When good luck turns bad

Monday, March 27, 2000 | 11:20 a.m.

There may be no "Curse of Megabucks."

But the 51 instant millionaires created by the statewide progressive dollar slot machines are not immune to the tragedies that strike millions of people who are not so fortunate in their gambling exploits.

"If we are cursed, then it was by a good witch," said Terry Williams, who was working two jobs when he hit the first Megabucks jackpot on Feb. 1, 1987, at Harrah's Reno for $4.98 million.

"Bad things happen in everyone's life, and the money doesn't make those bad things go away. But the money does give you a degree of comfort that you most likely would not have had if you hadn't won the money," Williams said. "The comfort is that you don't have to worry about maxing out your credit cards or taking a second mortgage to pay the bills."

A recent -- and tragic -- reminder that the very lucky in slots don't always remain lucky in life occurred March 11 when Megabucks winner Cynthia Jay-Brennan was rear-ended, allegedly by a drunken driver, while waiting in her 1999 Chevrolet Camaro at a red light at Boulder Highway and Indios Avenue.

Jay-Brennan, a 37-year-old ex-cocktail waitress who hit the world-record $34.9 million jackpot on Jan. 26 at the Desert Inn, was seriously injured. Her 45-year-old sister, Lela Anne Jay, her passenger, was killed in the chain-reaction accident that injured five others.

Today, Jay-Brennan is undergoing treatment at Craig Rehabilitation Hospital in Denver, one of the top spinal cord and traumatic brain injury hospitals in the world.

"My heart just broke when I heard about what happened to her," said Williams, who has helped members of his family who have been afflicted with serious health problems. "But thank God she has the money to get the best care possible. And her family can stay with her longer and afford nice accommodations."

Williams, a resident of Los Gatos, Calif., paid for his mother's and sister's breast cancer treatments. His mother died, but his sister is still battling the disease. Williams also has donated money to the American Cancer Society and to hospice organizations to help others.

Two years after he hit Megabucks, Williams and his wife, Barbara, found themselves temporarily homeless when their house was destroyed during the 1989 San Francisco Bay Area earthquake. They used part of their winnings to buy the home in Los Gatos.

Williams, who admits he and his wife squandered much of their first two annual checks, started saving and investing the other eight installments. The final check came in February 1996. Today they live on a budget so their wealth will last.

John Tippin of Honolulu hit the fourth largest Megabucks jackpot, $11.9 million, on Jan. 27, 1996, at the Las Vegas Hilton. Like Williams, his life has been mostly great. But the former U.S. Postal Service employee has had problems related to his good fortune.

"Someone tried to steal my identity and used the mail to do it," Tippin said. "We were able to stop it before any damage was done. But had I not had contacts in the postal inspector's office, things might have been worse.

"One of the hardest things has been knowing who to trust and who not to trust. I had to hire a lawyer to help me find a lawyer experienced in the financial field."

Still, Tippin said, what happened to Jay-Brennan far outdistances any problems he and his family have confronted: "I felt so sick for her and her family. It's such a tragedy."

Tippin, who still visits "my second home" Las Vegas frequently, said he and his wife, Stella, try to keep a low profile in Honolulu.

"For my own protection, I don't go places," he said. "When I used to go to the supermarket, people would recognize me as the guy who hit Megabucks and would rush up to touch me for good luck. When you see a stranger run up to you, you just don't know what they want -- to touch you or to rob you."

Like Williams, Tippin said, it took awhile to learn how to manage his money, but he said he and his wife succeeded "by keeping things level and taking our time."

Williams said a future pitfall for Megabucks winners could stem from new laws that allow slot jackpot and lottery winners to receive lump-sum payments -- astronomic amounts that can be blown quickly.

"Based on my experience, I definitely would advise against taking lump-sum payments because the temptations (to overspend) are just too great," Williams said. "It takes about two years (of installment checks) to get ready for the future."

Megabucks winners pay about 39 percent in federal taxes plus state taxes if they live outside Nevada.

Rick Sorensen, spokesman for the Reno-based International Game Technology, makers of Megabucks and other progressive statewide slots, says Megabucks winners have said they have been stressed by horrific lies they've heard told about them.

"Rumors were started that two of our winners were killed two to three months after hitting Megabucks, and those winners later heard about it," Sorensen said.

Another rumor was that an elderly gambler suffered a heart attack after hitting Megabucks and died on the spot. That also did not happen.

In fact, in the nearly 15-year history of Megabucks, only one of the 51 major jackpot winners has died -- and that, Sorensen said, was a person who lived for many years after hitting the jackpot.

Ed Koch is a reporter for the Sun. He can be reached at (702) 259-4090 or by e-mail at koch@lasvegassun.com