August 23, 2014: Linda and Walter Misco, of Chester, N.H., pose next to the Lion's Share slot machine after winning its $2.4 million jackpot, the first time the machine had paid out in its 21-year existence. (CRAIG MCCOOL / MGM RESORTS INTERNATIONAL)
The most infamously stingy slot machine in Las Vegas has finally given up its bounty.
A lucky New Hampshire couple will return from their Vegas vacation this weekend with an extra $2.4 million in their bank account after hitting the jackpot at the MGM Grand's "Lion's Share" slot machine. The machine, the last of 50 that were unveiled when the casino opened in 1993, became famous for never paying out a jackpot, though small hits on a $3 maximum bet could earn a player as much as $10,000.
The Las Vegas Sun reported that Walter and Linda Misco of Chester, N.H. had inserted $100 into the machine and had been playing $3 maximum bets for approximately five minutes when the three green lion emblems lined up perfectly along the center pay line.
"MGM Grand is delighted to award this historic jackpot to the lucky winner of the 'Lion’s Share,' and we couldn’t be happier for the winners and their family and friends," said Scott Sibella, president and COO of MGM Grand, said in a statement Saturday.
Walter Misco, a retired horse farmer, told the paper that he would use the money to pay his children's and grandchildren's ways through college. His largest previous haul from a Vegas trip: $8,000 playing video poker.
"It was surreal when it happened," Misco said. "I just sat there thinking it hadn’t actually happened."
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