Massive Slot Jackpots Boost Las Vegas’ Recovery

The arrival of COVID-19 in 2020 changed everything…. not just online casino play.

People lost their lives, lost loved ones, faced massive disruptions to their careers, circumstances, and finances.

While no corner of the world was left unchanged, some people and some industries were harder hit than others…

… and, thanks to travel bans, the tourism industry was among the hardest hit economic of all. This includes live casino gambling, and its capital in the Americas: Las Vegas.

It’s true! Even if the Vegas atmosphere seems so entrenched in the world of gambling world that it seems permanently etched in stone, even this titanic fixture of the gaming world can bleed.

And bleed it has. But recovery is on the way! Buoyed by vaccinations, falling infection rates, and greatly reduced limitations on public gatherings, (to say nothing of stimulus checks, tax refunds, and generous Federal unemployment policies) the Las Vegas casino industry is showing major signs of getting back on its feet.

And it seems like part of that recovery is fueled by an unbelievable string of truly astronomical jackpot payouts!

Great PR

It’s the mandate of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority to bring as much business to the City of Sin as possible, and they spend untold millions of dollars doing just that.

But you have to wonder if this investment is worthwhile, with the recent string of slot jackpots, the town is practically promoting itself!

Cold, Hard Cash

Things got started at the end of April with a seven-figure win at the Cosmopolitan – a $2.1 million payout on Monopoly Millionaire on a wager of merely $40 (for those keeping score at home, that’s a payout rate of 52,500x) – and that was just the tip of the iceberg!

Then, two days later, a lucky player at the Venetian hit bit on Wheel of Fortune, walking away with 2.9 million reasons to feel good about his time in Vegas.

And two days after that, lightning struck for a third time… this time at the D Casino Hotel. The slot in question was Buffalo Grand, and the payout was a handsome $1.22 million.

The Best is Yet to Come

Ordinarily, just one payout of that magnitude would get the town talking.

But three jackpot payouts worth over $1 million? All hitting over a span of justsix days?

Let’s just say euphoria was in the air.

Just as things were beginning to die down, though, South Point casino dropped the biggest bombshell yet: a guest playing IGT’s Megabucks slot scored jackpot win of $10,453,269.30.

(For the record, the largest jackpot win world history was also recorded on a Megbucks machine – $39.71 million, won in 2003. That’s a pretty impressive track record, in our humble opinion!)

What Gives?

Of course, big jackpots are hardly unheard of in the world of slot gaming. In fact, their fame and semi-regularity provide a big part of the reason why so many fans return to slot play again and again!

After all, when the max payout for a given spin is enough to provide multi-generational wealth without ever having to work another day in one’s life, who among us wouldn’t want to pull the lever?

Still, it seems that these big payouts have been occurring much more frequently than usual in recent months.

Why?

The obvious answer is usage. After all, slot payouts are legally required to line up with the total amount of money players choose to wager.

The pandemic required people to stay away from the live casino experience. This means that when casinos were finally able to open their doors again (and when guests felt safe enough to walk through those doors) there was a tremendous amount of pent-up demand to be tapped into.

This would explain why more guests than usual are placing more bets than usual. But it doesn’t explain why the payouts are large!

To understand that phenomenon, we have to look a bit deeper. It’s just that guests are returning to Vegas in droves.

It’s not just that there are a great many people choosing to play the Vegas slots at this given time. It’s also that many of those guests are flush with cash thanks to economic recovery, tax refunds, stimulus checks, and unemployment checks.

What’s more, they haven’t been able to cut loose and party in a live setting for over a year!

When all these factors are put together, it’s easy to see the larger picture: more players are coming to Vegas, placing their bets more frequently than usual, and betting larger amounts than usual.

Those three elements combine to provide nearly continuous opportunities for jaw-dropping, eye-popping wins that just seem to keep coming!

What Does This Mean for Players?

While it’s invigorating to know that massive jackpots are available right now, the fact is that this phenomenon won’t last forever.

So for avid slot players who have been thinking of getting back into the action at major brick-and-mortar casinos, the mathematic chance of an astronomical payout are not only higher now than they’ve ever been before… they’re also likely higher than they’ll ever be again!