After two decades of anticipation and scores of disappointed players, a famed Las Vegas slot machine finally give up its $2.4 million jackpot on Friday night, the Las Vegas Sun reported.
Walter Misco and his wife Linda Misco, of Chester, New Hampshire, had just entered $100 into the MGM Grand's Lion's Share slot machine and were playing for five minutes when their lives changed.
"It was surreal when it happened," Misco told the Las Vegas Sun. "I just sat there thinking it hadn't actually happened."
The stubborn Lion's Share is the last three-reeled slot machine to remain in the casino ever since it removed 49 other similar machines from the main floor in the early '90s. As the years went by tons of gamers placed their $1, $2 and $3 bets into the outdated slot machine, rubbing it for good luck dreaming of taping into its accumulated jackpot.
"This game probably gets played about five times more than our average game on the casino floor," Justin Andrews, of the MGM Grand, said according to ABC News. "Our staff gets asked every single day, multiple times a day where this game is from people who haven't played it before."
The game, believed to have been played every five seconds, even gained a following on Facebook and other social media sites. A player could win up to $10,000 without winning the big time jackpot.
"We've waited over 20 years for this!" MGM Grand said, ABC News reported. "Our famous Lion's Share Finally Hit for $2.4 million."
Walter Misco, a retired horse farmer, is a casino veteran. His previous winnings include $5,000 and $8,000 he won while playing poker, the Las Vegas Sun reported. It was his wife Linda of 48 years who told him to try the Lion's Share.
Walter said he plans on using the winnings to pay for college for his children and grandchildren.
In the meantime, MGM Grand officials are trying to see if the couple can take the now retired Lion's Share home, the Casino City Times reported.
"We're going to do our best to let them take the machine with them, because they deserve it," said Steve Sibella, the casino's chief operating officer.
