Megabucks Hits for $15.5 Million, We’ve Got Exclusive Details

By Scott Roeben, on December 31 2020
2 min read 18 comments
Gambling Las Vegas Las Vegas Casinos Slot Machines

On Christmas Eve 2020, a lucky player won $15.5 million on a Megabucks slot machine at Suncoast casino.

The dude’s name was Kevin.

But wait, there’s more.

Megabucks winner Suncoast
At least somebody’s 2020 didn’t entirely suck.

The exact jackpot was $15,491,103.27.

While taxes for such jackpots vary, The Man takes about a 40 percent bite.

Still, the jackpot was the largest in Nevada in eight years.

Megabucks winner Suncoast
Three credits, $15.5 million. Two credits, a paltry $20,000. Lesson: Just spring for the extra buck.

We were the first to share news of the Suncoast jackpot, mainly because our ever-vigilant Twitter followers noticed a Megabucks machine at another casino had reset to $10 million. That happens whenever somebody wins the jackpot.

Megabucks
The Megabucks reset is reliable jackpot alert system.

We naturally visited Suncoast to check out, and possibly fondle, the winning machine. Lighten up, it was consensual.

Suncoast is a locals casino owned by Boyd Gaming, about 15 minutes west of the Las Vegas Strip.

Suncoast
Suncoast rents that sky just to make our photos look better.

Apparently, Kevin (a part-time Vegas resident, who also lives in Alaska) put $40 in the lucky Megabucks machine before his big win.

For posterity, we’d like to share the winning machine number was 9669. The machine’s location was 5501. (See photo below.)

While casino practices vary slightly, you can tell a machine’s I.D. number and location by looking for the big red arrows.

Slot machine numbering
It’s like a GPS for slot techs.

The winning machine sits next to the casino’s Peng Zu restaurant.

More controversially, it’s near Du-par’s restaurant. The Megabucks winner apparently dined there following his windfall. A casino insider contacted us to share Kevin failed to tip the staff after his meal. Awkward.

Megabucks
This Megabucks machine is currently a local celebrity.

Whether the player tipped staff for his $15.5 million win is unknown.

Anyway, we’re confident Kevin will circle back and lavish staff with gratuities galore.

It was probably the shock.

Megabucks
Megabucks is what’s known as a “progressive” slot machine, which could explain why it’s always redistributing wealth.

The irony in cases of multimillion-dollar jackpots is the player often has little or no cash on them. Large jackpots are paid by check (by the machine manufacturer, not the casino) often over many years, so it’s not uncommon for players to “forget” to tip, or not have the cash to tip, at the time of their win.

Nailed this jackpot during our visit. Who says lightning doesn’t strike twice?

Whatever the circumstances of a win, there’s always a collective thrill when somebody snags millions of dollars on a slot machine. (Also known as collective envy.)

Megabucks jackpots are part of what keep the Las Vegas dream alive! One spin or pull of the arm can change your life forever.