Page 16 - November 2006 • Southern California Gaming Guide

Churaisri won $7,329,995 on 5¢ Wheel of Fortune® Special Edition® at San Manuel Casino in February
WINNERS Lucky Winners Take Home Big Progressive Payouts
Estelle-Amour won $596,440 on $1 Wheel of Fortune® at Pala Casino in September
Eulogia won $112,003 on 25¢ Wheel of Fortune® at Barona Valley Ranch in August
Lily won $203,148 on 25¢ Wheel of Fortune® at Harrah’s Rincon Casino & Resort in January
While most of us would be happy to win a $1,000 jackpot at the casino, these players won $100,000-plus jackpots — all of them on wide-area progressive slots, primarily
Wheel of Fortune® MegaJackpots® slots that are linked on a network of Native American casinos and accrue to over $100,000—and sometimes in the millions.
MegaJackpots® Revolutionized Slots
What is a progressive slot and how did it come to be? In the 1980s global gaming developer and manufacturer, IGT had developed software for the Nebraska Lottery that allowed multiple video lottery terminals to be linked to a central computer. Following the demise of that video lottery system, IGT found itself with a technology it wasn’t sure how to apply. In 1986 it created the wide-area progressive MegaJackpots® system in Nevada, which debuted with a slot machine called Megabucks®. e system connected slot machines in casinos throughout the
Ernest won $110,354 on 25¢ Wheel of Fortune® at Spotlight 29 Casino in March
state to a single large jackpot that grew as machines on the system were played. When a jackpot was won, the progressive
meter reset to a predetermined base amount—and the process began again.
e initial success of Megabucks®, a dollar slot game, led IGT to adapt the MegaJackpots® concept to numerous other systems in a wide range of denominations.
Since then IGT MegaJackpots® have produced more than 1,000 millionaires and have awarded more than $3.8 billion in major jackpots. MegaJackpots® games have also produced two million-dollar-plus jackpots on the same day on numerous occasions.
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.
gaming facilities in a number of states. A separate Megabucks® system links Native American casinos throughout California.
Wheel of Fortune®—The Most Popular Slot of All Time
Wheel...of...Fortune! e familiar chant is heard on casino oors from coast to coast because no casino is complete without the presence of Wheel of Fortune® slots. And this year, the Wheel of Fortune® slot is celebrating its 10th anniversary, and has secured its place in gaming history as the most popular slot machine of all time.
First introduced in late 1996, the Wheel of Fortune® 3-reel stepper game o ered a never-before-seen spinning wheel top-box bonus with exciting sounds drawn from the popular TV game show. In 1999, a video slot version made its debut.
e game’s initial success led to its being adapted to penny, nickel, quarter, dollar and $5 denominations. As of September 2006,
JACKPOT
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imagine just how wonderful you would feel if you were a big jackpot winner.
ver thirty- ve lucky casino players won over $25 million playing progressive slots in Southern California casinos so far in this year. If you’re like a lot of Southern California Gaming Guide readers, you probably look at the Winners page each month, and visualize your photo there, holding an over-sized check, and
IGT’s Native American Progressive
Systems connect participating tribal Wheel of Fortune® slots have awarded over
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SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAMING GUIDE
November 2006
Virginia won $127,025 playing $1 “I Love Lucy”® slots at Viejas Casino in September
Leona won $244,421 on 25¢ Wheel of Fortune® at Harrah’s Rincon Casino & Resort in April