Megabucks nears $20 mil.

Friday, May 21, 1999 | 11:52 a.m.

The Megabucks progressive slot machine jackpot has climbed above the $19.7 million mark -- the second highest in history.

However, it has a long way to go to beat the world's record slot jackpot of $27.6 million, also hit on a Megabucks machine, last November at the Palace Station by a 66-year-old Las Vegas woman who declined to release her name.

The previous second best Megabucks jackpot was $12.5 million hit by Las Vegan Suzanne Henley at the New York-New York hotel-casino on April 4, 1997, shortly after that Strip resort had opened.

As of 8:30 a.m. today, Megabucks, a product of International Game Technology was at $19,738,215 and climbing.

The Megabucks jackpot grows only when the statewide network of the machines are being played. Play generally increases when the jackpot has not been hit for a while or when it nears a record payoff. For every dollar played, the pot increases by several pennies.

The jackpot is won when a row of Megabucks symbols appears on either a single pay line or on the third-coin-line of a three-line machine. In either case, the maximum wager of $3 must be played for a player to win the Megabucks jackpot, which is paid in 25 annual installments.

The main Megabucks jackpot has been hit 47 times, paying off about $246 million. There are more than 130 Nevada casinos with Megabucks machines. About one of every five winners in Megabucks history have been Nevadans.