An extraordinarily lucky slot player at Las Vegas’ Suncoast Hotel and Casino got a historic present Christmas Eve after winning almost $15.5 million during a brief stop at the Boyd Gaming property.
The winner, identified simply as “Kevin,” hit what it is believed to be Nevada’s biggest jackpot in eight years. The exact amount is $15,491,103.27.
The player had put about $40 into the slot machine before the historic payoff at about 12:30 pm on Thursday, Fox News reported. It was believed to have been a $3 spin.
It was certainly a Christmas Eve to remember,” a Boyd Gaming spokesperson told Fox News. “We’re excited and honored we could play a part in this historic holiday jackpot at the Suncoast.”
Little is known about Kevin, except he lives some of the time in Las Vegas and the rest in Alaska, news reports revealed. He plans to use the money to “support his business and “pay it forward,” Fox News said.
Kevin stopped off at the casino after he got delayed at work on Christmas Eve, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
The casino will not get a cut of the historic win, Vital Vegas, the local online media site, explained in a tweet following the payout.
Also, Thursday’s historic win was on an International Game Technology (IGT) Megabucks slot machine, Fox News said.
Win Generates Envy, Excitement on Social Media
Word about the historic payout spread quickly on social media. “Congrats!!!!! I can’t even win a $100 and I’m there every weekend,” one social media poster responded. “Makes one hell of a Christmas gift! If I won, that Check would never fit in the Ferrari,” another poster said. And still another poster summed the win up by saying, “That’s what I call a Stimulus Check.”
Also, Vital Vegas reminded Kevin, shortly after the win, that a “Cocktail server at a Wynn lounge shares … $6 in tips today for an eight-hour shift. Please go out and have a Christmas Eve cocktail, tip generously.”
The payout comes during a Christmas week in Las Vegas that had been relatively quiet until the historic win. Several hotels are shuttered during the middle of the week, and there is a 25 percent statewide cap on gaming floors because of the coronavirus surge.
Other Historic Slot Wins
Earlier, an historic slot win took place in 2003, when a 25-year-old Los Angeles resident reportedly won $39.7 million at MGM Resorts’ Excalibur Hotel & Casino. That was also on an IGT slot machine, Fox News said. IGT launched Megabucks back in 1987, the Review-Journal said.
In April 2019, someone won $13.1 million on Megabucks at the Sunset Station Casino in Henderson, the Review-Journal added. Just a couple years earlier, in September 2017, a Megabucks jackpot totaling almost $10.2 million was hit at the Fiesta Henderson Hotel and Casino by a man who only recently moved to Nevada.
In 2000, an unidentified woman won $34.9 million at the then-operating Desert Inn, the Fox report recalled.
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