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In general, Megabucks rumors fall into one of three categories:
- The unhappy fate of previous winners.
- Startling tales of flawed wins.
- Where the next one is going to hit.
On 21 March 2003, the largest-ever slots prize was awarded in Las Vegas when a 25-year-old man who prefers to remain anonymous hit a $39,710,826.36 Megabucks jackpot at the Excalibur casino. Scant days later, rumors were already afoot that tragedy had overtaken this lucky gentleman. According to the whispers, he had:
- Fatally overdosed at The Palms (a trendy Las Vegas casino resort greatly favored by the 20- and 30-somethings).
- Died in a plane crash.
- Been killed in a gang fight in Los Angeles.
Although the mode of the unnamed winner's demise changed from telling to telling, the basic rumor remained intact — this man so favored by Fate one day became its victim on another. His luck ran out soon after the win, said the rumor, felling him before he'd had any chance to enjoy his millions.
The 'overdosed at the Palms' version carried the further implication of the man's good fortune having been his undoing. In the unspoken subtext
of that telling, the lucky winner had used his new wealth to hole up in a swank hotel and dabble in drugs. In attempting to live like a rock star, he instead died like one.
The rumor (all versions of it) was false. According to Connie Fox of International Game Technology (IGT), the maker of Megabucks machines and the distributor of its prizes, the young man has not been harvested by the Grim Reaper. He lives on, wealthy and anonymous.
It is possible memories of a tragedy that befell a previous Megabucks winner have fueled this tale of good luck turned chillingly bad. On 11 March 2000, 37-year-old Cynthia Jay-Brennan, a cocktail waitress who had hit a $34.9 million jackpot at the Desert Inn just six weeks earlier, was left a quadriplegic by an auto accident that claimed her sister's life. The pair had been sitting in their car at a red light when their vehicle was rear-ended by one being operated by a drunk driver. Five others were injured in the resulting chain reaction accident.
A year later, 58-year-old Clark Morse, the driver who caused this carnage, was sentenced to 28 years in prison. Morse was a habitual drunk who had been previously arrested at least 16 times on driving under the influence charges and had at least five DUI convictions, yet he had not prior to this incident been jailed for his inebriated forays behind the wheel.
On the one hand, it would be easy to see the ‘dead Megabucks winner' rumor as a misremembering of the circumstances that have placed Cynthia Jay-Brennan in a wheelchair for the rest of her life. Yet on the other, whispers about Megabucks winners having been struck down by
misfortune have been part of gaming culture long before the March 2000 tragedy. In one well-traveled Megabucks rumor, an elderly gambler who lined up the three winning symbols on his machine suffered a heart attack and died on the spot. (Shades of Vegas Vacation and Sid Caesar kicking the bucket after hitting a $30,000 keno jackpot, that.) That particular tale had for so long been part of the Megabucks canon that it came in for mention in a 1998 newspaper story, described even then as one of the many rumors IGT had been called upon over the years to debunk. Another whisper (also around since at least 1998) claimed that every Megabucks winner under the age of 50 was now pushing up daisies. (Not true, says Connie Fox of IGT. While she doesn't know the fate of everyone who has won Megabucks, all those she has become acquainted with or has heard of through her work are still alive.)
I would hazard the opinion that such tales say a great deal more about our sense of envy than anything else. Every time a large jackpot is hit (Megabucks or otherwise), for every gobsmacked winner there are countless thousands — maybe even millions — of gamblers who were not awarded the prize. For at least some of them, a measure of solace is drawn from
‘misfortune followed soon afterwards' tales, both for their sour grapes ('That lucky schmuck might have won a great deal of money, but it didn't bring him happiness, did it?') and ‘disaster narrowly avoided' ('Just think, if I'd won the money I'd be the one left lying dead in a pool of blood') values. The legends we tell are our way of mentally chewing over concepts that disquiet us, and very few feel at all comfortable with the realization of their feeling envious.
Other rumors about the mystery man who won the $40 million Megabucks jackpot in March 2004 are undiluted expressions of envy — they assert he had no right to the prize and thus ‘cheated' to get it, which in itself is another way of saying 'I feel cheated because I didn't win.' One version claimed the unnamed man was an illegal alien. (Which, by the way, would not have barred him from winning, but that is not generally understood by most of those who frequent casinos.) Another proclaimed him to have been under 21 at the time of the win and thus ineligible. (That couldn't happen: Under the laws governing gaming in Nevada, persons under the age of 21 are prohibited from gambling. Casinos therefore must remove underage patrons or face heavy fines, and companies like IGT that pay out slot machine wins have to very carefully vet the ages of those laying claim to any win.)
This last whisper brings us to the most common wild tales associated with the big jackpot: the flawed win. Over the years, I have heard the Megabucks ‘one that got away' story told three ways:
- The underage winner who could not be awarded the riches he'd won.
- The casino worker who was ineligible for the prize because he had, against the rules, played the machine at the property where he was employed.
- The player who lined up the three winning symbols on the pay line but who hadn't wagered the full $3 necessary to qualify for the top prize.
Connie Fox of IGT denies there ever having been an underage Megabucks winner. However, such rumors did attach to the anonymous UNLV student who hit the $10.9 million jackpot on 18 October 1995 at the Gold Coast — it was said he'd had to return the money. Because the winner did not want his identity made known to the public, the members of the press who had heard the tale had no way of themselves determining the actual age of the young man. IGT held an online chat session with reporters to reassure them that the prize had been fairly awarded to a legal winner.
Although Megabucks has yet to have an underage claimant, other large slots jackpots have. A young man who hit a big one at Caesars Palace in 1987 was denied his prize because he was underage. Kirk Erickson, a 19-year-old from Royal, Arkansas, lined up the winning combination on
a dollar slot machine called 'The Million Dollar Baby,' but he was not paid the $1,061,812 jackpot for it. Erickson took the matter to court, and in 1989 a District Court judge ruled against him.
As for casino workers being barred from playing the Megabucks slots at their place of employ, although individual properties might have such a policy, it is to be doubted that were such a person to play anyway and win that a prohibition against his gaming on the in-house machines would interfere with the jackpot being duly awarded. Granted, the worker would in all likelihood lose his job for having broken a casino rule, and he might have to wait until the Nevada Gaming Commission made its determination on the case before receiving his money, but there is little reason to suppose the Commission would deem the jackpot improperly gained.
The one class of folks who could not possibly collect on such a win are IGT employees and all members of their households — even if one of them were to line up the three winning symbols, they could not be awarded the cash.
At least once, Megabucks has been hit by someone playing less than full coin. On 14 March 2001, Kirk Tolman, a 22-year-old Utah man, mistakenly played two dollars instead of the Megabucks-requisite three on a machine at the State Line Hotel and Casino in Wendover, a gambling establishment in Nevada just across the Utah state line. The Megabucks symbols lined up on the payline, and for want of a buck, $7.96 million was lost. The $10,000 consolation prize probably wasn't all that consoling to the man whose distracting chat with a friend had led to his not dropping the third coin into play.
An additional bit of Megabucks lore confidently states the jackpot will be hit at the newest resort casino in operation. Savvy frequent visitors to Las Vegas will sagely nod as they inform you the next Megabucks is 'set to go' at whichever glitz palace just opened. That too is hogwash. Where the jackpot is hit is determined by pure chance, not by anyone high in the casino industry paying off IGT for the prestige of having one of its machines register the win. (And prestige is all that would accrue to the casino, because unlike some lotteries which distribute cash premiums to the venues that sold winning tickets, Megabucks does not award a small piece of the prize to the casino for having been the building that housed the winning machine. Although most of the money being dropped into play by jackpot seekers goes to fund the game's prizes, some goes to IGT, and some goes to the gaming establishment that hosts the machines, so casinos already receive compensation whether their Megabucks units are winners or not. Also, casinos that have been the sites of multi-million dollar strikes do very well just on the prestige alone because gamblers are attracted to luck, figuring if one guy hit the big one there, there's a fair chance they might be just as lucky if they went to the same spot.)
If the Megabucks jackpot appears to be awarded more often at the newer casinos, it's due to their being better attended — more people through these gambling halls means more people playing the machines. The more people who play the machines at any one location, the greater the chances the jackpot will be hit there. And that's all there is to it.
Many of the instant millionaires Megabucks and its ilk create are reluctant to sign the releases that allow their names and some information about them to be made public, worrying that strangers will appear on their doorsteps to pressure them for money. But from what Connie Fox of IGT has seen, the ones these people have the most to fear from are their nearest and dearest, the very kith and kin they were moved to telephone in the first blush of excitement over their astonishing good fortune. Connie has gotten to know a number of Megabucks winners over the years, and she has seen through the lens of their experiences with their loved ones how a large prize can shake up relationships and redefine the pecking order. A large win can and has in some cases changed the family dynamic, overnight making the fortunate slot player the de facto head of the family — that person suddenly finds everyone looking to him for everything. It has also changed the power balance between couples, making the partner who had previously been the follower into the decision-maker for that pair. Some couples and families weather these shifts without too much trouble, and some do not. High 5 casino updates.
Barbara 'so there you have it — oranges, lemons, cherries, and a few sour grapes' Mikkelson
Additional information:
Last updated: 1 June 2014
Sources: |
- Clarke, Norm. 'NBC Commits to Katzenberg Series Featuring Sigfried & Roy Cats.'
- Las Vegas Review-Journal. 15 April 2003 (p. A3).
- Koch, Ed. 'When Good Luck Turns Bad.'
- Las Vegas Sun. 5 April 2000.
- Schoenmann, Joe. 'Megabucks Slot Bursting at Seams as Record Jackpot Continues to Grow.'
- Las Vegas Review-Journal. 4 April 1998 (p. B1).
- Wagner, Angie. 'Morse Gets 28 Years for Injuring Vegas Jackpot Winner.'
- The Associated Press. 20 April 2001.
- Associated Press. 'Judge Denies Jackpot to Underage Gambler.'
- 27 June 1989.
- Reuters. '$7.96 Million Jackpot Just a Dollar Away.'
- The San Diego Union-Tribune. 17 March 2001 (p. A4).
| The Mega Bucks | |
|---|---|
| Tag team | |
| Members | Ted DiBiase André the Giant Virgil (manager) Bobby Heenan (manager) |
| Billed heights | DiBiase: 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) André: 7 ft 4 in (2.24 m) (as billed) |
| Combined billed weight | 780 lb (350 kg) |
| Debut | January 24, 1988 |
| Disbanded | August 29, 1988 |
| Years active | 1988 |
The Mega Bucks were a professional wrestlingtag team that competed in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1988. The team, consisting of 'The Million Dollar Man' Ted DiBiase and André the Giant, was formed in a storyline that saw DiBiase purchase André's contract from fellow managerBobby Heenan. André was to win the WWF World Heavyweight Championship from Hulk Hogan, but then he attempted to sell the belt to DiBiase. The title was vacated, but DiBiase and André were then scheduled to face Hogan and Macho Man Randy Savage in a match at SummerSlam, which Hogan and Savage won. After the match, DiBiase and André went their separate ways and the team was dissolved.
History[edit]
Formation[edit]
Prior to the 'Mega Bucks'[edit]
André the Giant and Ted DiBiase had teamed on several occasions when both were signed to the World Wrestling Federation in 1979, when both worked as faces (or good guys). Their first documented teaming together was at an untelevised house show in Totowa, New Jersey, against two of the WWF's top villains of the time, 'High Chief' Peter Maivia and Greg 'the Hammer' Valentine; Andre and DiBiase won when Andre pinned Maivia.[1] Andre and DiBiase wrestled WWF Tag Team Champions the Valiant Brothers (Johnny and Jerry) several times for the belts at untelevised house shows, with the Andre-DiBiase team usually winning by countout or disqualification (thus, never winning the belts). At least one Andre-DiBiase teaming was televised, this being a special series of shows taped at the Resorts International Steel Pier in Atlantic City, New Jersey.[1] Andre and DiBiase would frequently team elsewhere through the years, including Japan and other smaller territory promotions, well before the Mega Bucks storyline; none of this was acknowledged by the WWF when DiBiase returned in 1987 under his 'Million-Dollar Man'/'evil millionaire' gimmick and became involved in André's ongoing feud with Hulk Hogan.
André vs. Hogan; enter DiBiase[edit]
André and Hogan began feuding in early 1987 when, according to the storyline, André became tired of Hogan being the top wrestler in the WWF and was jealous of Hogan's reign as WWF World Heavyweight Champion[2] and in believing that his own accomplishment of 15 years of never being defeated by pinfall was a more noteworthy accomplishment than Hogan's three years as champion, said it was not acknowledged to his satisfaction. On an episode of Piper's Pit, André turned on Hogan by taking on Bobby 'The Brain' Heenan as his manager—Heenan, a mutual enemy of Hogan and André, had in storyline previously done all he could to destroy André—challenging him to a match for the championship and tearing his T-shirt off him.[3] Hogan and André faced each other in the main event of WrestleMania III on March 29, 1987. Hogan won the match, but the feud remained unsettled.[4]
In the summer of 1987, DiBiase returned to the WWF after a nearly eight-year absence and took on an 'evil millionaire' gimmick. After several weeks of building heat for his character, DiBiase announced, during a live in-arena interview during a television taping that November, his intention to buy the WWF World Heavyweight Championship from reigning champion Hulk Hogan.[5] Hogan refused and faced DiBiase in a series of matches instead. After DiBiase lost these matches, he purchased André's contract from Heenan in January 1988. He planned to help André win the title, after which André would present the belt to DiBiase as a gift.[6] André and DiBiase had re-formed their alliance; unlike their previous association as faces, the two were heels seeking to destroy Hogan.
André faced Hogan for the title on the February 5, 1988 broadcast of The Main Event I, with Dave Hebner as the scheduled referee. André pinned Hogan to win the championship and handed the belt to DiBiase.[7] The pinfall was controversial, however, as Hogan's shoulders were not on the mat when the referee made the three count. After the match, the real Dave Hebner, who looked identical to referee that had officiated the match, ran to the ring to attack the impostor referee. Hulk Hogan then threw the impostor out of the ring onto DiBiase and his bodyguard Virgil. According to the storyline, DiBiase had paid an unnamed referee to get plastic surgery to look exactly like Dave Hebner. In reality, the second referee was Dave's twin brother Earl Hebner, who was making his on-screen debut with the WWF.[3][8]
Both prior to and after The Main Event match, André and DiBiase teamed several times against Hogan and (usually) Bam Bam Bigelow; on several occasions, Virgil, who was working as DiBiase's bodyguard, replaced André as DiBiase's tag team partner, although the Giant regularly appeared in DiBiase's corner. Hogan and Bigelow won every one of these matches.[9]
Who Won The Mega Bucks
Feud with The Mega Powers[edit]
Wwe The Mega Bucks
The controversy surrounding the WWF World Heavyweight Championship title change and André's gifting it to DiBiase resulted in President Jack Tunney declaring the WWF World Heavyweight Championship vacant and booking a 14-man tournament at WrestleMania IV to determine the new champion.[10] In the tournament, André and Hogan were booked to face each other. Their match ended in a double disqualification, and both men were eliminated from the tournament.[11] Meanwhile, André interfered in DiBiase's matches, which helped DiBiase make it to the final match, in which he faced 'Macho Man' Randy Savage.[12] After André got involved to help DiBiase, Hogan came to the ring to even the odds. Savage won the match and the championship,[12] and the rivalry led to a match being booked between The Mega Powers (Hogan and Savage) and The Mega Bucks (DiBiase and André). After WrestleMania IV, Andre returned to The Heenan Family, with the explanation that Heenan purchased his contract back at a profit, but his association with DiBiase continued.[13]
The Mega Powers-Mega Bucks feud simmered during the next few months, as Hogan took a leave of absence from the WWF (to film No Holds Barred) and André was placed in a feud with 'Hacksaw' Jim Duggan. DiBiase, meanwhile, became a top contender for Savage's WWF World Heavyweight Championship.
The feud returned to full boil following events at a television taping for WWF Superstars of Wrestling June 21, 1988, in Glens Falls, New York. There, during a podium interview with Craig DeGeorge, Savage—apparently victorious over DiBiase in their feud—threw out a request for future contenders when André (accompanied by Heenan) came out to challenge Savage for the World Heavyweight Championship, taunting him and making a choking motion. Before Savage could accept André's challenge, DiBiase ran into the arena sneak-attack Savage. Virgil grabbed Savage's valet, Miss Elizabeth, and forced her to watch as Savage was triple-teamed by DiBiase, Andre and Heenan. Savage quickly recovered and demanded a tag team match with a mystery partner against André and DiBiase, the match to be the main event of the inaugural SummerSlam; Savage's partner was later revealed to be the returning Hulk Hogan. With the Hogan-Savage team expected to use their 'Mega Powers' name, DiBiase and André would team using the 'Mega Bucks' name.
After weeks of exchanging taunts and each side predicting victory for their side, the two teams faced off at SummerSlam. Jesse Ventura had been appointed as a supposedly impartial guest referee by Jack Tunney.[14] It was strongly hinted leading up the event that Ventura, who provided commentary for many WWF events and was a strong critic of Hulk Hogan but yet was a supporter of Randy Savage even (if only to a somewhat lesser extent) during his face days, had been paid an undisclosed amount by DiBiase.[15]
The Mega Powers took the early advantage over DiBiase, but after Hogan attacked André on the ring apron, the Mega Bucks were able to regain control. After several minutes and several advantage changes, all four began brawling, with DiBiase and André getting the upper hand and throwing both Hogan and Savage from the ring. At this point, Elizabeth jumped on the ring apron and began arguing with Ventura. With DiBiase and André pleading with Ventura to take drastic measures to get Elizabeth off the ring, she eventually tore off her skirt and threw it into DiBiase's face. In the ensuing chaos, Hogan and Savage recovered and mounted a comeback, which saw André knocked out of the ring and DiBiase take both the Mega Powers' finishing moves—Savage's flying elbow and Hogan's legdrop—before taking the pinfall loss.[16] While counting the pinfall, Ventura stopped counting at two and hesitated until Savage pushed Ventura's hand to the mat to complete the three count.[15]
Aftermath[edit]
This match marked the end of the feud between Hulk Hogan and André the Giant that had dominated WWF programming for over 18 months though the two would face off several more times In single matches that October. The two would face off for the last time in March 1990, just weeks prior to Wrestlemania VI when the then-WWF World Tag Team Champions The Colossal Connection Andre and Haku faced then-WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan and the Big Boss man at a house show. In the weeks after the match, André feuded with other upper-card wrestlers such as Savage and Jake Roberts.[7] Hogan and Savage continued to feud with DiBiase for the remainder of the year[7] before moving on to a new feud with the Twin Towers (Big Boss Man and Akeem).
Although the tag team of The Mega Bucks was short-lived, DiBiase and André appeared in the 1989 arcade gameWWF Superstars as the game's boss tag team.[17] Hints the two still were associated with each other came as late as WrestleMania V, when DiBiase interfered in André's match against Roberts.
Championships and accomplishments[edit]
- World Wrestling Federation
- WWF World Heavyweight Championship (1 time) – André
References[edit]
- ^ abhttp://thehistoryofwwe.com/79.htm
- ^'The Top 22 Matches in WrestleMania History'. WWE. Retrieved 2008-06-30.
- ^ abShields, Brian (2006). Main Event: WWE in the Raging 80s. Simon & Schuster. p. 57. ISBN1-4165-3257-9.
- ^Powell, John. 'Steamboat - Savage rule WrestleMania 3'. SLAM! Sports. Archived from the original on 2012-06-29. Retrieved 2008-06-30.
- ^'WWF Results: 1987'. The History of WWE. Archived from the original on November 17, 2007. Retrieved 2008-02-04.
- ^'Wrestler Profiles: Ted DiBiase'. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2008-02-04.
- ^ abc'WWF Results: 1988'. The History of WWE. Archived from the original on November 17, 2007. Retrieved 2008-02-04.
- ^'Earl Hebner Fired by WWE'. SLAM! Wrestling. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved 2008-02-04.
- ^http://thehistoryofwwe.com/88.htm
- ^Powell, John. 'Tournament Spices up WrestleMania 4'. Retrieved 2008-02-04.
- ^'WrestleMania IV'. Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved 2008-02-04.
- ^ ab'WrestleMania 4: 14 Men, 1 WWF Title, and 4 Different Outfits for Miss Elizabeth'. Online Onslaught. Retrieved 2008-02-04.
- ^'WrestleMania IV'. Kayfabe Memories. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
- ^'SummerSlam 1988'. Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved 2008-02-04.
- ^ ab'The Very First SummerSlam: Memorable for Exactly Two Reasons'. Online Onslaught. Retrieved 2008-02-04.
- ^Reynolds, R.D.; Blade Braxton (2007). The WrestleCrap Book of Lists!. ECW Press. p. 326. ISBN1-55022-762-9.
- ^'WWF Superstars'. Arcade History. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
