Back in 2005, a 92-year-old World War 2 veteran who goes by the name Elmer Sherwin has something unique in his life that most people cannot possibly experience, and that is, being able to win a Megabucks slot machine jackpot, not only once, but two times! It is indeed the very first time that someone has managed to win a sizeable jackpot twice in a lifetime.
In 1989, Sherwin's first jackpot win was $4.6 million when he played a Megabucks slot machine at the Mirage, just a few hours after the grand opening of the casino on the Las Vegas Strip. He was 76 years old at the time.
In 2005, he again won playing the same slot game, but it was a whopping $21.1 million at the Cannery Casino in North Las Vegas.
Cannery Casino spokesperson Aimee Worth said that after Sherwin won the first jackpot, he stated it became his "life's dream" to win it a second time.
The Megabucks slot machine game by International Game Technology (IGT), is a dollar-slot machine with an accumulating jackpot prize which only needs a $3 bet in order to hit the top prize. The jackpot amount resets at the $7 million mark whenever a jackpot is won, and shall accumulate again until such time the winning jackpot symbols are hit once more.
The chance of winning the grand prize in the Megabucks slot machine is less than 1 in 10 million.
Awards can either be paid in annual instalments or a lump sum.
The highest jackpot ever won in Nevada history was actually through a Megabucks slot machine in March 2003 - a 24-year-old software engineer from Los Angeles managed to hit the winning symbols and won a massive $39.7 million!
IGT issued a statement saying that Sherwin stated he would like to win the award for a second time, and surprise his family with the news. He said, "I'm glad I finally hit; I've been trying to do it again. I want to see the looks on their faces when they hear."
Sherwin donated a nice portion of his winnings to the Hurricane Katrina relief fund. He continued to share his blessings with his family, including his son and daughter-in-law in Las Vegas.
On his interview on the second win, he said, "I'm gonna try for a third win on Megabucks, but I may try the Wheel of Fortune slot too."
Sherwin's third attempt to win the jackpot never came to fruition as he unfortunately passed away two years later, on March 23, 2007, at age 93.
Source:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=43&v=Llj-PoiVJiU
https://lasvegassun.com/news/2005/sep/16/jackpot-strikes-a-second-time-for-man-92/
