They say that the house always wins and that you cannot trust your hard-earned money in the hands of casino dealers or worse, feed it to the slots. Yet the lure of the casino is stronger than ever, both on land and online, and millions of people worldwide tempt their luck for the chance of earning the pay-out of a lifetime. In this article we look at ten of those glorious moments when players finally hit it big. We have set our sights high and counted down the top ten biggest casino wins in history, with winnings running into many millions of dollars. Read on to find out what the richest win ever made in gambling history is…
In 2000, Cynthia Jay Brennan, a cocktail waitress, became one of the luckiest people in the world when she won the largest Megabucks jackpot in history at the time. She was playing a state-wide. Biggest Casino Wins We've all dreamt of hitting a life-changing win at the casino, but this becoming a reality is incredibly rare. Gamblers have a tendency to trust their instincts and almost predict when a run of good luck is going to arrive, but predicting a win.
10 – $10.6 million
Biggest Casino Wins
The Megabucks machine at the Aria in Vegas was on fire back in April of 2011 and a lucky gambler hit the jackpot almost three months after another big payout was doled out. The unknown player took home $10.6 million, making him or her another happy customer of the Megabucks game, which is responsible for making several new multi-millionaires, many of whom appear on this list.
9 – $12.7 million dollars
Nearly three months prior to the win that came in number 10 on list, a women staying at the Aria decided to feed the Megabucks machine $6 while she was making her way to her room. Little did she know that action would literally change her life overnight, as a few seconds later she was the proud winner of a $12.7 million jackpot. The player wouldn’t believe her eyes and was reported saying that she thought the machine wasn’t working properly when she saw the sum flash on the screen.
8 -$14,487,759
Coming at number 8 is the biggest payout ever made online. The winner was a Norwegian player who is only known by his first name, Peter. One day, Peter logged in to his account and decided to give a progressive jackpot slot called Arabian Knights a spin, and exchanged some Norwegian Crowns into Euros to play the game.
A while later he had accumulated 11.7 million Euros in his bankroll and curious to find out what that amount was worth in his local currency, he contacted customer support. To his surprise, Peter had become a millionaire several times over during that session, to the tune of $ 14,487,759.
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7 – $21,147,947
Yet another happy Megabucks customer! Elmer Sherwin was 92 years old when he beat the odds and hit his second Megabucks jackpot at the Cannery Casino in Las Vegas. His previous jackpot was worth $,4.6 million but his latest lucky strike was nearly five times bigger at $21,147,947. The odds of hitting the jackpot twice on Megabucks are one in fifty million, making Sherwin one hell of a lucky geezer.
6 – $21,346,952.22.
In 1999 an unnamed man from Illinois won over $21.3 million at Caesars Palace after depositing only $10. The player, who was 49 years old at the time, gave his occupation as a business consultant and became a multi-millionaire after just one spin at a slot machine.
5 – $22,618,156.67
Johanna Heundl, a 74-year-old woman from California, was about to go to breakfast at Bally’s when she chanced upon a Megabucks machine. Not one to shy away from an early morning gamble, she reached into her purse and pulled out $170 to give to the machine. One quick spin later and Johanna made her way to the continental breakfast a mega-millionaire, with more than $22.6 million to her name.
4 – $27,580,879.60
Another massive win happened in Palace Station in November of 1998, when a retired flight attendant and a native of Las Vegas placed $300 in a slot machine. The unnamed woman was no stranger to big wins, she had already won $680,000 at the Palace station a while back, but on that November day she topped her personal record by hitting a huge $27.5 million jackpot. The top three biggest casino wins…
3 – $34,959,458.50
Number three in our list is a story of great luck, as well as tragedy. Cynthia Jay, a cocktail waitress at the Monte Carlo in Las Vegas decided to take a spin at the Megabucks slot machine in January 2000 during a birthday party. On her ninth try, she won nearly $35 million which she spent by giving herself the wedding of her dreams just two weeks later. Sadly, Cynthia was involved in a horrible car accident seven weeks after winning that jackpot, which left her paralysed from the chest down and unable to ever walk again.
2 – $39,710,826.36
Taking the second spot on our list of the top ten biggest casino wins is a $39.7 million jackpot that was won by a 25-year-old software engineer from LA in March of 2003. The lucky guy deposited $100 at a video slots at the Excalibur and proceeded to win one the second biggest jackpot in the history of Las Vegas.
1 – $40 million
The story of Archie Karas has become legend. The world’s luckiest man and one of the finest gamblers in history walked into a casino with just $50 dollars in his wallet and emerged with his pockets bulging with $40 million worth of banknotes. Karas’s life story is a true roller-coaster of emotions fraught with big wins and equally massive losses, pointing towards the inevitable truth in every gambler’s career: you have to know when to grab the money and run, or keep on playing and risk losing it all. Forty million dollars. Imagine all the things you could do with that amount of money sitting in your bankroll or bank account. One thing you wouldn’t do for sure is work another day in your life!
Sitting down at a poker table or slot machine is exhilarating. Adrenaline is rushing and the hopes of hitting the big win are high. Some will walk away with an experience and no more than that. Others will not only have their experience, but through luck and skill, will have some new money in the bank.
The house does not always win, and that’s what these gamblers found out. The following is a showcase of some of the biggest casino payouts. These are the ones that turned simple men into millionaires in less than 24 hours.
Biggest Casino Wins
From Deep Sea Fisherman to Millionaire
An anonymous deep sea fisherman from Aberdeenshire, UK, began his betting with a 20 pence spin at the Hall of Gods on the BetVictor online site. In one lucky spin, he managed to hit the jackpot. It was a staggering win of £5.4 million pounds or $9 million dollars. This big win came 6 months after another member won a £4.5 million pound jackpot at the Mega Fortune slots. The married father of one was thrilled about his winnings and the fact that he no longer has to worry about the future, but he says he’ll keep his day job to prevent boredom.
A Double Win
Elmer Sherwin enjoys a nice run on the Megabucks slot machines. In 1989, Elmer won $5 million dollars in one go, the highest payout at the time. He used his winnings to travel the world and donate to a variety of charities, but since had another goal in mind. He wanted to win the top award for the second time in a row. In 2005, at 92 years old, Elmer felt “lucky” and headed to his favorite slot machine at the Cannery Casino & Hotel in North Las Vegas. Shortly after, the lights were going crazy because Elmer had hit the $21 million dollar jackpot. This too, was the biggest payout and one that had 1 in 50 million odds. Since becoming a mega millionaire, he says he has another goal in mind, can you guess what it is?
The Biggest Online Casino Win So Far
Imagine, sitting at home in your comfiest robe, sipping on a hot coffee and playing online slots. In this day and age, it’s possible. A Norwegian man named Peter began playing the progressive jackpot slot, Arabian Nights. The casino operator did not take his local Norwegian currency, so he exchanged it for Euros and began playing without taking notice of the exchange rate. Upon his completion of play, he contacted the help desk to find out how much 11.7 million Euros was worth in his Norwegian currency. They replied that it was worth 38 million Crones. Needless to say Peter had become a millionaire without ever having to leave his house. Anything is really possible.
Luck or Skill? You Decide
Don Johnson (no, not that Don Johnson) claims he had an “incredible streak of good luck at the Atlantic City blackjack tables”. Others think he possesses mad skill and then there are some who believe he is part of an elite gambling ring. Most likely, this guy just knows what he’s doing. Don isn’t like a lot of the big guys. He prefers casual clothing to designer suits and has never considered himself a pro gambler. In December 2010, Don won $4.23 million at Caesars Atlantic City at the blackjack table. That same month, he visited the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, winning about $998,000. The following March, he won $1.8 million and another $2.5 million in April. By now, people knew about this mystery millionaire and casinos were on the lookout for him, but no one knew for certain who he was. Finally, Don went on a 12 hour spree at the Tropicana Casino and Resort. There he walked away with $5.8 million, a record loss for the establishments. Within six months, he won $15.1 million.
From Rags to Riches
The next story is one that you may be familiar with. Archie Karas had $50 to his name. With this, he left on a road trip from Los Angeles to Las Vegas to try out his luck. On the way, he visited several different casinos and backroom poker clubs. Through this, he turned his $50 into $10,000. Now he was ready to play big.
Hitting the Vegas Strip, he played Baccarat, Poker and several dice games. Between all his play and winnings, he managed to take more than $40 million dollars. It doesn’t end here. While Archie had just become the man with the biggest win in casino history, his luck quickly ran out. He continued to gamble and 6 months later, he had lost it all. Take a moment for the lesson at hand. You must know when to walk away.
Play to Win and Have Fun Doing It
Whether you’re playing at the Bellagio or sitting at home and playing online, or relaxing at the park with your mobile in hand, you place your bets and watch where the dice lands. Taking a chance is what all these players did, and it paid off for them. So, wherever you choose to play, make sure you go in it with the attitude of “playing to win”.
Biggest Casino Wins And Losses
On a final note, understanding casino games will benefit your overall winning strategy. Of course, just knowing that you could end up on this list is a plus. Remember, history repeats itself.