$5.1 Million Jackpot Hits at Paris Las Vegas

A Cypress, Calif. man returned to his lucky Wheel of Fortune® dollar machine at Paris Las Vegas Friday evening and walked away $5.1 million richer. Jim Fowler said that on a previous trip he had won $1,750 on the same slot machine and had since made it a point to play it when in Las Vegas.

Fowler had been playing for about 20 minutes and said he had invested $100 in the machine before the trio of Wheel of Fortune® symbols lined up for the progressive jackpot. "It was hard to comprehend," he said. "I looked up at the paytables and then back down at the reels. A casino employee came over to me and I asked him, 'is this what I think it is?'" The Paris employee's immediate answer was, "yes, sir!"

When asked what they planned to do with the money, Fowler and his wife, Ann, shook their heads and smiled. "I'm pretty conservative, so it may take a few months before I decide on early retirement," Fowler joked. He is a regional sales manager. Ann Fowler said some of the windfall would be spent on a memorable wedding for one of the couple's three sons.

Wheel of Fortune® dollars is based on the world's most popular game show and is one of 17 Nevada MegaJackpot systems operated by IGT (NYSE: IGT). All IGT MegaJackpots are paid in annual installments upon verification, except Elvis®, The Addams Family(TM), Slotopoly(TM), Party Time(TM) and video Jeopardy!® which are paid in their entirety upon verification.

"Elvis" is a registered trademark of Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc. The Addams Family(TM) was developed under agreement with Monaco Entertainment Corp. "Jeopardy!" is a registered trademark of Jeopardy Productions, Inc