Las Vegas

San Diego man wins $1.5 million slot-machine jackpot at Las Vegas airport

Harry Reid International raked in $58.5 million in gaming revenue in 2023, according to an airport spokeswoman

The man was feeding the Wheel of Fortune machine near Gate E-10 in Terminal 3 of Harry Reid International Airport when he hit the jackpot, according to an airport spokeswoman.
Harry Reid International Airport

One lucky San Diegan flew home from Vegas with $1.5 million he won from a slot machine at the airport.

The man who won, who asked NBC 7 not to publish his name, was feeding the Wheel of Fortune machine near Gate E-10 in Terminal 3 of Harry Reid International Airport when he hit the jackpot, according to an airport spokeswoman

The beaming winner, wearing a Padres hat, natch, posed with the winning machine on Tuesday at around 5 p.m., with it still displaying his $1,450,954 prize

Monika Bertaki of Harry Reid International said the airport is one of only two in the United States — the other is Reno-Tahoe International — with one-armed bandits. The spokeswoman added that there was $58.5 million in gaming revenue last year at the airport, which raked in $49.7 million after paying out the gaming operator.

With that kind of money, big payouts are rare but not unheard of at Harry Reid.

"We've had three jackpot winners in the past two years," Bertaki said. "They were close [to being as big]. They were over a million."

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