Right machine, right time equals big, big payoff

Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2000 | 9:40 a.m.

Patti Wentworth was on her way out the door of the Golden Eagle Casino at 1:07 a.m. Saturday when she decided to try one last $20 bill on a progressive slot machine.

With just three pulls on the one-armed bandit, she hit the big jackpot.

Dana Rulon Frye of the advertising agency FryeAllen Inc. and a spokeswoman for the casino, said it was the first big win on a progressive slot machine in the country this year.

"It's kind of like the first baby being born," she said. "She was at the right machine at the right time."

The Golden Eagle is owned and operated by the Kickapoo Tribe in northeast Kansas and is about 6 miles west of Horton. Until Saturday, the largest jackpot there had been $2.8 million on the dollar slots, Frye said.

The "Dollars Deluxe" slot machine Wentworth was playing is tied to other American Indian casinos in Connecticut, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

Wentworth will receive her prize of $4,516,364.90 in installments over 20 years. Her first check, for more than $225,000, was paid out after the win was verified late Saturday morning.