Vegas Big Casino Winners – Where Are They Today?
As lotteries rely heavily on PR, we always hear these stories about huge, life-changing lottery wins, where your average Joe or ordinary Jane goes into the grocery store or gas station and buys a lottery ticket from the change they had left in their pocket, and before they knew it they become multi-millionaires that show all over the news on TV and newspapers. Then, there are also the shows that follow up on these lucky lotto millionaires after a year or two, to see how they are doing, how their lives have changed, now that they became super rich by any standard.
Why are these lottery winners getting so much publicity compared to casino winners? Probably it’s all a matter PR as I said before. Lottery is considered a social cause for helping society and the greater good, where gambling is considered a form of entertainment. But when thinking about it more, casinos actually employ many people and the regulated gambling sector in America contributes billions of dollars to the economy. According to an Oxford Economics report commissioned by the American Gambling association, in 2017 gambling added $261 billion to the US economy and supported 1.8 million jobs in America. And of course these numbers have been growing steadily year on year.
These numbers are going to grow a lot more, with the digital age and mobile revolution, many states in the US are now offering legal online gambling. So that means that in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Indiana and many other states that are now singing bills into law – it’s 100% legal and safe to download a mobile casino app to your phone or mobile device, or log into one to the website of one of the casinos regulated by the state, and play for real money and prizes. You can win millions online, and for many of these casinos you will just need to sign up and they will give you a bonus to try it out with no risk.
Many people don’t realise that casino winners make just as much, and even sometimes more than lottery winners. Where you can win millions of dollars gambling in a casino playing slots, craps, blackjack and other games. Either on your trip to the land-based casino, or playing online anytime you’d like, and from anywhere within the state.
So let’s look for a minute at the stories of the lucky ones that have hit it big and became multi-millionaires in an instant, and what’s going on with them since?
Cynthia Jay Brennan, Won Nearly $35,000,000
In year 2000, Brennan who was a cocktail waitress at the time won the largest Megabucks Jackpot in history. She celebrated her unimaginable fortune, married her boyfriend and was planning to travel the world with him. But only nine weeks after her win, a drunk driver hit her and her sister, Lela Jay at a red light. Lela was unfortunately killed, and Cynthia suffered a spine injury that left her paralyzed. She said that she’d give back the $35 million if should could walk again and get her sister back.
Ashley Revell, Won $270,000
In 2004, British Revell, a 32-year old guy from London, UK was hanging out in his local pub with his friends. The started talking over beer about, and one of them said how awesome it would be if they could bet everything they had on one Spin. So Ashley did exactly that…and what do you know? He won! Selling everything he had, he went to Las Vegas and put all of his money, which was £80,000 British pounds on the one bet on seven red on the roulette table at the Plaza Hotel and Casino, and won. He now lives and ordinary life in London, managing an online-casino recruitment company, and still goes for a beer at the same pub where it all begun.
Elmer Sherwin, Won Over $21,000,000
Elmer Sherwin didn’t win the Megabucks Jackpot in Las Vegas once. He actually won it twice!! In 1989, Sherwin went into the Mirage right after it opened on the Las Vegas Strip, and won there $4.6 million. And years later, in 2005 when he was already 92 years old, Sherwin who is also a WW2 vet went to the Cannery Casino and Hotel in Vegas and won another jackpot of $21,147,947!! He donated significant amounts to the Hurricane Katrina relief fund, before passing away two years later in 2007.
