$10 Million Megabucks Jackpot Hit at Henderson Casino by New Local

Posted on: September 18, 2017, 04:00h. 

Last updated on: September 18, 2017, 03:57h.

Casino.org Staff Writer Read More
Expertise: Commercial Gaming.

A Megabucks jackpot totaling $10,192,522.80 was hit at the Fiesta Henderson Hotel and Casino over the weekend by a man who only recently moved to the state of Nevada.

Megabucks jackpot Fiesta Henderson
A lucky gambler at Fiesta Henderson went home $10 million wealthier thanks to a Megabucks jackpot. (Image: Fiesta Henderson/Collage by Casino.org)

Roger, who withheld his last name while talking to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, told the newspaper that he relocated to Henderson from Virginia just a couple months ago. After moving to the desert, the retiree said he became quite fascinated with slot machines, and has been visiting the Fiesta Henderson on an almost daily basis.

Now a multimillionaire, Roger says he doesn’t have any grand plans to change his lifestyle. He comically said, “I’ll probably spend most of it on alcohol, women, and gambling. The rest of it I’ll waste.”

Developed by IGT, Megabucks is a network of progressive jackpot machines that rolls over money across thousands of slots. The last jackpot hit came on August 8 at the Fremont Hotel & Casino, when one lucky gambler won over $11.85 million.

“Small” Jackpot

While every gambler would gladly take a $10.19 million jackpot, the Megabucks win was actually relatively small for the progressive. The jackpot payout was its smallest since 2004 when a Palms machine paid $8 million.

Over those 13 years, there have been 25 jackpot wins. The biggest, a payout of $33 million, came at the Sparks’ Rail City Casino in 2009. The record Megabucks jackpot came back in 2000 at the Desert Inn when one fortunate player won $34,955,490.

After Megabucks pays out on its progressive jackpot, the total is reset to $10 million. That means just $192,522.80 had been rolled over through losing spins since August 8.

Megabucks is a dollar coin slot machine. To hit the progressive jackpot, a gambler must have the maximum wager ($3) bet. Megabucks is found up and down the Strip, as well as in regional casinos throughout Nevada.

Per Wizard of Odds, for each dollar taken in, 78.44 cents goes to fixed wins, 6.69 cents for meter reset, 3.49 cents is rolled into the progressive jackpot fund, and 11.39 cents is reserved for profit.

Ya Never Know

The odds of winning the Megabucks progressive jackpot are of course very slim.

According to slot expert John Robison, one’s chances of winning the rollover total is 1 in 49,836,032. By comparison, the odds of being struck by lightning in any given year is 1 in 700,000.

Insurance companies that offer protection for golf events with prizes say odds of a golfer hitting a hole in one are 12,500 to one. Lottery odds are even worse, but millions keep playing Powerball and Mega Millions, multi-state lottery games that have been dishing out record-setting jackpots.

Despite the extremely long odds, each year people are struck by lightning, golfers score aces, and gamblers hit jackpots.