One man recently made the fortuitous decision to visit a casino for the first time in his life, walking away $1.5 million richer for it.
The visitor to New Jersey strolled into the Hard Rock Atlantic City last week with $100 to play on slots. He then sat down at a Wheel of Fortune slot machine (pictured), and started spinning.
$87 later, he was down to his last $10 bet. He hit the machine – and three jackpot symbols aligned, putting him into the bonus game. The giant wheel atop the slot then spun into the exact needed space three times in a row, before sending a $1,593,457.33 progressive jackpot win the way of the lucky player.
The win ranks among the top-five biggest jackpots at the casino since it opened in 2018, the operator said.
“We weren’t voted luckiest casino for nothing. Congratulations to the winner of the life-changing $1.5 million jackpot on Wheel of Fortune. This guest was playing with a $10 bet and $1 denomination,” Hard Rock Atlantic City wrote on social media.
Anonymous Winner
After hitting their win, the player declined to take part in the casino’s publicity. Instead, they chose to remain anonymous.
However, they were happy to tell Hard Rock staff that they had, before that day, never set foot in a casino in their life and that they did not live in New Jersey.
The winner also chose to take the jackpot sum in installments paid out over 20 years. Despite not being a resident of New Jersey, they will have to pay the state’s 8% tax on any gaming win over $500,000.
Beginner’s Luck
The concept of beginner’s luck in gambling, for the non-superstitious among you, rests on two logical fallacies. Confirmation bias and the gambler’s paradox.
A player who wins big after a few spins will believe, rightly so, that they are very lucky. But they may overestimate their luck due to their winning experience if they believe it affected the outcome. Because, mathematically, the chances of hitting the jackpot are exactly the same on every spin, whether you’ve done 100 or 10,000 spins.
The new gambler at the machine for the first time is just as likely, or unlikely, to win the jackpot as anyone else. But it certainly feels luckier to have hit big on their very first session.
This story is not the only tale this year of a lucky new gambler hitting big in the U.S. Back in May, Damien Howell of tiny Union City, Ohio, was visiting Las Vegas on his 21st birthday when he hit a $362,000 progressive poker jackpot at Oshea’s Casino, located in The Linq in Downtown Sin City.
David is an online casino expert who specializes in online slots and boasts over 10 years experience writing about iGaming. He has written for a wide range of notable publications, including eSports Insider and WordPlay Magazine.
David graduated Derby University with a BA Degree in English Literature and Creative Writing.