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The motto for most gamblers who come to Las Vegas on a lark is rather simple – go big or go home.
If you’re going to wager real American dollars on games of chance and skill, there’s no reason to take the conservative route. Bankroll management notwithstanding, the goal for any gambler in Sin City is to hit it big, win the jackpot, and walk away with more money than you know what to do with.
Of course, the vast majority of us who take these shots don’t mint themselves instant millionaires. Instead, the house’s inexorable edge and every gambling game’s inherent odds against the player combine to pour our money straight into the casino’s coffers.
For this reason, what happened at the Excalibur casino on March 21st of 2003 when a random tourist from Los Angeles decided to hit the slots has become the stuff of Las Vegas legend.
On that day, an anonymous 25-year old gambler arrived in town to visit his family. With the annual “March Madness” college basketball tournament in full swing, the player figured they might as well get some action down on Duke, Arizona, and the rest of the sport’s heavyweights.
The young man’s uncle heard about the trip to Excalibur Hotel & Casino and offered his nephew a little sage advice from a Las Vegas local – play the Megabucks slot machine and see what happens.
And with a $10 million starting seed* – not to mention millions of tourists plunking down the requisite $3 per spin to give themselves a chance – the Megabucks jackpot had swelled to an astounding $39.7 million.
*Megabucks initially offered a $1 million starting seed, before increasing to $7 million in 1997, and $10 million in 2005
Thus, the visitor from L.A. found a Megabucks machine and took a seat with $100 in hand.
What happened next made history…
How Does the Megabucks Slot Machine Work?
First things first though… in case you’re unfamiliar with the Megabucks slot, here’s a quick crash course on the greatest progressive jackpot game of them all.
Casino game manufacturer International Game Technology (IGT) introduced its Megabucks slot way back in 1986. At the time, slot machine jackpots were static in nature, meaning each individual machine offered its own kitty based on how many coins had been previously deposited in between major payouts.
IGT had a revolutionary idea, however, so the company linked its various Megabucks machines all over the Silver State together. In other words, whenever a player in Reno, Mesquite, or anywhere in Nevada for that matter played one Megabucks machine, their coins contributed to the same jackpot total.
This wide area progressive jackpot concept proved to be an immediate hit with players, who loved to watch the meter continuously climb into the seven-figures.
And those meters did climb on a daily basis too, thanks to the Megabucks game’s enormous odds against on the topline jackpot.
Megabucks is a deceptively simple game, one which eschews the multiple paylines and expanded reels that make up the bulk of a casino’s slot inventory nowadays. For a maximum bet of $3, players send three reels spinning, each featuring traditional symbols like 7s, cherries, and BARs. To form winning combinations, players hope to hit three matching symbols along a single payline.
The game’s jackpot symbol is a golden “Megabucks Eagle” which depicts the slot’s distinctive logo. The only thing is, landing even one of these crucial symbols along the payline requires the player to beat odds of 1 in 368. Knowing this, the odds against spiking all three at once come to an astronomical 1 in 49,836,032 – or (1/368)3.
Billions Slot Machine Wins Jackpot
For this reason, the Megabucks progressive jackpot often goes unclaimed for extended stretches, many of which lasting more than a year. With so much time in between big winners, and so many players statewide tossing $3 per spin into the kitty, Megabucks jackpots soon became notorious for reaching epic proportions.
Before that fateful day in 2003, Megabucks players enjoyed an incredible run which saw the jackpot rise to a then record $27.5 million in 1998. That life-changing sum was won by a lucky slot spinner at Palace Station in November of 1998, but the record was eventually broken with a $34.9 million payout awarded to a cocktail waitress playing at the Desert Inn in January of 2000.
A little more than three years later, a new record was waiting to be set at the Excalibur.
$100 Flier Turns Into Life-Changing Record Jackpot Win
Starting out with only $100, the player from L.A. had just 33 spins to work with given the $3* price of play.
*Megabucks can be played for $1 or $2 spins, but the progressive jackpot is only awarded to players who opt for the max-bet of $3
Even so, as a press release issued by IGT later revealed, the player with a birthdate featuring three 7s seemed to have Lady Luck on his arm from the very start. Within the span of those 33 spins, the man watched as not one, not two, but three of the “Megabucks Eagle” symbols slowly spun and came to a rest alongside one another.
Just like that, the player had beaten odds of nearly 1 in 50 million to put nearly $40 million in his pocket.
Well, not all at once anyway. The winner elected to take $1.5 million installments over the course of 26 years – which means he’s still receiving seven-figure payouts annually to this day. In fact, the winner has another 10 years and $15 million remaining on his record-setting payment plan.
Although he chose to remain anonymous, the winner provided the following statement to IGT:
“I’m still stunned; it doesn’t seem real yet. But both of my parents are still working, so some of this money will be used to fund their retirement.”
Largest Megabucks Jackpot Ever – And By a Long Shot
John Sears – who served as vice president of IGT’s MegaJackpots program at the time – confirmed that the $39,713,982.25 payout smashed the previous record for largest slot machine jackpot ever awarded:
“This MegaJackpot is nearly $5 million more than the previous world record slot jackpot amount of $34.9 million – this one goes into The Guinness Book of Records.”
Check out the table below – featuring 10 real megabucks jackpot wins – to get a better sense of just how ridiculous the record-setting jackpot really is:
Megabucks Jackpot History (Wins of $10 Million or More)
DATE | CASINO | CITY/STATE | JACKPOT AMOUNT |
---|---|---|---|
3/21/2003 | Excalibur | Las Vegas, NV | $39,713,982.25 |
1/26/2000 | Desert Inn | Las Vegas, NV | $34,955,490.00 |
4/12/2009 | Terrible’s Rail City Casino | Sparks, NV | $33,000,563.00 |
11/15/1998 | Palace Station | Las Vegas, NV | $27,580,878.00 |
5/27/2002 | Bally’s Las Vegas | Las Vegas, NV | $22,621,229.00 |
6/1/1999 | Caesars Palace | Las Vegas, NV | $21,346,937.00 |
9/15/2005 | Cannery | Las Vegas, NV | $21,147,947.00 |
11/14/2003 | Stardust | Las Vegas, NV | $19,600,523.30 |
12/14/2012 | M Resort | Las Vegas, NV | $17,329,817.67 |
11/30/2014 | Rampart Casino | Las Vegas, NV | $14,282,544.21 |
Competing Jackpot Hunters Lament Loss of Record-Setting Total
Within the slot machine gaming enthusiast community, learning that Megabucks’ massive jackpot had been won proved to be bittersweet indeed.
In an interview with the Las Vegas Sun conducted shortly after the news broke, Kim Wong from Kailua, Hawaii told the newspaper how she felt watching the meter reset back to $10 million:
“I was here at lunchtime around 12:30 and it was still around $39.7 million. Then I came back around quarter after one and it was resetting. It was such a drag. It was a little more enticing with the $39 million up there, but I’m still playing.”
Judy Selasky from Lavonia, Michigan provided a similar story, telling the paper that even though a record payout was off the table, she and her husband would still play in hopes of a “lightning strikes twice” type of moment:
“I said, ‘Hurry up and get up to the room, so I can get downstairs. I figure if he won, there might be some magic here. I’m not a hog.”
Conclusion
In a city like Las Vegas which was founded on excess, setting the world record for slot machine jackpot winnings really is something special. And while we don’t know much about the software engineer from L.A. who did the deed, learning that a 25-year old tourist took the honors should give hope to every gambler who makes the sojourn to Sin City.
More than 16 years have passed since the record-setting spin, and nobody has even come close to claiming such an incredible Megabucks jackpot over that span – which shows just how astonishing that memorable moment in March of 2003 really was.
Industry | Interactive entertainment |
---|---|
Fate | Acquired by Hilton |
Founded | January 10, 1932; 89 years ago |
Founder | Raymond Moloney |
Defunct | December 18, 1996; 24 years ago |
Headquarters | Chicago |
Products | Pinball slot machines later expanded into casinos, video games, health clubs, and theme parks |
Bally Manufacturing, later renamed Bally Entertainment, was an American company that began as a pinball and slot machine manufacturer, and later expanded into casinos, video games, health clubs, and theme parks. It was acquired by Hilton Hotels in 1996. Its brand name, and mid-20th century pinball & slot machine logo, are still used by several businesses with some trademark rights, most notably Bally Technologies and Bally's Corporation.
History[edit]
The Bally Manufacturing Corporation was founded by Raymond Moloney on January 10, 1932, when Bally's original parent, Lion Manufacturing, established the company to make pinball games. The company took its name from its first game, 'Ballyhoo'. The company, based in Chicago, quickly became a leading pinball maker. In the late 1930s, Moloney began making gambling equipment, and had great success developing and improving the mechanical slot machines that were the core of the nascent gaming industry. After manufacturing munitions and airplane parts during World War II, Bally Manufacturing Corporation continued to produce innovations in flipperless pinball machines, bingo machines, payout machines and console slot machines through the late 1950s. They also designed and manufactured vending machines and established a coffee vending service. They made a brief venture into the music business with their own record label, Bally Records.[1]
Moloney died in 1958, and the company floundered briefly. With the financial failure of its parent company, Bally was bought out by a group of investors in 1963. Throughout the 1960s, Bally continued to dominate the slot machine industry, cornering over 90% of the worldwide market by the end of the decade. In 1964, Bally introduced the first electromechanical slot machine, 'Money Honey.', They became a publicly traded company and made several acquisitions, including German company Guenter Wulff-Apparatebau (renamed Bally Wulff) and Midway Manufacturing, an amusement game company from Schiller Park, Illinois.
The 1970s[edit]
In the late 1970s, Bally entered the casino business when New Jersey legalized gambling in Atlantic City. The effort moved forward even though the company was temporarily unable to attain a permanent license for the completed casino. During this period, company head William T. O'Donnell was forced to resign because of alleged links to organized crime, which he strenuously denied.[2] When questioned by the Moffitt Royal Commission (the NSW Clubs Royal Commission) in New South Wales, Australia, during an investigation of criminal activities between the US and Australia, O'Donnell admitted that Genovese Mafia boss Jerry Catena (Gerardo Catena), once owned shares in Bally, 'but I bought him out.'[2] He also denied knowing Chicago mobster Joseph Dan Testa, even though Australian police described Testa 'as a representative of Bally who visited Australia.'[2]
The company opened the Park Place Casino & Hotel on December 29, 1979.[3][4] Also in the late 1970s, Bally made an entry into the growing market for home computer games with the Bally Professional Arcade. It had advanced features for the time, including a palette of 256 colors and the ability to play 4-voice music. It shipped with a cartridge that allowed users to do a limited amount of programming on the machine themselves, using the BASIC language and record their programs on cassette tape. However, because it cost more than its major competitor, the Atari 2600, and had much fewer games, it failed to compete successfully despite a loyal following. During the 1970s and early 1980s, Midway became a primary source of income for Bally as it became an early arcade video game maker and obtained licenses for three of the most popular video games of all time: Space Invaders, Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man.[3]
The 1980s[edit]
By the mid-1980s, Bally again had a strong balance sheet and began buying other businesses, including the Six Flags amusement park chain in 1983, and the Health and Tennis Corporation of America. The health club division, Bally Total Fitness, grew during the 1980s and 1990s. The company also purchased several casinos, including the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip (subsequently rebranded Bally's Las Vegas); The MGM Grand Reno in Reno, Nevada; and the Golden Nugget Atlantic City, rebranded Bally's Grand and later The Grand—A Bally's Casino Resort. The expansion quickly took its toll on the company's finances, and Bally was soon forced to sell off several divisions, including Six Flags and Bally-Midway. The pinball division, along with Midway, was acquired by Williams Electronics in 1988.
The 1990s[edit]
In 1990, Bally came under new management as its largest shareholder, Arthur Goldberg, was appointed chairman and began a restructuring process.[5] By 1993, the company had sold off several divisions and used the proceeds to pay down debts, including the slot machine division (which became Bally Gaming International, an independent company); Scientific Games, a maker of lottery equipment; Bally's Reno; and exercise equipment maker Life Fitness.[6] The Aladdin's Castle chain of video arcades was sold that year to Namco and renamed Namco Cybertainment.
The company opened Bally's Saloon & Gambling Hall, a riverboat casino in Mhoon Landing, Mississippi in December 1993.[7][8] It was moved to Robinsonville in 1995 and became part of a joint venture with Lady Luck Gaming.[9]
In 1994, the company changed its name to Bally Entertainment, to reflect its focus on the casino business and the fact that it no longer had any manufacturing operations.[10][11] It also announced that the health club business would be spun off to shareholders, to further narrow Bally's focus on casinos.[11] The spin-off was completed in January 1996, with Bally Total Fitness becoming a separate company.[12][13]
In May 1995, Bally Entertainment announced plans to develop Paris Las Vegas, a new casino hotel next to Bally's Las Vegas. Construction began in 1997, and it opened in 1999 at an estimated cost of $760 million.
In June 1996, Bally agreed to be acquired by Hilton Hotels Corporation.[14] The sale was completed on December 18, 1996, with Hilton paying $3 billion ($2 billion in stock plus $1 billion in assumed debt).[15] Later, Hilton's casino division, including the former Bally properties, was spun off as Park Place Entertainment (later Caesars Entertainment, Inc.), which was acquired in 2005 by Harrah's Entertainment (later Caesars Entertainment Corp.).
The name[edit]
Many casinos and businesses worldwide took on the Bally name and logo in the maze of ownership, division spin-offs and licensing agreements.
Midway, and Williams (after buying Midway) continued to use the Bally name for its pinball games, until Williams's parent company WMS Industries ceased pinball production in 1999. In March, 2005, WMS Industries licensed the firm Mr. Pinball Australia Pty. Ltd. (formerly known as The Pinball Factory) to use the intellectual properties and the rights to remanufacture existing Bally/Williams Pinball machines. The Mr. Pinball firm also bought the right to manufacture new games using the company's new hardware system under the Bally brand. The license was transferred in October, 2010 to Planetary Pinball Supply (PPS) of San Jose, California.
Alliance Gaming, which bought Bally Gaming International in 1995, changed its name to Bally Technologies. Bally Total Fitness, gambling distributor Bally France, and arcade distributor Bally Pond still use the same 'Bally' logo, though any formal business relationships, as of June 2007, are coincidental. The rights to use the name for casinos were sold by Caesars in 2020 to Twin River Worldwide Holdings, which then changed its own name to Bally's Corporation and said that it would rename most of its properties under the Bally's brand.[16]
The Bally name is was mentioned in the song 'Pinball Wizard' in the rock operaTommy and its soundtrack, by the British rock band The Who.
Pinball machines using the Bally brand[edit]
Select machines developed by Bally or Bally-Midway[edit]
- Amigo (1974)
- Ballyhoo (flipperless) (1932)
- Bally Baby (slot machine) (1932)
- Ballyhoo (flippers) (1947)
- Baby Pac-Man (1982)
- Blackwater 100 (1988)
- BMX (1982)
- Boomerang (1974)
- Bow and Arrow (1974)
- Capersville (1967)
- Captain Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy (1976)
- Centaur (1981) & Centaur II (1983)
- Cybernaut (1985)
- Dixieland (1968)
- Dogies (1968)
- Dungeons & Dragons (1987)
- Eight Ball (1977)
- Eight Ball Deluxe (1981)
- Embryon (1981)
- Evel Knievel (1977)
- Fathom (1981)
- Flash Gordon (1981)
- Fireball (1972)
- Fireball II (1981)
- Freedom (1976)
- Four Million B.C. (1971)
- Frontier (1980)
- Future Spa (1979)
- Gator (1969)
- Hi-Lo Ace (1973)
- Hokus Pokus (1975)
- KISS (1979)
- Lady Luck (1986)
- Lost World (1978)
- Mata Hari (1977)
- Monte Carlo (1973)
- Night Rider' (1977)
- Nip-It (1972)
- Nitro Ground Shaker (1978)
- Odds and Evens (1973)
- On Beam (1968)
- Mr. & Mrs. Pac-Man (1982)
- Paragon (1979)
- Playboy (1978)
- Power Play (1977)
- Shoot-A-Line (1962)
- Sky Divers (1964)
- Strange Science (1986)
- Strikes and Spares (1978)
- The Six Million Dollar Man (1978)
- Vector (1982)
- Wizard! (1975)
- Xenon (1980)
Developed by Midway[edit]
- The Addams Family (1992)
- Attack from Mars (1995)
- Black Rose (1992)
- Cactus Canyon (1998)
- The Champion Pub (1998)
- Cirqus Voltaire (1997)
- Corvette (1994)
- Creature from the Black Lagoon (1992)
- Doctor Who (1992)
- Dr. Dude and His Excellent Ray (1990)
- Eight Ball Champ (1985)
- Gilligans Island (1991)
- Harley-Davidson (1991)
- Indianapolis 500 (1995)
- Judge Dredd (1993)
- NBA Fastbreak (1997)
- The Party Zone (1991)
- Popeye Saves the Earth (1994)
- Radical! (1990)
- Revenge from Mars (1999)
- Safe Cracker (1996)
- Scared Stiff (1996)
- The Shadow (1994)
- Theatre of Magic (1995)
- Twilight Zone (1993)
- Who Dunnit (1995)
- World Cup Soccer (1994)
Slots Billionaire
Developed by The Pinball Factory[edit]
The Crocodile Hunter Outback Adventure based on the wildlife documentary television series The Crocodile Hunter was in development by Australian pinball manufacturer The Pinball Factory under license from Bally. It was abandoned at the end of 2007 due to the death of the main character of the game, Steve Irwin, and never went into production.[17]
Slot machines[edit]
- Money Honey (1964)
- Big Top (1982)
- Jackpot Riot (1993)
- Blazing 7s (1993)
Casinos[edit]
References[edit]
- ^'Bally Records'.
- ^ abc'Bally chief denies links with mafia'. The Age. 18 September 1973. Retrieved 8 October 2018 – via Google News.
- ^ abChristian Marfels; 2007, Bally: The World's Game Maker, 2nd ed., Bally Technologies Inc., Las Vegas ISBN978-1-4243-3207-6
- ^'Bally Manufacturing Corp'. Encyclopedia of Chicago. Retrieved 21 June 2007.
- ^P.J. Bednarski (November 13, 1990). 'Top exec quits as Bally revamps'. Chicago Sun-Times – via NewsBank.
- ^Debra Dowling (December 19, 1993). 'Goldberg whips Bally Gaming into shape'. The Star-Ledger. Newark, NJ – via NewsBank.
- ^Laurel Campbell (December 7, 1993). 'Adjacent casinos open in Tunica'. The Commercial Appeal. Memphis, TN – via NewsBank.
- ^'Bally's licensed to open in Tunica'. The Commercial Appeal. Memphis, TN. AP. December 4, 1993 – via NewsBank.
- ^Michelle Hillier (December 22, 1995). 'Bally's rolls upriver, reopens casino closer to Memphis crowds'. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Little Rock, AR – via NewsBank.
- ^Scott Ritter (March 18, 1994). 'Options help CEO's earnings'. The Star-Ledger. Newark, NJ – via NewsBank.
- ^ abDavid Dishneau (May 18, 1994). 'Bally gambling its games will outperform its gyms'. Akron Beacon Journal. AP – via NewsBank.
- ^'Bally spin-off final'. Chicago Sun-Times. January 10, 1996 – via NewsBank.
- ^Debra Dowling (September 19, 1995). 'Bally Entertainment pushing out its network of push-up centers'. The Star-Ledger. Newark, NJ – via NewsBank.
- ^Barry Meier (June 7, 1996). 'Hilton Hotels to buy Bally Entertainment for more than $2 billion'. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2019-03-14.
- ^Joe Weinert (December 19, 1996). 'Hilton and Bally close deal'. The Press of Atlantic City – via NewsBank.
- ^'Twin River Worldwide Holdings to become Bally's Corporation'. Delaware Business Times. October 29, 2020. Retrieved 2020-11-11.
- ^'Internet Pinball Machine Database: The Pinball Factory 'The Crocodile Hunter Outback Adventure''. www.ipdb.org.
- Galecki, Irek (2006), Slot Machines History, Online Casino Press, archived from the original on September 17, 2012, retrieved 2007-06-25
- Wilson, Mark R. (2005), 'Bally Manufacturing Corp.', Encyclopedia of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois: Chicago Historical Society, retrieved 2007-06-27
- Lawlor, Pat (1992), 'The Addams Family', Pinball Hall of Fame, Internet Pinball Database, retrieved 2007-06-25