Calif. resident wins $10.7 mil.

Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2003 | 9:14 a.m.

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- Friends say Joe Finn has always been lucky -- football pools, drawings, lotteries, he just can't lose.

This week, the Bakersfield resident kept his winning streak alive. Finn walked out of a Nevada casino $10.7 million richer after just five spins on a $1 slot machine.

"He's the luckiest guy in the world," said Alan Sorensen, head pro at the Kern River Golf Course, where Finn frequently plays. "Everything just kind of goes his way. He's the kind of guy you would expect to win something like that."

Finn was at the Primm Valley Resort & Casino, about 35 miles south of Las Vegas, on an annual golfing vacation. The Shafter native works as a shop assistant at the North Kern Golf Course in Bakersfield.

"Joe's supposed to be at work Thursday morning," Sorensen said. "We'll have to wait and see."

Finn picked up a check Monday for about $537,000. He'll receive the rest in equal installments over 20 years.

According to Connie Fox, a spokeswoman for International Game Technology of Reno, the company that builds and programs the Wheel of Fortune slots, Finn's purse set a world record for the $1 machines. The last jackpot hit was in May for $2.1 million.