1. Megabucks New Hampshire
2. What Happens When You Win Megabucks

If you’ve ever stepped foot in a Las Vegas casino, you’ve undoubtedly encountered Megabucks slot machines. Megabucks is a city-wide network of progressive slot machines known for their massive jackpots.

1. Megabucks slot machines were placed in Las Vegas casinos for the first time in the mid-1990s. The first progressive jackpot on the slot machine was hit at the Gold Coast Casino on October 18, 1995. Over the years, the brand has had 46 progressive wins. Megabucks Statistics. The house edge on Megabucks is just under 10%, which is high for a slot.
2. Megabucks Plus tickets can be purchased daily. The cut off time for ticket sales is 7:50 PM ET on the day of the draw. Drawings are held every Wednesday and Saturday at 7:59 PM ET. You can watch the Megabucks Plus drawings every Wednesday and Saturday by visiting the Tri-State Lotto Commission official drawing webcast.
3. Megabucks in Nevada 6.0 mi. Largest Jackpot Found $ 685,229. This fan favorite has been paying out life-changing jackpots for over 12 years! Take a spin today!
4. Tri-State Megabucks® is a $2 game that starts the jackpot at $1 million and has a second-tier prize of $30,000. It offers the BEST overall odds of any of our games at 1 in 5.9! This game is available locally in New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont, which means all of the winners are local.

The slots are $1-per-credit games, with three credits required in order to have a chance at winning the main pot. They most commonly use Wheel of Fortune themed slots.

Massachusetts (MA) Megabucks Doubler offers the state's biggest single-state jackpots, find results and winning numbers here.

Megabucks New Hampshire

Megabucks is to Vegas residents what the lottery is to most other cities. As the jackpot grows larger and larger, it becomes the talk of the town, with everyone talking about what number it’s at now, what property they think it will hit at, if they’re going to go play, and, of course, what they’d do with all the money if they won.

I’ve heard those conversations more times than I could ever hope to count. If it weren’t for the trail of horror and dead bodies apparently following the winners, I might think having to hear broke people talk about how they’d waste millions of dollars is the actual curse, but I digress.

Local myths claim that winning the fortune is often the last thing the recipient ever does. It’s alleged that people have overdosed on drugs, died in plane crashes, been sued for all their winnings, and been involved in horrible debilitating accidents. But despite all of the tragedy, the game remains as popular as ever; it’s just too much money to pass up.

What is Megabucks?

Megabucks is the first wide-area progressive jackpot ever created. Slot machines in casinos all across the Las Vegas valley are linked, with a percentage of each bet contributing to the ever-increasing size of the jackpot. The devices can be played for one-dollar, but a three-dollar max bet is required for a chance to win the big prize.

The pot starts at ten million dollars and steadily climbs until there is a winner. The “lucky” recipient then has the choice to take half of the earnings immediately in one balloon payment or to be paid out monthly over the course of the next twenty-five years. The highest amount ever won was $39.7 million, but the winner of that record-breaking prize is a central figure in the curse’s mythology.

Las Vegas Lore

In a town like Las Vegas, there are no shortages of wise tails, myths, and legends. Go to any downtown bar during the daytime and talk to the local patrons and you’re bound to hear several of them, for better or for worse.

It makes sense, this town is built on concepts like luck and magic. It also has a violent past as a mafia stronghold and has been ground zero for sin and debauchery for decades. I’m always hearing about haunted hotel rooms, people with supernatural abilities to “cool” winning gamblers, and curses.

The legend around the Megabucks winners is just another part of the city’s endless fascination with rags to riches, and riches to rags stories. It’s one of those topics that I’ve heard spoken about frequently, each time with some new horrifying fate befalling yet another victim.

I’ve somehow managed never to see any of these unfortunate deaths in the newspapers, but that’s how these curses tend to go, and since the winners have the option to remain anonymous, there’s always a veil of secrecy that works to preserve the tall tales.

It’s unknown when the curse began or why it persists to this day, but there are two primary events that seem to be the centerpieces of the story. One is a verifiable event that definitely did happen, while the other is clouded in mystery.

Cynthia Jay-Brennan

In 2000, Cynthia Jay-Brennan was playing Megabucks at the Desert Inn Casino.

The 37-year-old cocktail waitress had her life changed in an instant when she hit the jackpot of a lifetime, good for $34.9 million. Unfortunately, the celebrations would be short-lived.

Clark Morse, a 58-year-old drunken idiot, was the man who caused the tragic accident. He had already been arrested on sixteen occasions for driving under the influence, was convicted at least five times, but somehow always avoided any real jail time.

After visiting two bars, Morse slammed into Cynthia’s car, killing her sister, injuring passengers in at least five other vehicles, and leaving Cynthia Jay-Brennan a quadriplegic. He then fled the scene of the crime and went to his mother’s house where he was found sleeping by police.

The drunken perpetrator of all this suffering was finally sentenced to a lengthy prison term as a result of the accident. Cynthia is still hopeful that she’ll defy the odds once again and regain the ability to walk someday, but would gladly give all the money back in return for her sister and mobility. In the meantime, her tragic story seems to be the primary catalyst for the legendary curse.

$39.7-Million Winner

What Happens When You Win Megabucks

In 2003, the Megabucks jackpot hit record heights once again, this time growing to nearly forty million bucks. It was won by a twenty-five-year-old man playing at the Excalibur, who wisely chose to keep his identity anonymous after his big win.

That’s where the details of this particular piece of Vegas lore get hazy, as I’ve heard the second part of this story told in about fifty different ways.

How he died, depends on who is telling the story. The most common version I’ve heard is that he died of a drug overdose while celebrating his good fortune.

I’ve always thought this would be the most likely scenario. A twenty-five-year-old kid who suddenly comes into almost 40 million dollars while on vacation in Las Vegas is pretty much the most probable overdose candidate imaginable, after all.

It’s also been said that the anonymous man either died in a plane crash or was killed by gang members in Los Angeles. International Gaming Technologies, the company that produces the Megabucks machines, has denied this story and insists that the lucky winner is still alive. Regardless, the tale persists and is often one of the main stories relayed regarding the curse.

Realistically, it’s probably in the recipient’s best interest that nobody knows his identity and everybody thinks he’s dead since it probably has limited the number of scammers, beggars, and thieves that would otherwise have been harassing him for the last fifteen years.

Be Careful What You Wish For

Beyond Cynthia Jay-Brennan’s nightmarish tale, it’s difficult to find any other instances of the curse claiming a victim that hasn’t already been disproven. But, when it comes to urban legends, the truth very rarely carries much importance. However, there is a greater curse at work, and time and time again it has destroyed the lives of people we all envy.

If you expand your search from Megabucks to all lottery winners, you will find that nothing ruins a life faster than suddenly becoming wealthy. Winners are more likely to declare bankruptcy in the three to five years following their good fortune than the average citizen. That is, if they survive the next three to five years.

Jeff Dampier won $20 million from the Illinois lottery. Like all lotto winners experience, he was immediately hounded by family members and close friends for money. The generous Dampier tried his best to share the wealth, but it wasn’t enough to satiate their greed.

Urooj Khan only got to celebrate his $1-millon win in the Chicago lottery for a single day before dropping dead of cyanide poison, once again, suspected to have been administered by close family.

There are many more stories like those mentioned above.

In fact, most of the people who win windfalls of money from things like the lottery or Megabucks later regret ever having won. The sudden influx of cash is so shocking to people’s lives. The family grows envious and entitled to your wealth, friends turn on you, people begin suing you constantly, and sometimes you end up the target of murder plots.

When it comes to Megabucks, the ability to remain anonymous after winning has resulted in much speculation about the fate of the winners. While it’s difficult to find concrete facts about the various recipients to verify the curse, it stands to reason that they’re no better off than the average lottery winner.

It’s just that while people are searching for some mystical bad luck brought on by a cursed game, the truth is the influx of easily-obtained money brings out the worst in the person receiving it and everyone around them. To be unable to trust your friends and family may be the biggest curse of all.

In Conclusion

Having lived in Las Vegas since 1994, I’ve heard more Megabucks curse stories than I could possibly count or ever hope to remember. Each rendition is wilder, more improbable, and more salacious than the last; it’s as if locals draw a source of pride from the tragic tales. I’ve got to think there’s something about the horrific downfall that makes us feel better about never having the luck required to win the fortune ourselves.

While many of the stories repeated around the valley may be heavily embellished, if there’s any truth to them at all, that doesn’t mean that the people who win these large sums of cash are safe. In fact, research shows that the curse goes far beyond a single wide area progressive slot.

As it turns out, anyone that wins massive amounts of money in an instant soon sees their dreams turn into a nightmare. Suddenly a target is on your back and the people you loved the most see you as nothing more than their ticket to a better life.

Due to the anonymity provided to Megabucks winners if they choose it, we don’t have all the heartbreaking tales of the jackpot winners. We know of Cynthia Jay-Brennan and her unfortunate story, but not the dozens of others who most likely suffered similar fates to so many lotto winners.

If you ever come to Las Vegas and get to talking with the right bartender about the Megabucks curse, you’re guaranteed to here a tremendous story of a person’s highest high before their lowest low. Just remember, if you’re ever unlucky enough to win the jackpot yourself, don’t tell anybody, not even your family.