HOLLYWOOD, Fla. — A $5 investment turned into a huge payday for a Florida woman.
The 60-year-old woman from Fort Lauderdale, playing a $1 slot machine at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Hollywood, parlayed her $5 bet into a jackpot worth nearly $4 million early Thursday, the Sun-Sentinel reported.
The $3,854,682 jackpot on the IGT Megabucks slots game was the highest payout in history for Seminole Gaming’s six properties, the newspaper reported. It also was the largest slot jackpot ever awarded in Florida on an International Game Technology game.
“I am in absolute shock,” Laurie said in a statement released by the casino. “You like to dream big but that’s really big. That’s not even in the ballpark of what you think you can win. That’s a lottery! It still feels like a dream.”
The woman, whose name was Laurie but declined to give her last name, said she was “in absolute shock.”
Laurie was spending the evening at the Guitar Hotel and had dinner at Council Oaks Steaks & Seafood, WFOR reported.
The woman said she would probably spend some of her winnings on hurricane windows, buying a new condominium or resurfacing her pool.
The casino reopened June 12 and has since awarded more than $74.8 million in winnings, casino officials said in their statement. There have been 29 jackpots valued at $50,000 or more, casino officials said.