Peoria Illinois Area Gambler Turns $5 Into $374,000 Jackpot at Westgate Las Vegas

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Jordan Bach

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Peoria Illinois Area Gambler Turns $5 Into $374,000 Jackpot at Westgate Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS, Nev (Gambling911.com) - A lucky player betting less than $5 hit the jackpot at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort and Casino this weekend, winning an eye-popping $374,000.

A visitor from Minonk, Illinois, just outside of Peoria (the guest wished to remain anonymous), spent the afternoon of Saturday, Sept. 12, at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort and Casino.

The guest was playing a two-cent “Wizard of Oz” slot machine and placed a $4.80 wager. They had made just a few spins when it happened.

One spin triggered a statewide progressive jackpot, and the lucky visitor won.

The Wizard of Oz slot title was originally developed by WMS Gaming. WMS later became part of Scientific Games, and that casino-gaming business is now Light & Wonder. Light & Wonder continues to develop and release Wizard of Oz titles under the WMS lineage.

While we haven't quite seen the frequency of jackpots generated by the uber popular Dragon Link slot, one larger win was recorded this summer at the Hard Rock Atlantic City July 5. 

A Florida woman wagered just $4 on Wizard of Oz – I'll Get You My Pretty and hit the wide-area progressive for $1,025,716. That machine is a 10-cent-denomination Light & Wonder game featuring the Wicked Witch of the West.

Online variations of the slot game are also available.  The Wizard of Oz  Over the Rainbow debuted first, followed by Follow the Yellow Brick Road. Light & Wonder said additional Wizard of Oz games would roll out through 2025 and 2026.  These title are available at state regulated online casinos. 

Other Similar Games Found Online 

  • Wild Witches — probably the most obvious thematic comparison to The Wizard of Oz themed slots found at land-based casinos, this one appears in ACR's reported catalog and features the fantasy/witch theme.
  • Riches of Medusa — fantasy-character slot with the same sort of visually driven theme.
  • Gates of Anubis — another highly themed adventure/fantasy game.
  • Money Mansion — more conventional slot theme but closer to the bonus-heavy online slot experience.
  • Jackpot Bank — particularly interesting if your angle is big progressive jackpots rather than the Oz theme itself. ACR has paid out jackpots exceeding $750,000 for this game.
  • The Slotfather Part II — a Betsoft title  available through ACR; it's a recognizable, character-driven themed slot that flirts with the Godfather movie franchise name and theme. 

Westgate Jackpots This Summer

The popular Westgate Casino on June 16 paid out a  $10,292,912.32 to an Atlanta visitor when that person hit the IGT Megabucks Wolf Run Eclipse progressive slot. The player had reportedly been playing for only about three minutes and hit it on a $5 wager. Westgate described it as one of the largest slot jackpots ever awarded at the property.

That's saying a lot.  The Westgate Casino first opened way back in 1969 (57 years ago), though the Westgate name only came into being in 2014. 

Elvis Presley began his famous residency there in July 1969.


  • Jordan Bach, Gambling911.com 

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