Megabucks progressive slot climbs to highest level ever

Friday, Feb. 28, 2003 | 11:23 a.m.

Bill Gould came to Las Vegas with a group of friends from Henniker, N.H., this week, and by Thursday night, several of them had hit jackpots on the slot machines at the Sahara, including Gould.

The 44-year-old well driller decided to sink several hundred dollars of his $2,500 in winnings into a Nevada Megabucks machine and a chance at history. The progressive slot reached its highest jackpot ever and has yet to pay out.

"I've been at this machine for 4 1/2 hours, put $60 in and had it up to $594," said Gould, as he invested $3 per play for a chance at the $35 million payoff. The jackpot is won only on a $3 bet. "It's now back down to $60. I'll probably put a couple hundred more in it -- take my shot.

"Each year I come to Las Vegas with a certain amount of money that I expect to lose. It's all about having fun. But would I like to hit the Megabucks world record? Oh yeah!"

Shortly before 7 p.m., Megabucks topped its record payout of $34,955,489, set in January 2000 at the old Desert Inn. By this morning the total was $35,153,000 and climbing.

Rick Sorensen, spokesman for International Game Technology, makers of Megabucks and other statewide slot systems that offer huge jackpots, said the gambler who hits Megabucks will earn a spot in the next edition of the Guinness Book of Records.

A couple of machines down from Gould was Rick Chavez, who usually spends his evenings playing guitar at the Bahama Breeze nightclub. Chavez and his friend, Dave Doolittle, visiting from Phoenix, pooled $40 for a quick shot at the big prize as they were leaving the casino.

"I play Megabucks once a week or so, $15 to $30 at a time, to see if luck is with me," said Chavez, 50, a nine-year Las Vegas resident. "My strategy is to cash out at $150 or play until I've spent my original investment. Then I leave."

Doolittle, who was in the Palace Station when the then-record $27.58 million Megabucks jackpot -- now third largest -- was hit on Nov. 15, 1998, said there is nothing like the excitement when a player lines up three Megabucks symbols on a single line.

"There was a big buzz around the entire casino," said Doolittle, a 52-year-old integrated circuit computer chip salesman. "People gathered around to take a look. It was really something."

Chavez said he has never been in a casino when Megabucks was hit, but one time he thought it had.

"I was on stage at the Mirage and heard this woman's loud scream," he said. "I couldn't wait for my break to go take a look at what the commotion was about. It turned out she had hit a $50 jackpot."

Sahara spokesman Luis Lichtman said traffic was high at the resort's single bank of machines as the casino benefited from a huge crowd in town for the weekend of NASCAR events. The Sahara has never had a Megabucks top jackpot hit at its machines.

Jim Seagrave, spokesman for the Stardust, said both banks of Megabucks did brisk business throughout the day.

"We put it on our marquee to encourage people to play it," Seagrave said, noting that the only top Megabucks jackpot at the Stardust was hit on July 2, 1990. It was for $5.79 million and at the time was the second highest payout in Megabucks history.

Honeymooners Nick and Anja Rideaux from Amsterdam, The Netherlands, took their shot at the record payout Thursday afternoon.

"Someone has to hit the jackpot, it might as well be us," said Rideaux, 31, a waiter who works at a restaurant next to the eatery where his 21-year-old bride works as a waitress. "But this is like the lottery."

The odds of hitting the big Megabucks jackpot are 16.7 million-to-1, gaming experts have estimated.

Adeana Shendal, spokeswoman at Harrah's, which has three Megabucks machines, said "it has been pretty consistent and busy throughout the day" at those slots.

Chris Nikols, a Las Vegas resident of four years, was playing a Harrah's Megabucks machine about an hour before the new record was established. She said she plays Megabucks just once in a while, noting, "I wouldn't want to miss my chance to win.

"When you become a resident of Las Vegas you learn quickly that you have to limit yourself, because, as they say, this town wasn't built on winners," she said. "When I hit a small jackpot, I cash out, put it in my pocket and play with the original money I invested.

"I'd like to be playing here when the record breaks, but I'm just not winning today."

Despite so few machines, Harrah's Las Vegas has produced three Megabucks jackpot winners, the last a $9.4 million jackpot on Jan. 12, 2001.

The last time Megabucks hit was on May 27, when $22.6 million was paid out at Bally's. At the time it was the world's third largest slot jackpot, but it has dropped to the fourth highest.

Megabucks was introduced to Nevada casinos in March 1986. There have been 57 major winners in 17 years. Their combined winnings exceed $386 million. There were 676 Megabucks slot machines operating in 157 Nevada casinos on Thursday.

Once the jackpot is hit, the top prize will be reset to $7 million and, through the play of its patrons, will again start climbing. Jackpots are paid in annual installments or in a lump sum payment that is significantly reduced from the amount that is hit.