Gambler spends 10 minutes at slot machine — then hits big jackpot at California casino

A lucky gambler took home a big jackpot win after playing a slot machine at a California casino for 10 minutes.

The Diamond Bar woman was playing a Bonus Times slot machine during a Sept. 25 trip to Pechanga Resort Casino in Temecula, Ciara Green, the casino’s communications director, said in an Oct. 7 email to McClatchy News.

She had played about $200 on the machine “when to her surprise, she hit a big winning combination of a Red 7 and two 10 Times Pay symbols across the slot’s center line,” Green said.

With those three symbols and a bet of $30, the woman won a $100,000 prize, Green said.

The woman told the casino that the win left her “very excited,” adding that she was unsure about how she would spend her winnings.

While there are more modern-like slot machines at the resort, Green said the “reel-type slot machines remain popular with a lot of guests.”

Pechanga Resort and Casino, about a 90-mile drive southeast from Los Angeles, “is one of the largest casino resorts in the” country, according to the resort’s website. The casino features more than 200,000 square feet of gaming space, which includes slots machines, video poker machines and table games.

This story was originally published October 7, 2024 at 3:53 PM with the headline "Gambler spends 10 minutes at slot machine — then hits big jackpot at California casino."

Daniella Segura

McClatchy DC

Daniella Segura is a national real-time reporter with McClatchy. Previously, she’s worked as a multimedia journalist for weekly and daily newspapers in the Los Angeles area. Her work has been recognized by the California News Publishers Association. She is also an alumnus of the University of Southern California and UC Berkeley.