Las Vegas man hits Megabucks

Ed Koch and Jace Radke

Friday, Nov. 14, 2003 | 11:23 a.m.

Jake Latulip has been a regular at the Stardust since moving to Las Vegas in 1979, and early this morning the retired Marine's life changed at his favorite Strip haunt when he hit the $19.6 million Megabucks jackpot.

Latulip, 69, hit he jackpot shortly after midnight this morning, totaling the sixth largest Megabucks win in history at $19,600,523.30.

When asked what he was going to do with the money Latulip said, "In a nutshell, any damn thing I want," according to a news release from International Game Technology, the makers of Megabucks.

Connie Fox, a spokeswoman for IGT, was among the group that verified Latulip's win and talked to him this morning.

"He was doing a lot of talking without really saying much this morning," Fox said. "It was mostly just random chatter.

"He's a big NASCAR fan, and he was talking about getting a suite at the Las Vegas race and inviting his family to come watch."

Latulip, who is not married and has no children, likes to work out and stay in shape, and normally keeps to his schedule of visiting the Stardust on Thursday nights, Fox said.

Latulip, who is the 59th Megajackpot winner, usually heads to the Stardust every Thursday night and visits the lounge where he listens to some music, before heading over to the race and sports book the check the lines on the weekend's NASCAR races. He ends his night by playing $30 on a Megabucks slot machine, but he said he's never been close to winning the jackpot before.

"At first I couldn't believe it. All I could think was 'Yeah!'th" Latulip said. "I would have won $5,000 if I had played only one coin. Five-thousand for one is a pretty good return, but 19 million to three is a lot better."

Latulip did stay at the Stardust overnight, but was pretty anxious to go home this morning, Fox said.

Instead of going straight home, however, Latulip first went to a local military office to get free legal advice that he is entitled to because of his military service, said Jim Seagrave, executive vice president of public relations the Stardust.

Megabucks is a slot machine system operated by IGT. It has a building jackpot that can only be won if players gamble $3 per pull. The jackpot totals at the Megabucks machines located in various Nevada casinos, including 88 locations in the Las Vegas Valley.

The total resets at $7 million after a jackpot is won and begins to build again until someone lines up the three Megabucks symbols on a machine.

The odds don't get any better no matter the size of the prize, however. The chance of winning the Megabucks grand prize are one in 16.7 million.

The last time the jackpot was won was on March 21, when a 25-year-old software engineer from Los Angeles hit the biggest Megabucks jackpot in history for $39.7 million at the Excalibur. The winner declined to release his name to the media.

Latulip's win is the second time Megabucks has been hit at the Stardust, with the first coming in 1990 for $5.8 million.

IGT monitors the jackpots 24 hours a day and has teams standing by to verify wins and present an initially payment to winners.

Megabucks jackpots are paid in either 25 annual installments or in a lump sum. Latulip's first payment was just under $800,000, and was paid to him this morning.

Fox said that Latulip said he would probably opt for the lump sum payment, but said she couldn't disclose what that sum would be. Megabucks winners pay about 39 percent in federal taxes plus state taxes if they live outside Nevada.

A number of people at the Stardust today tried their luck at Megabucks believing that lightning could indeed strike twice.

"I didn't really pay attention to the total jackpot. I just like to have fun," said Edna Hinke of Saskatchewan, Canada, who played one of the resort's 10 machines this morning.

He husband, Ernie Hinke, said he had a feeling Megabucks was going to hit soon after playing one of the machines Thursday.

"It seemed to me they were a little looser than the last time we were here (in Las Vegas)," the frequent visitor said. "I thought they were going to hit pretty quick, but I didn't think it would be that quick. I was going to play them today."

Hinke did not agree with his wife's suggestion that there was a better chance of winning on a 25-cent "I Love Lucy" slot machine near the Megabucks machines.

Anita Farmer of Wilson, N.C., said she played Megabucks at the Stardust on Thursday and won $100.

"I wouldn't be afraid to play them again today because if a machine hits that could be a sign that it is still a hot machine," she said.