The biggest ever jackpot recorded was at the Excalibur hotel in March 2003 when a 25-year-old Los Angeles resident put $100 in a Megabucks machine, and won a total of $40 million. Close Share options. IGT progressive slots are highly popular in Vegas but you can also enjoy the same gaming action online. You can learn where to play these slots from home using this IGT Gaming guide and get that same excitement from playing in a live casino. Megabucks is a Dollar coin Slot Machine that must have 3 coins ($3.00) played to hit the jackpot. At that time, the Megabucks slot machine hadn’t actually paid out for nearly one year. We should also point out that this machine was based on the largest network progressive jackpot in the world. Initially, megabucks had seeded the machine with $1 million in 1997 and then again, but with $10 million in 2005.

Megabucks is a popular slot machine offered by IGT featuring one of the highest progressive jackpots among all slot games. First introduced to gamblers in 1994, Megabucks is now available in dozens of casinos in the United States. The highest concentration of Megabucks machines can be found in Las Vegas and Reno.

• Megabucks, created by International Game Technology (IGT), may well be the most famous slot machine in the world today. This progressive slot machine can be found throughout International Game Technology (IGT) casinos in Las Vegas and other locations in Nevada, with smaller versions of the same jackpot being offered in other jurisdictions.
• For the uninitiated, Megabucks is a network of linked progressive slot machines whose top prize starts at $10 million and continues to grow until someone gets lucky and lines up the three.

The Megabucks slot machine has become an enticing game for casino goers, and it has been drawing in wandering slots players for over a decade with its most distinct feature; a massive progressive jackpot which has been known to reach over $30,000,000.

It goes without saying that this game probably has one of the largest progressive jackpots that you’ll ever come across inside of a casino, and it makes the Wheel of Fortune progressive look like chump-change.

Megabucks Machine Variations

The most common Megabucks game features a simple 3-reel machine with 1 payline. Over the course of its lifespan, IGT has had plenty of time to come up with new variations of Megabucks and they definitely did not disappoint.

Megabucks Slot Machine Jackpot

Today there is a total of 19 different Megabucks slot games which feature either 3-reels or 5-reels. IGT has combined the Megabucks with other company staples like Wolf Run, Double Diamond and 3x4x5x times pay. A complete list of all Megabucks slot game varieties can be found below.

– Megabucks Crystal Sevens
– Megabucks Red Hot Re-Spin
– Megabucks Double Diamond Deluxe
– Megabucks Triple Double Stars
– Megabucks Double 3x4x5x Times Pay
– Megabucks Pink Ice
– Megabucks Wild Sapphires
– Megabucks Mega Volt Respin
– Megabucks Fire Sapphires
– Megabucks Wolf Run
– Megabucks Hot Bells
– Megabucks Triple Ruby Riches
– Megabucks Double Diamond
– Megabucks Free Spins
– Megabucks Red, White & Blue
– Megabucks Double Gold
– Megabucks 2x3x4x5x Gold
– Megabucks Megablast
– Megabucks Platinum Pays

Where to Play Megabucks

If you like Megabucks, you might be disappointed, as it’s only offered in Nevada and California. It can be played at most casinos in Las Vegas, Reno and Lake Tahoe as well as a few select Native American casinos in California. If you want to play in California, you’ll have to visit Red Hawk Casino, Thunder Valley Casino Resort or Gold Country Casino.

Unfortunately, there are no machines in Atlantic City at this time.

When you are at a casino with Megabucks, you’ll find that they’re often located in high-traffic areas, most likely because of their flashy progressive sign displaying the massive jackpot.

Megabucks Progressive

Since Megabucks was introduced in the 1990’s, just over 30 different people have experienced a life changing win while playing. To win the progressive jackpot, you need to get the Megabucks icon on each reel. Every time someone hits the progressive, the jackpot automatically resets back to $10,000,000 (in Nevada) or $3,000,000 (in California).

The money used to bankroll the progressive jackpot is collected by IGT on a state-by-state basis. For example, there are separate progressive jackpots for Nevada and California. As you might imagine, the California jackpot is always much lower than the one in Nevada.

The biggest win ever recorded on a Megabucks progressive machine happened on January 26th, 2000 at a little-known Nevada casino called Desert Inn. The player in question won a jaw-dropping $34,955,490.

Megabucks Slot Machine Jackpots

According to Wizard of Odds, the probability of winning a Megabucks progressive is 1 in 49,836,032. If you are lucky enough to win a Megabucks jackpot, however, don’t expect to walk out of the casino with tens of millions of dollars in the bank. All progressive wins for Megabucks are issued to the player by IGT in 25 installments, which are paid out once per year.

Taking this into account, the lowest amount you could win from hitting a Megabucks progressive (in Nevada) would equate to about $400,000 per year ($10,000,000 / 25 payments).

Odds and RTP

Megabucks Slot Machine Handpay

If you’re interested in playing slots with high RTP percentages, you’ll be disappointed to learn that Megabucks might be one of the worst machines you can play. Though the game is wildly popular in Las Vegas, it has a house edge of roughly 11.39% which means that the average RTP is only 88.61%. Compare that to some other popular slot games that boast 98% or 99% RTP and you’ll probably think twice before pumping money into a Megabucks machine.

Megabucks Slot Machine Jackpot

Needless to say, the lure of winning a life-changing jackpot of $10,000,000+ – regardless of the odds – keeps players coming back time and time again.