Mervyn Davids

Mervyn Davids

Posted on 26 May 2021

Biggest Slot Machine Jackpot Wins in Recent History

Slots are clearly the most popular games to play on any casino floor. They’re hugely entertainment, don’t require any skill and, most importantly, give players the opportunity walk away with truly life-changing prizes.

True, the odds of winning that massive prize are long, to say the least, but at least there is a chance. It’s that tiny chance that attracts players, especially since they don’t need to invest a fortune. The vast majority of slot machines have very low stakes. So, for a dollar or two, players get to chase that dream for real.

The best-paying?slot games?are those that have progressive jackpots. That means that the jackpot is seeded at a certain amount and climbs each time the jackpot fund is added to. Some of the best jackpot games are seeded at amounts beginning in the millions, and the only way is up!

Over the years, some massive jackpot wins have taken place in history. These real life rags-to-riches stories continue to inspire players to try their luck at the games in the hope that they, too, will be a big winner.

We look at some of the biggest slot jackpots paid out in history:

It’s Never Too Late!

Elmer Sherwin, an 80-year-old WWII veteran proved that it’s never too late to hit the jackpot on your favorite slot game. Sherwin was an avid Megabucks slot fan and had some good times spinning the reels. The thrilled pensioner eventually went on to win $4.6 million on the game and treated himself to a luxury world tour with his windfall.

But here’s where the story unfolds into something almost unbelievable. Twelve years later, Sherwin returned to the same Las Vegas casino and played the same Megabucks game. This time around, he raked in an eye-popping $21 million!

Sherwin decided that the money would go to a grand cause and donated almost all the proceeds of his second win to the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

The bottom line? It’s never too late to win. And it IS possible to win million-dollar jackpots twice in one lifetime!

$100 Stake Turns into $39 Million

The largest slot machine jackpot in game history at the time of win, involved the very same game that was played by our lucky veteran above. This time around, though, the win was paid out to a 25-year-old software engineer from Los Angeles, who was visiting Las Vegas with his family in March, 2003.

Intrigued with the legendary IGT Megabucks slot, the anonymous player headed to the casino floor at the Excalibur Hotel-Casino on the Strip and decided to stake $100 on the game. After just a little while, the stunned player found all the winning symbols lined up and he walked away with the biggest slot machine jackpot in history at the time – $39,713,984.25.

Since its inception in 1986, Megabucks has become one of the best-paying jackpot games ever. Its jackpot is seeded at $10 million and the game has paid out over $1 billion in prize money to lucky players.

Biggest Online Slot Win

Online casinos offer progressive slot games by some of the best providers in the world, such as Microgaming and Mega Moolah. Both these vendors have reported on some of the largest online slot payouts in history.

NetEnt’s Mega Fortune slot is the star of many great wins, the biggest one belonging to a Finnish man in his 40’s. The man tried his luck at an online casino run by the Scandinavian betting company, PAF on January 20th, 2013. Placing a bet of just 25c, the man went on to win a massive €17,861,800 – the biggest online casino jackpot win in history.

At the time of the win, NetEnt’s Per Eriksson noted: “This is the second time that NetEnt games give a winner the world’s largest global online jackpot. The high liquidity that NetEnt’s progressive slots offers, result in very rapid jackpot buildup, and is a very good tool for the operators to attract players. We congratulate the winner and Paf to this big win, and look forward to hopefully making many more players millionaires in the future”

NetEnt has kept true to its promise and, since the win by the Helsinki player, has made many more players millionaires and multi-millionaires.

If you are looking for the best casinos where you?can win real money, visit our comprehensive list of the?best no deposit slots bonuses!

Published on: 2021/05/26

Mervyn Davids

Chief-in-Editor

Mervyn Davids is the NoDepositDaily.org editor. In his time at the website, he strives for balance and transparency. Davids is focused on providing readers with the most accurate rankings of safe and secure online casinos in the world. He is considered a voice of authority in the field and welcomes your feedback on the NoDepositDaily.org website.