How Long Has Megabucks Been Around?

How long has Megabucks been around? Were there any linked progressive slot machines before Megabucks? Has it ever been hit twice by the same player?

To answer your first question, the original version of Megabucks was launched by International Game Technology (IGT) in Nevada in March 1986. To answer your second, it was the world's first wide-area linked-progressive slot-machine system.

Megabucks debuted with a base jackpot of $1 million. It was subsequently raised to $7 million; it was raised again to $10 million in September 2005.

And yes, believe it or not, the Megabucks jackpot has been hit twice by the same person. In 1989, Las Vegas local Elmer Sherwin hit for $4.6 million at the Mirage. Then on Sept 15, 2005, he made history by hitting his second Megabucks jackpot, for $21.1 million, at the Cannery in North Las Vegas. Considering that the odds of hitting this jackpot are widely believed to be about 50 million-to-1, that's one lucky guy.

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Comments

Pat Higgins Jun-01-2021

Big tex

What would I like from the Fountain Blue spot on the strip?  

1.  Craps with at least 5 times odds.  
2.  BJ with lots of 2 deck games, decent penetration & all the good rules such as double after all splits, etc.  

3.  Games that give the customers a decent chance to win. 
4.  Better comps.
5.  No resort fees 
6.  Free parking 



In other words Vegas from the good old days.

Deke Castleman Jun-01-2021

This in via email from Ken M.

When I worked at IGT, I heard that the Megabucks (mechanical) reels had 368 virtual stops.  Assuming that to be true, and only one win stop on ea. reel, the chance of a win would be 1 in 49,836,032.

Jeffrey Small Jun-01-2021

Competition with the Lotteries

I always assumed that the Megabucks was Nevada's answer to the proliferation of state lotteries.  Since Nevada has no state lottery it seemed like Megabucks, which was started around the same time that the multi-state lotteries were beginning to spread with their huge jackpots, was the answer.  Regardless, the crowds that head to Primm when the jackpots get large enough shows that Nevada can support gambling in all forms--the state should also have a lottery to keep those $$$ in the state!

Kevin Lewis Jun-01-2021

Megaloser

Given the interval between "lucky guy"'s two hits (16 years), I wouldn't be at all surprised if he pissed away the first jackpot long before he hit his second one. After all, he would have actually received about half of the nominal $4.6 million. Megabucks returns about 70% while you're waiting for the big one to hit. So at a modest 10 spins a minute (@ $3), you're dumping in $1800 an hour. That's minus $540 per hour. It wouldn't take all that long to go through $2.4 million. Similarly, I wonder how much of his (roughly) $10 million from 2005 remains.

Only a fool would play Megabucks, and a fool and his money are soon parted. The reaction of a rational person to the first jackpot would have been to sock it away and be set for life. There have been quite a few studies showing that lottery winners, Megabucks winners, etc. quite often wind up being losers. If you're dumb enough to play the damn thing in the first place, you're probably not smart enough to keep the money.

Dave_Miller_DJTB Jun-01-2021

Re: Ken M / 368

368 is not a round number, but it’s the correct number. 

I believe there’s a law / gaming rule that says no jackpot can have higher than 1 in 50 million chance. 

The cube root of 50 million is 368.403..., so 368 it is!

Question of the Day - 01 June 2021

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