For casino most people, a trip to the casino is a form of entertainment where the dream of a life-changing win is part of the thrill. While most wins are modest, every now and then, someone defies the odds in spectacular fashion, walking away with a fortune that becomes the stuff of legend. Here are some of the most famous and largest casino wins in history.
The Excalibur Jackpot
The stuff of dreams became reality for casino one man at the Excalibur casino. A 25-year-old software engineer from Los Angeles decided to play the famous Megabucks slot machine while waiting for a basketball game to start. His relatively small investment of $100 resulted in the ultimate prize. The total prize was a staggering $39.7 million, a sum so large that the casino agreed to pay it out in 25 annual installments of about $1.5 million. The winner chose to remain anonymous, and his story remains the ultimate testament to the incredible, albeit minuscule, chance of hitting it big on a slot machine.
The Blackjack King
Sometimes, a big win is about more than just a lucky spin. Between 2010 and 2011, a man named Don Johnson went on an unprecedented winning streak, taking three Atlantic City casinos for a combined total of over $15 million playing blackjack.
He didn't use card counting to achieve this feat. His strategy was to leverage his status as a whale to get better rules. He secured a 20% discount on his losses, a very high maximum bet, and other rule changes that significantly reduced the house edge. With these conditions, he played with a positive expectation, a rare feat in casino gaming. After his epic winning streak, casinos became much more cautious about the deals they offered high rollers.
Elmer Sherwin: The Man Who Struck Lightning Twice
The odds of winning a major casino lottery-style jackpot are astronomical, but winning it twice seems impossible. This is the incredible story of Elmer Sherwin. His first jackpot was for casino $4.6 million, hit on the opening day of The Mirage. He didn't stop playing, hoping for a second miracle. Incredibly, 16 years later, in 2005, at the age of 92, he did it again. He won a staggering $21.1 million jackpot on another Megabucks machine at the Cannery Casino. A true philanthropist, he gave a significant part of his second win to those in need.