The 30-something-year-old man who won $1.3 million on the Diamond Millions slot machine at Apex Casino Monday afternoon reportedly screamed when the news of the jackpot flashed on the screen before him.
“He screamed! He screamed like something was dead. And then people gathered around. Suddenly he had lots of people who wanted to be his friend,” said a woman at the casino.
On Tuesday people were still hovering near the machine, which has a blank screen until the win is confirmed by Alberta Gaming. Everyone was asking, “Is this the machine where the guy won?”
The winner, whose name has not been announced, is an employed shift worker from Edmonton. It’s not known how much cash he fed the machine before the lights started flashing, “Jackpot” but he did tell casino staff he was just about to leave the machine before his win but decided to play out the rest of his accumulated points.
The Diamond Million machines are owned by Alberta Gaming and were installed in March at a number of casinos. The Apex win at 4:20 p.m. Monday marked the first million-dollar win anywhere in the province on one of these new progressive-betting machines.
All the Diamond Million slots throughout the province are linked and as each $1 bet is placed, the running total increases. To win the million-dollar prize, the player has to wager the maximum bet of $3.
“What’s new and different about the Diamond Million is as soon as the jackpot is won, the prize is reset at $1 million,” said Courtney Dyck, sales and marketing manager for Apex Casino.
The win was the largest slot machine win in Alberta to date.
Last November there was an Apex Casino win of $867,000 on the similarly named Diamond Dollar slots. Until Saturday, that was the biggest slot-machine win.
“Then on Saturday, I believe someone won $1.1 million at River Cree Casino on the Diamond Dollars and now this win of $1.3 million is the largest,” Dyck said.
Though the winner remains anonymous, Dyck believes he has a girlfriend.
“He hasn’t told her or anyone about his win. He wants to have the cheque in his hand before he does,” she said.
