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For most gamblers, coming out even a little on top for a trip to the casino is considered a win. For one Mississippi man, his long weekend jaunt to a Gulf Coast casino brought extraordinary riches and the pay equivalent to several years’ worth of work for most Americans.
Kevin Baker is a Biloxi local who frequents the Beau Rivage, a Gulf Coast casino operated by MGM Resorts.
Last Thursday (Oct. 29), Baker was betting $100 a spin on a Magic Treasures Gold machine when he hit the jackpot. His payout totaled $156,476.27.
Less than 72 hours later, Baker was back at the Beau Rivage on Sunday (Nov. 1). Playing a Lightning 10-Year Storm machine, Baker’s luck struck again, hitting the jackpot for $143,898.87 on just a $10 bet. Combined, Baker’s slot jackpots paid him $300,375.14.
Magic Treasures Gold is a multi-level progressive game manufactured by IGT. Lightning 10-Year Storm comes from Aristocrat Gaming and is a wide-area progressive.
Big Wins Down the Gulf
The Sun Herald reports that Baker’s jackpots marked the 47th and 48th slot prizes upwards of $100,000 on the Gulf Coast this year.
Beau Rivage was responsible for 30 of the six-digit windfalls. The MGM casino was also where the largest Gulf Coast slot jackpot hit in 2026—a $1,132,124 prize won on Jan. 5 on a Wheel of Fortune machine.
The 48 slot machine jackpots collectively paid $8,537,373, or an average of $177,861.93.
Big Bets Equal Big Payouts
Some gamblers go years—or even a lifetime—without ever hitting a jackpot large enough to warrant a visit from a slot attendant. Others receive visits from slot attendants almost every time they gamble, with high-volume players more prone to large payouts.
The threshold for a handpay was raised from $1,200 to $2,000, effective Jan. 1, 2026, through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Casino.org reported in August 2025 on a gambler at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa who hit 389 slot machine jackpots in a single day. Hard Rock confirmed the luckiest of runs, and we spoke with the winner, Maher O.
I never had so many handpays in one day. Basically, every machine I touched paid me a few times. I usually get a few handpays in a regular visit, but not crazy like this,” Maher told Casino.org.
Maher said his jackpots included $258K from two Golden Century Dragon Link wins and a $170,678 payout on a Lock It Link. He also won a $99,350 jackpot on Panda Magic Link.
“Bet big to win big” is a popular gambling idiom, one that does not reflect the mathematical reality of casino games of chance.