Latest Megabucks winner a “loser”

Wednesday, March 14, 2001 | 1:21 a.m.

WENDOVER, Nev. (PRN) -- Kirk Tolman doesn't quite know how to feel. He just won $10,000 playing a $1 slot machine at the State Line Hotel Casino in Wendover. You'd think that would be a pretty lucky day for anyone. But others could say that Tolman is the unluckiest slot player there ever was: He "lost" $7.9 million.

The 22-year-old galvanized steel worker from Pleasant Grove, Utah was playing an IGT "Megabucks" machine. But Tolman was busy talking to his friend and didn't even notice what machine he was playing. In fact, when the three "Megabucks" symbols all locked in to place on the payline and the bells started ringing, Tolman had no idea of what he'd won. It was then that he and his friends noticed that he'd only played two coins instead of the required three. It was an $8 million mistake.

"I don't know what I would have done if I would have hit it (the big one)," Tolman said. "It's unbelievable. I would have moved to Hawaii and surfed. I just don't know. I always play 'max' coins, but I was talking to my friend and wasn't paying attention."

Asked if he thought his friend had prevented him from being a millionaire, Tolman responded, "I'd throw the millions in the waste basket for this guy, he's my best friend."

Tolman's friend agreed saying, "Even though I can't believe he was dumb enough to only put in two coins, I still love the guy."

The IGT Megabucks Progressive System is linked throughout the state of Nevada and advances from its initial reset amount of $7 million.

At the time of Tolman's two-coin jackpot, the main three-coin jackpot meter in Wendover registered $7,964,898.32.