It's long been the accepted wisdom that gambling on the machines at McCarran International Airport is a losing proposition (as in, an even worse one than gambling on slots in a casino), since locations with a "captive audience," like a departure lounge, tend to take advantage of the fact and keep the machines as tight as they legally can, since anyone wishing to play has no option of shopping around.
However, that's not to say that big jackpots haven't been hit: Since 1998, 14 lucky travelers have hit a Wheel of Fortune progressive at the airport, including in January 2005, when one particularly fortunate fellow hit for $3.9 million! Edward Frost, a 49-year old self-employed sanitary engineer from Raynham, Massachusetts, had invested just $20 while waiting for his flight home when he scored big time and, although at the time he confessed to being numb with shock initially, he said the windfall wouldn't change his life that significantly and that he planned to invest his windfall wisely. Another winner in 2011, Albuquerque resident Olson Arviso, said she planned to pay off her mortgage when she hit for $303,803.94 in June of that year.
Other instant millionaires were created on May 30, 2003 ($1,980,758) and September 7, 2007 ($1,060,686), while in May 2008 progressives were hit twice in four days, one for $392,000 and then another for $259,000. The most recent jackpot to be hit at McCarran International Airport was on February 27 of this year, when someone had a $300,498.24 payday while playing on B Concourse.
Of course, wins of this kind of magnitude take longer to pay out -- the airport slot attendants don't have that kind of cash on hand and it might take a little while to have the check cut and the relevant paperwork completed so, depending on the wait time, there's a good chance you'll miss your flight. But if you've just hit to the tune of a six- or seven-figure sum, we figure that's a headache you can probably live with.
