Page 11 - March 2004 • Southern California Gaming Guide

Lucy Luck! San Diego resident Juan won a $165,293 MegaJackpotsTM award on a nickel I Love Lucy® slot machine at Sycuan Casino & Resort. He had brought his best friend to celebrate her birthday. “She is good luck for me now!” he said.
produced some exciting wins, notably a big Valley View Casino winner in April 2002 for well over a million, and a Barona Valley Ranch winner, Ernie from Santee.
Ernie had gone to Barona Valley Ranch Resort and Casino to meet some friends for a poker game. A regular player at Barona, he decided to play one more slot machine before his poker game. He had already won a few jackpots, so what did he have to lose? After fteen minutes of play with $60 invested in the Millionaire Sevens Blazing 7s® machine, he hit the jackpot! His winnings? A cool $1,578,618! Ernie says he was pretty calm. He went on to his poker game and didn’t even mention his jackpot win! Ernie paid o all of his bills and bought his daughter a new car! See a very happy Ernie on our cover.
Progressive Slots — What’s Luck Got to Do With It?...Everything!
While the odds of hitting a life-changing jackpot may be astronomical, as long as you have some realistic expectations, they’re worth playing. Let’s take a look at the basics of progressive slot machines. e big progressive jackpots are created by taking a percentage of
Born to Boop Winner! Edgar won a $457,281 Betty Boop Thrillions jackpot at Pechanga Resort & Casino!
all the money played into the machine. is means that the jackpot continues to grow as more people play the slot machine until somebody hits the winning symbols for the top award. So the more people play, the bigger the jackpot! Because a percentage of the coins played forms the progressive jackpot, the actual payback will be less on the other winning symbols. Many people think you have a better chance of getting struck by lighting than hitting the big jackpot. But based on what our big winners did and said here, they may be worth a try once in a while. Always remember to play the maximum bet. And don’t chase a progressive. Many progressive winners’ stories seem to have a theme: Short play time and big winnings!
You never know when lightning is going to strike!
What Happens When You Win a MegaJackpotsTM Award?
Imagine yourself playing Wheel of Fortune®, Megabucks®, Beverly HillbilliesTM, M*A*S*H*TM, I Love Lucy®, or another of IGT’s MegaJackpotsTM games in a Southern California casino. You’ve played the maximum number of coins (always!), you push the button — or pull the handle — and the game is in motion...click, click, click...and the winning symbols line up on the payline.
According to reports from previous winners, time seems to stand still as you slowly realize that yes, you’ve won. Holy cow, you’ve really won!
A thousand miles to the north, in the IGT Reno MegaJackpots Operations room, the lineup of the game’s symbols triggers rst an alarm, and then, a few seconds later, an advisory that a primary jackpot has been recorded on the system. Generated by the computers that monitor the thousands of MegaJackpots machines scattered throughout the state, the advisory tells the 24-hour monitoring sta which game you were playing, as well as the time, location and amount of your jackpot.
Back in Southern California, the casino sta has, perhaps, o ered you a quiet place to sit and relax. ey are excited, too, and are nding it hard to resist the impulse to o er congratulations. While all outward signs indicate that you have won a signi cant amount of money, your win is not yet “o cial” and congratulations not yet in order. Gaming regulations require a veri cation process whereby IGT technicians thoroughly inspect the machine’s internal systems to insure that the machine is working properly and the jackpot is legitimate.
In Reno, the Operations people are on the phone calling the technicians who will arrive to inspect your machine.
ey also notify a jackpot response representative who—once your jackpot is o cial—will present you with various documents to sign. e representative will also give you a check. In the case of a MegaJackpots Instant Winners game, the check will be for the full amount of your jackpot (IGT does not withhold taxes). If you were playing an annuity game, the check will represent the rst annual installment.
In the course of verifying that a jackpot is legitimate, the IGT technician will check the candle (the light on top of the machine), compare various game programs, and compare machine readings to the information originally received at the Reno Operations center.
Amazing Double Winner! Ellen from Escondido is an extraordinarily lucky lady! A two-time BIG jackpot winner at the same casino! In January 2003 she won a $1 million jackpot at Harrah’s Rincon Casino & Resort, on The $1,000,000 PyramidTM nickel slot machine. And in mid 2003 she also won a $945,531 jackpot on a nickel SpookyTM Slots at Harrah’s Rincon!
Once your jackpot is veri ed, congratulations are in order! And completing the paperwork brought by the jackpot response rep is ready to begin. You will be asked to present two forms of identi cation and give your current address, phone and employment information so IGT can reach you later.
All IGT MegaJackpots are paid in annual installments upon veri cation, except MegaJackpots Instant
WinnersTM and Rapid Riches MegaJackpotsTM games, which are paid in their entirety upon veri cation. (If you have won on an annuity game, you’ll de nitely want to keep IGT current on your address to receive the annual check on the anniversary date of your big win.) In most cases, IGT does not withhold state or federal taxes, but you are required to ll out a w-2g form reporting your winnings, which will be led with the irs. e veri cation and paperwork can sometimes take a while, so be prepared to relax! en you are presented with your check!
Now comes the fun part — living the rest of your life as a lucky MegaJackpots winner!
Barona Bucks Winner! Carlotta won a $127,619 5¢ Barona Bucks jackpot at Barona Valley Ranch Resort and Casino!
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAMING GUIDE
March 2004 Page 11