Two Lucky Gamblers in Las Vegas Hit $1M Jackpots on Same Day

Posted on: November 17, 2021, 11:08h. 

Last updated on: November 17, 2021, 11:48h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.

Sunday, November 14, was a good day to be in Las Vegas, as two lucky gamblers each hit a jackpot north of $1 million.

Las Vegas jackpot slot machine Wheel of Fortune
Quoclong Pham shows off his winning check of more than $1 million that he won playing a Face Up Pai Gow game at Harrah’s Las Vegas on the Strip. He’s one of several big winners over the past week in Southern Nevada. (Image: Harrah’s Las Vegas)

Quoclong Pham, a resident of Vancouver, Washington, said he had just sat down at a Face Up Pai Gow table game at Harrah’s Las Vegas on the Strip. Moments later, he was a millionaire.

It’s just surreal. It’ll hit me tomorrow once it hits the account,” Pham told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Pham hit a seven-card straight flush with a joker, Harrah’s parent company, Caesars Entertainment, said in a statement regarding the win. The progressive jackpot that Pham hit was worth $1,393,273.

Fortunately for Pham, he had wagered the $5 add-on bet to qualify for the game’s Mega Progressive Jackpot. While Caesars didn’t say how much his hand’s bet was, the Harrah’s Face Up Pai Gow tables typically come with minimums ranging between $10 to $25.

Face Up Pai Gow Poker is played against the dealer with a standard 52-card deck, plus a Joker, for a total of 53 cards. Each player’s hand involves seven total cards, with a seven-card straight royal flush being the highest hand.

Sunday Funday

Pham wasn’t the only person in Sin City to strike it rich on Sunday. Earlier in the day, a lucky gambler at Circa Resort & Casino downtown hit a $1,075,234 jackpot while playing a Wheel of Fortune progressive.

Nikki, a Southern California resident who did not reveal her last name, was visiting Las Vegas when she hit the jackpot. Circa owner Derek Stevens was on hand to help Nikki and her friends celebrate.

Stevens and his Circa, of course, aren’t on the hook to pay out on the more than $1 million jackpot. Instead, IGT — the manufacturer of the Wheel of Fortune slot — actually paid Nikki the massive sum.

Progressive jackpots pool slot machines. Of each spin, a fraction of the wager is directed towards the ever-mounting progressive jackpot. When the pool is finally hit, the terminal manufacturer disperses the winnings.

IGT has paid more than $1 billion in progressive jackpots since they became a Las Vegas staple in the 1980s. The largest Strip jackpot remains the $39 million bounty that a person won at Excalibur in March of 2003.

Vegas Lets Loose

Just when gamblers thought Las Vegas might be running dry of loose slots, yet another million-dollar jackpot was hit yesterday, November 16. Scott Roeben of Vital Vegas broke the news that a gambler also playing a Wheel of Fortune machine hit a jackpot totaling $1,025,601.

The three million-dollar-plus jackpots this week come after a gambler at Treasure Island last Friday hit a Megabucks jackpot totaling $1,089,849.

Jackpots being hit more frequently could be simply an abundance of luck, or a sign that more people are playing. Las Vegas casinos have certainly experienced robust play in recent months, gross gaming revenue topping $1 billion in Nevada in each of the past seven months.

More strong numbers could be on the way after Las Vegas last week welcomed back its first transatlantic commercial flight since the onset of the pandemic.