For most people, a trip to the casino is a form of entertainment where the dream of a life-changing win is part of the thrill. While most wins are modest, every now and then, someone defies the odds in spectacular fashion, walking away with a fortune that becomes the stuff of legend. Here are some of the most famous and largest casino wins in history.
The Megabucks Jackpot: A Software Engineer's $39.7 Million Win
The largest slot machine jackpot in history was won in March 2003 at the Excalibur Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. A young programmer from L.A. put some money into a Megabucks machine to kill time before a game. His relatively small investment of $100 resulted in the ultimate prize. The win amounted to an incredible $39.7 million, paid out over 25 years. The winner chose to remain anonymous, and his story remains the ultimate testament to the incredible, albeit minuscule, chance of hitting it big on a slot machine.
Don Johnson: The Man Who "Broke" Atlantic City's Blackjack Tables
Sometimes, a big win is about more than just a lucky spin. In an incredible run, Don Johnson managed to beat several casinos at blackjack for more than $15 million.
His secret wasn't card counting in the traditional sense. Johnson, a savvy businessman, negotiated special rules with the casinos before he even started playing. He secured a 20% discount on his losses, a very high maximum bet, and other rule changes that significantly reduced the house edge. By combining these advantageous rules with perfect basic strategy, he was able to shift the mathematical edge slightly in his favor. His incredible run caused some casinos to change their high-roller policies, and he was eventually banned from many establishments.
Winning the Jackpot... Again
The odds of winning a major lottery-style jackpot are astronomical, but winning it twice seems impossible. Yet, casino (https://amicireggiavenariareale.com/games/big-bass-splash) that is precisely the story of Elmer Sherwin, a veteran of the Second World War. In 1989, at the age of 76, he won a $4.6 million Megabucks jackpot at The Mirage in Las Vegas, just 10 hours after the casino opened. He used the money to travel the world, casino but he continued to play the Megabucks slots, dreaming of a second win. His persistence paid off in 2005 when he hit another Megabucks jackpot for over $21 million. Sherwin generously donated much of his second win to charity, including relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina victims.