Megabucks is a popular slot machine offered by IGT featuring one of the highest progressive jackpots among all slot games. First introduced to gamblers in 1994, Megabucks is now available in dozens of. Megabucks Slots is a brand of linked progressive jackpot slot machines designed and distributed by International Game Technology. These games have a deceptively simple set-up. It is a 3-reel, $1-per.

Megabucks paved the way for life-changing jackpots. I Want to See More. Nevada Slots Jackpot. Nearest Location is 5.97 miles away Where Can I Play. Megabucks in Nevada 6.0 mi. Megabucks, created by International Game Technology (IGT), may well be the most famous slot machine in the world today. This progressive slot machine can be found throughout International Game Technology (IGT). Megabucks is one of the easiest slots to play – all you have to do is put money in the machine and press on the “spin” button. Because the slot itself doesn’t have additional gameplay features (such as free spins or symbols with multiple functions) and only a single pay line, the Mega Bucks.

The motto for most gamblers who come to Las Vegas on a lark is rather simple – go big or go home.

If you’re going to wager real American dollars on games of chance and skill, there’s no reason to take the conservative route. Bankroll management notwithstanding, the goal for any gambler in Sin City is to hit it big, win the jackpot, and walk away with more money than you know what to do with.

Of course, the vast majority of us who take these shots don’t mint themselves instant millionaires. Instead, the house’s inexorable edge and every gambling game’s inherent odds against the player combine to pour our money straight into the casino’s coffers.

For this reason, what happened at the Excalibur casino on March 21^st of 2003 when a random tourist from Los Angeles decided to hit the slots has become the stuff of Las Vegas legend.

On that day, an anonymous 25-year old gambler arrived in town to visit his family. With the annual “March Madness” college basketball tournament in full swing, the player figured they might as well get some action down on Duke, Arizona, and the rest of the sport’s heavyweights.

The young man’s uncle heard about the trip to Excalibur Hotel & Casino and offered his nephew a little sage advice from a Las Vegas local – play the Megabucks slot machine and see what happens.

And with a $10 million starting seed* – not to mention millions of tourists plunking down the requisite $3 per spin to give themselves a chance – the Megabucks jackpot had swelled to an astounding $39.7 million.

*Megabucks initially offered a $1 million starting seed, before increasing to $7 million in 1997, and $10 million in 2005

Thus, the visitor from L.A. found a Megabucks machine and took a seat with $100 in hand.

What happened next made history…

How Does the Megabucks Slot Machine Work?

First things first though… in case you’re unfamiliar with the Megabucks slot, here’s a quick crash course on the greatest progressive jackpot game of them all.

Casino game manufacturer International Game Technology (IGT) introduced its Megabucks slot way back in 1986. At the time, slot machine jackpots were static in nature, meaning each individual machine offered its own kitty based on how many coins had been previously deposited in between major payouts.

IGT had a revolutionary idea, however, so the company linked its various Megabucks machines all over the Silver State together. In other words, whenever a player in Reno, Mesquite, or anywhere in Nevada for that matter played one Megabucks machine, their coins contributed to the same jackpot total.

This wide area progressive jackpot concept proved to be an immediate hit with players, who loved to watch the meter continuously climb into the seven-figures.

And those meters did climb on a daily basis too, thanks to the Megabucks game’s enormous odds against on the topline jackpot.

Megabucks is a deceptively simple game, one which eschews the multiple paylines and expanded reels that make up the bulk of a casino’s slot inventory nowadays. For a maximum bet of $3, players send three reels spinning, each featuring traditional symbols like 7s, cherries, and BARs. To form winning combinations, players hope to hit three matching symbols along a single payline.

Megabucks Slot Machine California

The game’s jackpot symbol is a golden “Megabucks Eagle” which depicts the slot’s distinctive logo. The only thing is, landing even one of these crucial symbols along the payline requires the player to beat odds of 1 in 368. Knowing this, the odds against spiking all three at once come to an astronomical 1 in 49,836,032 – or (1/368)³.

Megabucks Slot Machine Locations

For this reason, the Megabucks progressive jackpot often goes unclaimed for extended stretches, many of which lasting more than a year. With so much time in between big winners, and so many players statewide tossing $3 per spin into the kitty, Megabucks jackpots soon became notorious for reaching epic proportions.

Before that fateful day in 2003, Megabucks players enjoyed an incredible run which saw the jackpot rise to a then record $27.5 million in 1998. That life-changing sum was won by a lucky slot spinner at Palace Station in November of 1998, but the record was eventually broken with a $34.9 million payout awarded to a cocktail waitress playing at the Desert Inn in January of 2000.

A little more than three years later, a new record was waiting to be set at the Excalibur.

$100 Flier Turns Into Life-Changing Record Jackpot Win

Starting out with only $100, the player from L.A. had just 33 spins to work with given the $3* price of play.

*Megabucks can be played for $1 or $2 spins, but the progressive jackpot is only awarded to players who opt for the max-bet of $3

Even so, as a press release issued by IGT later revealed, the player with a birthdate featuring three 7s seemed to have Lady Luck on his arm from the very start. Within the span of those 33 spins, the man watched as not one, not two, but three of the “Megabucks Eagle” symbols slowly spun and came to a rest alongside one another.

Just like that, the player had beaten odds of nearly 1 in 50 million to put nearly $40 million in his pocket.

Well, not all at once anyway. The winner elected to take $1.5 million installments over the course of 26 years – which means he’s still receiving seven-figure payouts annually to this day. In fact, the winner has another 10 years and $15 million remaining on his record-setting payment plan.

Although he chose to remain anonymous, the winner provided the following statement to IGT:

“I’m still stunned; it doesn’t seem real yet. But both of my parents are still working, so some of this money will be used to fund their retirement.”

Largest Megabucks Jackpot Ever – And By a Long Shot

John Sears – who served as vice president of IGT’s MegaJackpots program at the time – confirmed that the $39,713,982.25 payout smashed the previous record for largest slot machine jackpot ever awarded:

“This MegaJackpot is nearly $5 million more than the previous world record slot jackpot amount of $34.9 million – this one goes into The Guinness Book of Records.”

Check out the table below – featuring 10 real megabucks jackpot wins – to get a better sense of just how ridiculous the record-setting jackpot really is:

Megabucks Jackpot History (Wins of $10 Million or More)

Competing Jackpot Hunters Lament Loss of Record-Setting Total

Within the slot machine gaming enthusiast community, learning that Megabucks’ massive jackpot had been won proved to be bittersweet indeed.

In an interview with the Las Vegas Sun conducted shortly after the news broke, Kim Wong from Kailua, Hawaii told the newspaper how she felt watching the meter reset back to $10 million:

“I was here at lunchtime around 12:30 and it was still around $39.7 million. Then I came back around quarter after one and it was resetting. It was such a drag. It was a little more enticing with the $39 million up there, but I’m still playing.”

Judy Selasky from Lavonia, Michigan provided a similar story, telling the paper that even though a record payout was off the table, she and her husband would still play in hopes of a “lightning strikes twice” type of moment:

“I said, ‘Hurry up and get up to the room, so I can get downstairs. I figure if he won, there might be some magic here. I’m not a hog.”

Conclusion

Megabucks Slot Machine Jackpot Winners

In a city like Las Vegas which was founded on excess, setting the world record for slot machine jackpot winnings really is something special. And while we don’t know much about the software engineer from L.A. who did the deed, learning that a 25-year old tourist took the honors should give hope to every gambler who makes the sojourn to Sin City.

More than 16 years have passed since the record-setting spin, and nobody has even come close to claiming such an incredible Megabucks jackpot over that span – which shows just how astonishing that memorable moment in March of 2003 really was.

Dating back to the early 2000s, slot machines were only legal in 31 states around the U.S. Today there’s around 40+ states that have made them legal as well as other states that are in the process of being added to this number soon. If you think the U.S. has a lot of slot machines, check again. In Japan, slot machines are more popular and accepted than in the U.S. In comparison to the rest of the world, Japan is #1 on the list for having the most slot machines, followed by the U.S. ranking in at #2. Japan alone has around 5 million slot machines, and a smaller population than the U.S.

With all this talk about how popular slot machines are, have you ever dreamed of walking into a casino and then walking back out a millionaire? Surely, a lot of people have, especially when there’s so many slot machines out there that offer progressive jackpots such as the Megabucks slot machines, which have enormously large jackpots. In fact, Megabuck slot machines are a very big network operating their machines all over Vegas, and run by a company called International Game Technology (IGT). Speaking of Megabucks slots, that’s exactly what we’ll be talking about in this article. We’ll be looking at some of the winners, locations of the machines, what kind of jackpots they offer and what kind of odds they have.

Megabucks Slot Machine Payout Rules

If you’re familiar with the appearance of the classic slot machines, Megabucksslot machines are very similar holding a true and classic style with just three columns and only one payline. In order to spin the reels with the possibility of hitting a jackpot, the typical rules are that you need to bet at least a dollar, going up to three dollars. Keep in mind, in order to have a chance at winning the progressive jackpot, each spin must be three dollars. Of course you can win other smaller payouts from other combinations, however the Megabuck symbol is the symbol with the most value, and if you get three Megabuck symbols, you will be walking home with tons of cash in your pocket. What’s cool about Megabucks, all the slot machines around Vegas are all connected to one another. That means each person gambling on these machines is contributing to the jackpot amount, and whenever someone wins the jackpot, the jackpot amount for that machine, as well as all the other ones are reset to the starting amount which is $10,000,000. As of now, there are approximately 800 of these machines being operated in about 150 casinos in Nevada.

Megabucks Slot Winners

Over the last 20 years or so, Megabucks has had a handful of winners who walked out of the casinos a millionaire. As mentioned before, the progressive jackpot award starts at $10,000,000, meaning it continues to go higher until someone gets lucky and wins. Since Megabucks was first introduced back in 1986, on average 2 people win each year. Only one person won in 2016, whereas three people won in 2013, however in the year 2000, six people won. The biggest jackpot amount ever won was taken place at the Excalibur casino back in 2003, where someone took home a gigantic check with their name on it for a whopping $39M+. Keep in mind that the nearly 40% of the earnings are removed after having to pay state taxes from the winning amount, which can dramatically drop the initial win amount.

Mega Slot Machine Bonus Wins

Speaking of Megabucks slot winners, below are some people that have won over the years:

Megabucks Slot Machine

• In 2000, a local cocktail waitress aged 37 won almost $35M at the Desert Inn
• In 1998, a woman who was almost 70 years old won nearly $28M at the Palace Station, and only spent around $300 to reach that win. On top of that, she won close to $700K from another machine sometime before
• In 1999, a 44-year-old man won over $21M at Caesars Palace who only supposedly won on his first spin
• In 2002, a lady at the age of 74 gambled around $150 at one of the Megabucks machine at Bally’s casino, and turned it into approximately $23M
• In 2005, a 92-year-old man won close to $21M at the Cannery Casino, and won another Megabuck jackpot at time before that one back in the late 80s for about $4M from the casino at the Mirage.
• In 2011, some lady bet only around $6 and ended up winning approximately $12M from the Megabucks machine at the Aria.

Megabucks Slot Machine Odds

Now let’s talk about the Megabucks slot machine odds. First of all, all the official machines are equipped with a software installed called a Random Number Generator (RNG), which controls the random behavior of each spin. The RNG ensures that each spin that takes place is indeed random, making it impossible to control anyone’s payouts.

Although not guaranteed, but some people believe the odds of winning one of the Megabuck jackpot awards are anywhere from 1 in 17M to 1 in 50M, which means the odds of actually winning are worse than a majority of the state lotteries. Aside from the jackpot odds, the non-jackpot spins have a higher house edge than the slot machines without a progressive jackpot feature. Overall, there’s a possible chance anyone could win a Megabuck, since the odds are so small it will take a lot of losses before someone will actually wins. Nonetheless, you have to play in order to win, so don’t let the odds hold you back. If you think you’re the lucky one, go for it.

Here at Caesars Casino online, we offer a progressive jackpot feature on some of our video slot machines, which is similar to the Megabucks. In fact, if you’ve never played a progressive jackpot feature before, this is a great way to try it out for your first time, for free without any risk involved. Even if you have some experience with them, go ahead and play them anyways for some fun and/or to practice before you gamble at a real casino, with real money.