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The Biggest and Most Famous Casino Wins in History

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. Though large wins are rare, some lucky individuals have hit jackpots so massive they’ve gone down in history. Here are some of the most famous and largest casino wins in history.

The Excalibur Jackpot

The largest slot machine jackpot in history was won in March 2003 at the Excalibur Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. A 25-year-old software engineer from Los Angeles decided to play the famous Megabucks slot machine while waiting for a basketball game to start. After feeding about $100 into the machine, casino he hit the jackpot of a lifetime. The total prize was a staggering $39.7 million, a sum so large that the casino agreed to pay it out in 25 annual installments of about $1.5 million. 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.

The Blackjack King

Not all legendary wins come from pure luck. Between 2010 and 2011, a man named Don Johnson went on an unprecedented winning streak, taking three Atlantic City casinos for a combined total of over $15 million playing blackjack.

He didn’t use card counting to achieve this feat. As a known high roller, he was able to negotiate extremely favorable playing conditions for himself. These included a 20% ”loss rebate” (where the casino would refund him 20% of his losses if they reached a certain amount), casino the ability to bet up to $100,000 per hand, and favorable rules like splitting and doubling down on any four cards. With these conditions, he played with a positive expectation, a rare feat in casino gaming. He won so much that he is no longer welcome to play at many of the world’s top casinos.

The Double Megabucks Winner

To hit a huge jackpot once is a miracle; to do it twice on the same machine type is beyond belief. Yet, 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 didn’t stop playing, hoping for a second miracle. Sixteen years later, at 92 years old, lightning struck again, and he won a second Megabucks jackpot, this time for $21.1 million. He was incredibly generous with his second windfall, donating a large portion to charity.