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Woman Wins 22.6 Mil Bally's Slots Jackpot

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  • Woman Wins 22.6 Mil Bally's Slots Jackpot

    California woman, 74, wins Megabucks
    Retired printer on way to breakfast loses $177 in Bally's slot, then wins $22.6 million jackpot

    By JAN MOLLER
    REVIEW-JOURNAL

    A California woman won the third-largest slot jackpot in Nevada history Monday, then celebrated her Memorial Day good fortune by playing more slots.

    Johanna Heundl, 74, a retired printer from Covina, had lost $177 in a Megabucks machine at Bally's before a $3 pull at 10:14 a.m. netted a $22.6 million payout.

    The previous Megabucks jackpot hit in March 2001 when a Las Vegas man won $7 million at The Orleans.

    Heundl said she thought at first that the jackpot was $2 million.

    "Then everybody said, no -- it's $22 million. I still can't believe it," said Heundl, who was on her way to breakfast when she stopped to play the machine.

    Heundl said she hasn't decided how she'll spend her winnings but started the process shortly after hotel officials finished fussing over her.

    "I kept gambling," she said. "Why should I retire now that I have more money? I don't have too many years left; might as well enjoy myself."

    The record jackpot was won by Cynthia Jay-Brennan, a Monte Carlo cocktail waitress who won $35 million in January 2000 at the Sahara then nearly lost her life five weeks later when she was hit by a drunken driver.

    In November 1998, an anonymous Las Vegan won $27.5 million at Palace Station.

    "We were way overdue with this jackpot," said Margaret Kurtz, a Bally's spokeswoman, adding that it's the first time Megabucks has hit at the Strip property.

    Megabucks is a progressive jackpot administered by slot machine manufacturer International Game Technology. A computer network links 751 Megabucks machines at 157 Nevada casinos.

    IGT spokesman Rick Sorensen said Heundl is the 57th person to win the top jackpot since the game was introduced in 1986.

    After Heundl hit her jackpot, machines around the state were immediately reset to $7 million.

    Heundl, a native of Vienna, Austria, has lived in the United States since moving to California in 1956 as a young bride. Her husband and only son are deceased, and Bally's officials said she makes about five or six trips to the casino every year.

    Usually she comes with friends, but she decided to come alone this weekend after Bally's offered her two complimentary room nights for her birthday, which was May 17.

    After winning the jackpot, she quickly called a California friend to join her in a two-bedroom suite provided free by the hotel.

    Heundl now has 60 days to decide whether she wants the jackpot paid in 25 annual installments or if she wants a lump-sum payment. Heundl said she is planning on the lump-sum payment.
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