$5 bet turns into record $3.8 million jackpot at Seminole Hard Rock

Can you imagine taking away $3 million from a $1 slot machine? (Wayne Parry, Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – Feeling lucky? Probably not as lucky as the Fort Lauderdale woman who was playing a $1 slot machine when she hit a $3.8 million jackpot at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood early Thursday morning.

The $3,854,682 score on an IGT Megabucks machine broke the record for the highest payout ever for all six Seminole Gaming properties, and it was the largest slot jackpot ever awarded in Florida on an International Game Technology game, according to the casino.

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The woman named Laurie, who wanted her last name withheld, had just celebrated her 60th birthday last week. She placed a $5 bet before hitting the jackpot Thursday morning, shortly after midnight.

“I am in absolute shock,” she said in a news release from the casino. “You like to dream big but that’s really big. That’s not even in the ballpark of what you think you can win. That’s a lottery! It still feels like a dream.”

When asked about what she plans to do with her winnings, Laurie told Hard Rock that the had some practical purchases in mind.

“We’re talking about hurricane windows,” she said. “We talked about resurfacing the pool or maybe getting a nicer condo after retirement.”

Seminole Hard Rock Hotel in Hollywood reopened June 12 and says it has awarded more than $74.8 million in jackpots in the time since.


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