| If any
publicity is good publicity, then good publicity must be great
publicity. And if anyone needs great publicity it is the Gulf Coast
gaming scene. Hosting the player that wins a world-record slot
machine jackpot fits into the category of good publicity. While
playing at the Isle of Capri Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi, a guest
walked away with the statewide MegaJackpots. The game of choice was
the Wheel of Fortune, $1 slot machine. The size of the jackpot was
a breath-taking $12.4 million. As the saying goes, ‘more money,
more problems;’ it is no wonder the player wishes to remain
anonymous. The $12.4 million win is actually a world record for
this particular slots system.
The winner was ecstatic as
Mississippi State Gaming officials and IGT technicians verified the
authenticity of the win, “This is the first time I have ever played
a Wheel of Fortune slot machine,” he blurted. “I visit the Isle of
Capri several times every year, but usually blackjack is my game.”
It should be recalled that it was only 10
month ago that Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast. The region
is still in recovery, but the world record MegaJackpots will provide
a well needed boost to Isle of Capri and the other casinos in the
region. Such tempting jackpots continue to make the Gulf Coast
casinos a destination region.
Isle of Capri Casino, Inc., senior vice
president, Les McMackin, spoke optimistically of the current trends
in the region’s casinos, “It is wonderful to see that gaming has
returned to the Mississippi Gulf Coast with two substantial payouts
at the Isle in the past six months – one for $8 million and now
another for $12.4 million. The largest Wheel of Fortune winner in
the world right now is an Isle of Capri player.” He continued, “The
remarkable payouts along the Mississippi Gulf Coast by out of town
visitors are a clear sign that tourism is returning.”
The story of the winner, a gentleman from
Georgia, starts with bad luck. He and his family were making a
routine visit to the Gulf Coast, with the intention of playing at
their favorite casino, Isle of Capri. His favorite game on the
blackjack table was not being especially kind to him. After
watching another patron score a $400 bonus round jackpot on the
Wheel of Fortune slot machine, he decided to give his luck a spin.
His limit would be $100 dollars for the Wheel
of Fortune slot machine. But, he only spent $40 of that purse
before bells and whistles alerted him that he was the newest
Mississippi MegaJackpots millionaire.
The amount of the winnings apparently took
time to sink in. “I thought I had won $12,000, not $12 million!
Wow, it’s really hard to believe,” said the still reeling winner.
When asked how the money might affect his
life, his response was summed up in this, “Retirement has been
pretty good to me already.” The winner intends to use more of his
money to aid the lives of his children and grandchildren than he
does to change his own.
The MegaJackpots grand prize has already been
awarded nine times this year in Mississippi. Though this is the
largest jackpot in the history of the Wheel of Fortune dollar
progressive slot machine, it is only the third largest jackpot in
Mississippi. The combined total of the MegaJackpots awarded this
year stands at $29 million.
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