Las Vegas Myths Busted: Millions to Come on Casino Opening Night
When Fontainebleau opens to the public at midnight on Thursday, many players will likely be donning their lucky sweaters and heading to the nearest free Megabucks slot machine. Once seated, they would tug on his arms as an urban legend has it on their legs for 34 years.
Elmer Sherwin, a 76-year-old World War II veteran, converted $100 into a $4.6 million jackpot on Nov. 22, 1989, at the Mirage. It was the opening night of the famous casino resort, which explains the origins of one of the largest casinos. Persistent gambling myths in Las Vegas suggest that big jackpots are more likely to happen on the casino's opening night.
This is because it is good for the casinos because the eyes of the world are on their properties.
Seven months after The Mirage opened, you couldn't get near a Megabucks machine during Excalibur's opening weekend. The story was the same for every subsequent casino that opened in Las Vegas.
"Stag Nude##"
Megabucks was launched in March 1986 by slot machine manufacturer International Game Technology (IGT) in an effort to recapture some of the business Nevada casinos were losing to the state lottery. These promised million prizes and tracks offer huge payout bets. This is the world's first wide-area link cumulative slot machine system.
Every time someone spins Megabucks, a small portion of the bet is put into the jackpot, which can be won by anyone at any time on any machine. The longer the gap between jackpots, the higher the bonus amount.
Super awesome
The casino has no control over which three Megabucks symbols appear on the slot machine. This is determined by a random number generator.
Because the sequence is completely randomly generated, each of the approximately 750 Megabucks machines at Nevada's 136 networked casinos has the same chance of winning the jackpot.
Every. singles. time.
Although these odds have never been announced publicly, they are certainly high.
But science, technology and logic can't stop millionaire believers. Most people will tell you there's more to it than that. The piece of evidence that most people would point to is again Elmer Sherwin.
Sixteen years after Sherwin won the nearly impossible Megabucks jackpot at the Mirage, at age 92, he won again at the Cannery Casino in downtown Las Vegas.
It's like being struck by lightning while sitting on your living room couch with not a cloud in the sky," University of Nevada, Las Vegas casino management professor Anthony Lucas told CNN last year when he debunked another Megabucks Said the myth.
That year away, Sherwin used an additional $21.1 million to travel the world.
Oh, and this isn't opening night at the cannery. They have been used for two years.
Additional evidence that logic wins
Since Sherwin's Mirage jackpot, 46 more casinos have opened in Las Vegas. Fontainebleau will be the 47th. To date, no game has ever won the million-dollar grand prize on opening night.
But try explaining that to someone wearing a lucky sweater and heading to the Megabucks slot machine at midnight on a Thursday.
Look for "Vegas Myths Busted" every Monday To read previously debunked Vegas myths, visit: Have a suggestion for a Vegas myth that needs debunking? Email [email protected].
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Source: www.casino.org
