tax range -- the highest designated by the Internal Revenue Service.

That means if she does nothing to shelter the money -- charities, land investments, business investments, etc. -- she will have to write out a check to the IRS for about $386,000 before each April 15 tax deadline.

Nevada gaming officials are expected to approve this month a proposal that will bring Nevada in line with a recently passed federal law allowing major jackpot winners to collect their winnings in a lump sum with the taxes already taken out.

Rogich said that if the proposal passes, Sunday's winner and all past Megabucks winners will be allowed to choose either to take the balance of their jackpots in lump-sum awards or continue to receive installments.

For 16 months the International Gaming Technologies rapid-response jackpot team had been waiting for the call, and many were relieved to finally get it.

"I was just starting to get used to my beeper not going off all the time when I got the call," Michele Messe of IGT said. "It's great that someone hit it because now I can sleep."

The last time the Megabucks jackpot hit was July 13 in Lake Tahoe, for $8.3 million. The Palace Station hit more than doubles the previous Megabucks record of $12.5 million that Henley won at the New York-New York.

In the 47 times Megabucks has hit, it has paid out a total of about $246 million.

Megabucks has a jackpot that grows only when the games are played. For every dollar played, the pot increases by several pennies.

In order to win the multimillion-dollar jackpot, a gambler must play the maximum $3. That means for $21, a gambler gets seven spins at the jackpot. Players win by lining up all the Megabucks symbols on the payline. Some machines are three-line games, others are single-line slots.

Once hit, the jackpot recycles to $5 million and begins to build again.

There are more than 133 casinos with Megabucks machines, and IGT's sister game, Super Megabucks, has made its way into more than 21 casinos.

In late January, Nevada Megabucks climbed above the $12 million mark during the busy Super Bowl weekend, setting off speculation that it would soon hit.

There were rumors that Megabucks symbols were lined up several times by gamblers who did not play three coins. However, IGT officials could not confirm any of those incidents because the company is not called by a casino unless the big jackpot is hit.

Sunday's hit by a local is not as unusual as many believe. Contrary to the joke that only tourists hit Megabucks, about one of every five winners in Megabucks history have been Nevadans.

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