Las Vegas Jackpots String Continues, as $5 Bet Wins $10.5M at South Point Hotel Casino

Posted on: April 29, 2021, 02:08h. 

Last updated on: July 19, 2021, 02:54h.

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

Las Vegas is back open, and anyone who has visited the Strip or Fremont Street recently knows visitors are returning in bunches. And those who have ventured back to Southern Nevada have recently found an abundance of luck on slot machines, with life-changing jackpot wins.

Las Vegas slot machine jackpot Nevada
A man poses on Christmas Eve 2020 at the Suncoast Hotel and Casino after winning a nearly $15.5 million Megabucks jackpot. Las Vegas slot players have been extraordinarily lucky as of late. (Image: Vital Vegas)

The latest occurred this week at the South Point Hotel Casino south of the Strip. A visitor from New Mexico wagered $5 on a Megabucks progressive and hit a $10.5 million jackpot. 

South Point said the individual did not wish to be identified, opting to remain anonymous. Megabucks is manufactured and operated by London-based International Game Technology.

Megabucks was the first progressive jackpot system to arrive in Las Vegas. The gaming network debuted in 1986.

Massive Jackpots

Slot machines in Las Vegas have been loose as of late. 

The South Point win early Tuesday came just hours after a tourist from Alaska won more than $2.1 million at The Cosmopolitan playing Monopoly Millionaire — another progressive slot. The person, who also remained anonymous, said he wagered $40 on the winning spin. 

Vegas wasn’t done there. Yesterday, The Venetian said a man identified only as “Roger L.” won over $2.9 million playing Wheel of Fortune. 

Back on Christmas Eve, a lucky slots player at the Suncoast Hotel and Casino won just shy of $15.5 million on Megabucks. Going only by “Kevin,” the man said he had bet about $40 before hitting what is believed to be Nevada’s largest jackpot in eight years. The Megabucks spin was $3. 

The richest slot machine jackpot in Las Vegas history occurred in March of 2003, when a 25-year-old software engineer from Los Angeles won $39.7 million on Megabucks at Excalibur. The odds of hitting the Megabucks jackpot are approximately one in 50 million.

The recent slot machine jackpots have not only been limited to inside casinos. A woman from Texas last month won $302,000 on a Wheel of Fortune slot at McCarran International Airport. 

Jackpot Headlines

The recent string of significant life-altering slot machine wins should help Las Vegas market itself and let people around the world know that Sin City is back. It’s certainly been a most difficult 14 months.

Per the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA), visitor volume through the first three months of the year is down 40 percent compared with January through March of 2020. The pandemic struck in March of last year, resulting in every commercial casino in Nevada being forced to fully shutter its operations.

More favorable comparisons are in the months ahead, as travel in the US is returning across the nation. Crowds are beginning to return to the Strip on weekends, and the impending return of convention business will greatly help increase visitor volume. 

This week, the LVCVA debuted its newest marketing initiative, titled “Vegas You.” The national television campaign “reminds travelers that Las Vegas is open, ready, and excited to welcome them,” said Kate Wik, chief marketing officer at the LVCVA.