28, 2000 - Las Vegas cocktail waitress Cynthia Jay-Brennan won a then-record Megabucks jackpot of $34.9 million at the now-defunct Desert Inn hotel-casino. Six weeks later, her car was hit by a drunk driver, killing her sister and leaving her paralyzed. ALWAYS START WITH A GOOD BREAKFAST $22,618,156.67. In 2000, Cynthia Jay Brennan, a cocktail waitress, became one of the luckiest people in the world when she won the largest Megabucks jackpot in history at the time. She was playing a state-wide.

Everyone wonders how big some jackpot wins are. If you've wondered what is the most money ever won on a slot machine, you're in good company. We wondered the same thing and did some digging to see what we could find out.

Megabucks Slots Often Leads to the Biggest Slot Machine Wins

Megabucks slots is a progressive jackpot slot from IGT. It's linked to many of the biggest payouts on slot machines. Since it's debut in 1986, it's paid out more than $1 billion dollars in prizes. #1 – 25-Year-Old Software Engineer Wins $38.7 Million While killing time before the 2003 NCAA tournament started on TV, an anonymous 25-year-old software engineer decided to risk $3 on a slot machine at Excalibur Hotel Casino in Las Vegas. That $3 turned into a stunning $38.7 million jackpot on Megabucks slots. #2 – Cynthia Jay-Brennan Wins $34.9 Million In 2000, Cynthia Jay-Brennan won $34.9 million playing Megabucks slots at the former Desert Inn in Las Vegas. Sadly, weeks after claiming her jackpot prize, a drunk driver crashed into the car she was in. She was paralyzed and her sister did not survive the crash. #3 – An Anonymous Woman's $27 Million Win At Palace Station Hotel in Las Vegas, one woman played Wheel of Fortune slots and won $680,000. She opted to keep playing, In just a few months, she hit a $27 million jackpot on Megabucks slots. #4 – Woman Wins $22.6 Million at Bally's There is a pattern with Megabucks slots leading to some of the biggest slot machine wins in history. In 2002, a woman playing at Bally's Las Vegas won $22.6 million on that same game. #5 – Elmer Sherwin's $21 Million Win Elmer Sherwin fought in WWII and often played slots in Las Vegas after retirement. Shortly after The Mirage opened its doors for the very first time, Sherwin won $4.6 million playing Megabucks slots. His luck repeated itself in grand fashion when he won $21 million just shy of two decades later at the age of 87. Once again, he was playing Megabucks slots. #6 – Anonymous Player Wins Just Under $12.8 Million Megabucks slots paid a prize of just under $12.8 on a $6 bet. The player was at Aria in Las Vegas for her niece's birthday when she hit the jackpot. She said she'd chosen Megabucks slots completely by chance. #7 – Rodolfo T. Wins $11.8 Million Betting just $3 on Megabucks slots, Rodolfo T. of California won the jackpot worth just over $11.8 million. That 2017 win at the Fremont Casino isn't one of the biggest from Megabucks slots, but it still made him a very happy man.

Are Any Other Slot Machines Linked to Huge Payouts?

While Megabucks slots certainly is linked to many of the largest slot prizes in history, there are some games that have also made players very happy. At Harrah's Las Vegas, a man won $1.18 million playing Wheel of Fortune slots in July 2018. This was the second large payout from that machine. Earlier in the month, a player won almost $250,000 on Wheel of Fortune at the Cosmopolitan. A Gulf Breeze, Florida, man took home a jackpot of almost $1.3 million playing Double Diamond slots in Biloxi, Mississippi. He kept playing and won an extra $14,000 a little while later. That's not the largest win in the area. Hard Rock Casino reported that the largest prized they'd given away was $14 million to a player playing Wheel of Fortune slots.

There's One More Crushing Win

In 2016, Katrina Bookman was playing Sphinx slots in New York when the machine told her she'd won a $42.9 million jackpot. It would have been the largest prize in history. The problem is the top prize on the slot machine is $6,500. She was told the machine had malfunctioned and that the most the casino could do is give her the last prize she'd won of just over $2 and a complimentary steak dinner. She is suing the casino and IGT. There's one thing all of these players have in common. They never expected they'd win the jackpot when they placed their small bets. You could join them. Whether you try Megabucks slots or something else, Lady Luck could put you on the list of the biggest slot machine wins in history. To accomplish this, you need to play slots online or at your favorite land-based casino.

An Honorable Mention

The following casino win isn’t necessarily one of the biggest wins in history, but definitely one of the most notables ones. In July 1891, Charlie Wells, known as “The man who broke the bank” won a million francs during an eleven hour session.

‘Breaking the bank’ is a phrase used when a gambler wins more chips that are available at that specific table, which is relatively difficult to accomplish. For most people in those days, a million francs would be a sufficient amount of money to keep you quite content.

However, Wells made another notable visit back in November that year and managed to make another million francs after some rather extraordinary luck. During a three day session, at a roulette table he managed to win five successful bets on the number five, which is unheard of in the game of roulette. This story was rather inspirational in that day and age, and inspired many musicians to write songs based on this event and ultimately make significant money for themselves.

The 3rd Largest Win

The third biggest win in casino history came from a man called Elmer Sherwin in 1989 and also 2005. That's right; he made his name with two multimillion dollar successes. In 1989, the largest progressive jackpot called ‘Megabucks’ was introduced.

The title speaks for itself and was an instant success in casinos. The odds of beating this casino slot game are approximately one in $50 million, which is difficult enough, but winning the jackpot twice is beyond belief. In 1989 Elmer won the jackpot for five million dollars and tried his luck again in 2005, winning an additional $21 million dollars, making him a mega-millionaire.

Online casinos are a bigger incentive for people to gamble in this day and age, the comfort of being in your home is a huge selling point for customers. A gentlemen named ‘Peter’ made the most of online casino slots by cashing in on 11.7 million Norwegian krone, which is the equivalent of $38 million dollars.

It almost seems too good to be true that whilst relaxing at home, drinking a coffee and clicking buttons, your life can change in a matter of moments. This story is a great example of why online casinos attract such a large amount of customers.

The Big Win

Last but the complete opposite of the least, is the story of Archie Karas who turned $50 into $40 million dollars over a period of three years. The majority of people would be happy with going into the casino and coming out with double their money or a small profit, but for Archie it was never enough

The run he went on proves that you can get your fair share of luck over a long period of time but the lack of fear that Archie had when gambling resulted in much larger winnings than most people would have reached.

Biggest Ever Casino Win Slot Machines

However, despite the life changing amount of money that Archie won, it wasn't a happy ending. He went on to show naivety in the world of gambling by losing majority of his winnings playing baccarat and dice games. Everyone gets their fair share of luck in certain situations, but managing your emotions and keeping your feet on the ground is vital when you've acquired such a large sum of money.