SPARKS, Nev., April 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Rachael Renee Romanick is IGT's latest Megabucks(R) winner after winning a $33,000,563 MegaJackpot(R), the second largest slot jackpot in history. The 38-year-old Reno resident and mother of four daughters was playing at Terrible's Rail City Casino on Sunday, April 12.
"I really owe it to my friend," said Romanick. "I wanted to stay home, but he wanted to gamble at Rail City and convinced me to join him. I said to myself, 'Why not? If you're gonna win big, you have to play big and take a chance.'"
"We are very pleased to have a local winner for the second largest jackpot in IGT history," said Ed Rogich, IGT vice president of marketing. "This is truly monumental and will be a life-altering prize for Rachael and her family."
Romanick had only been playing for about 10 minutes when she hit the lucky jackpot and initially had no idea what she had won.
"I had to ask someone if this was for real," she said. "I kind of froze because this was so unexpected."
Romanick's big win marks the first Megabucks(R) jackpot hit at Terrible's Rail City Casino. "We pride ourselves on being a true local's casino and the fact that a local player won at our property is very exciting," said Barry Phillips, vice president and general manager of Terrible's Rail City Casino.
Terrible's Rail City Casino is owned by Herbst Gaming, owners of 14 casinos as well as the second largest slot route in Nevada.
IGT launched Megabucks(R) and the MegaJackpots(R) progressive product line in 1986, and has since produced dozens of major winners with jackpots ranging from just over $1 million (when a million dollars was the system's base jackpot) to the world record slot jackpot of $39.7 million, won in March 2003 at the Excalibur Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
All IGT MegaJackpots(R) top awards are paid in annual installments upon verification, except MegaJackpots Instant Winners Jackpots(TM) and Rapid Riches MegaJackpots(TM) awards, which are paid in their entirety upon verification. For current MegaJackpots(R) prize amounts and "Where to Play" information, visit MegaJackpots.com.
International Game Technology
CONTACT: Ed Rogich of International Game Technology, +1-702-669-8777,
Ed.Rogich@IGT.com
Web Site: http://www.igt.com/
