Green Christmas; Raiders vindicate oddsmakers, enrage fans

In Las Vegas over Christmas with nothing to do? Try playing the Megabucks slot machines at Suncoast. That’s what “Kevin” (no last name given) did on Christmas Eve and soon found himself $15,491,103 richer—at least until the IRS gets into the act. As Kevin only put $40 into the International Game Technology machine, he got a fantastic return on investment. Since Megabucks is a revenue-sharing machine, Boyd Gaming isn’t on the hook for the entire jackpot … and to think that casinos actually petitioned the Nevada Lege in 1999 to outlaw revenue-sharing slots (an unfair restraint of trade, it was determined). Kevin, a snowbird from Alaska, told Boyd that he intends to “pay it forward” with his newfound wealth and support his business. He sounds like a good man. Nevada has not seen such a large jackpot since 2012, although it’s not a patch on the $34.9 million won at the Desert Inn in 2000 or the $39.7 million achieved at low-roller joint Excalibur in 2003.