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Sat Mar 22, 8:39 PM ET
LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - A young man visiting America's gambling capital hit pay dirt on Friday -- a world record $39 million on a slot machine.
The 25-year-old software engineer from Los Angeles, who requested anonymity, came up big at the Excalibur Hotel-Casino on the Las Vegas Strip, according to International Game Technology, which made the Megabucks slot machine.
He was visiting family and keeping track of college basketball's "March Madness (news - web sites)" tournament with some friends in Las Vegas, where betting on the games is legal. His uncle had told him about the Megabucks machine, which can pay out $5,000 for a $1 bet. If you play for $3 a pull, the winnings increase dramatically.
"This MegaJackpot is nearly $5 million more than the previous world record slot jackpot amount of $34.9 million," said John Sears, vice president of MegaJackpots for IGT.
Friday's winner said he'd put in about $100 when he turned his head away for an instant. When he looked back, the winning symbols had lined up and he was $39,713,982.25 richer.
Sat Mar 22, 8:39 PM ET
LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - A young man visiting America's gambling capital hit pay dirt on Friday -- a world record $39 million on a slot machine.
The 25-year-old software engineer from Los Angeles, who requested anonymity, came up big at the Excalibur Hotel-Casino on the Las Vegas Strip, according to International Game Technology, which made the Megabucks slot machine.
He was visiting family and keeping track of college basketball's "March Madness (news - web sites)" tournament with some friends in Las Vegas, where betting on the games is legal. His uncle had told him about the Megabucks machine, which can pay out $5,000 for a $1 bet. If you play for $3 a pull, the winnings increase dramatically.
"This MegaJackpot is nearly $5 million more than the previous world record slot jackpot amount of $34.9 million," said John Sears, vice president of MegaJackpots for IGT.
Friday's winner said he'd put in about $100 when he turned his head away for an instant. When he looked back, the winning symbols had lined up and he was $39,713,982.25 richer.
