Ever since the world’s very first true online casino launched in the mid-1990s, there have been countless jackpot winners across the globe in each of the industry’s biggest regulated markets.
With that said, here are the names of some of the most famous online casino winners, along with a few details about what some of them did next with their life-changing windfalls.
Who are the Most Famous Online Casino Winners?
The most famous online casino winners are often the ones who choose to remain anonymous, just like when National Lottery, Powerball, EuroMillions, El Gordo, and Irish Lottery winners don’t reveal their identities.
For example, in late 2023, one lucky player netted the largest ever online casino jackpot win of €38,461,200.95 while playing the Wheel of Wishes [Wow Pot Jackpot] progressive jackpot online slot machine from Alchemy Gaming and Games Global but decided not to go public. We will never know who this record-breaking jackpot winner was or what they did with their winnings.
However, some lucky winners do decide to go public and share news of their jackpot wins with everyone. Here are a few of those lucky winners, many of whom are featured on the official AskGamblers iGaming review site, where you can learn more about these famous progressive jackpot slots and the safest sites where you can play them today:
- Name: Jonathon Heywood. Jackpot win: €17,879,645 ($20,062,600, £13,209,300). Jackpot won: October 2015. Game: Mega Moolah.
- Name: D.P. (revealed only their initials). Jackpot win: £7.9 million. Jackpot won: 2016. Game: Mega Moolah.
- Name: Neil (that’s all we know). Jackpot win: £6.3 million. Jackpot won: December 2024. Game: Hall of Gods.
- Name: Michael Clark. Jackpot win: £5.4 million. Jackpot won: January 2023. Game: King Kong.
These are just four of countless multi-million dollar/pound/euro jackpot winners who have cemented their names in the history books. Hundreds of other players have also landed incredible progressive jackpot wins ranging from $/€/£1,000,000 to $/€/£5,000,000 up to, in some cases, between $/€/£10,000,000 and $/€/£15,000,000.
What Happened Next to Some of These Big Jackpot Winners?
Michael Clark, the player who landed a cool £5.4 million in January 2023, was a 32-year-old former mental health worker. According to some reports, one of the first things he purchased was a new stair lift for his grandmother, which he also had installed for her. He also used some of his windfall on his wedding.
Back in 20215, a former British soldier, Jon Heywood, landed a whopping £13.2 million progressive jackpot from a lucky winning spin on the iconic Mega Moolah online slot machine, which cost him just £0.25p.
The 26-year-old Afghan war vet’s win even featured in the next edition of the Guinness Book of World Records, and according to reports at the time, he played it cool for a few days before going public and told reporters that he planned on spending some of the money on his father who needed medical treatment.
He also spent some of his winnings on a luxury cruise for his family, and since then, we haven’t heard anything else.
Finally, in 2016, a player known only by his initials, D.P., won £7.9 million on the mobile version of the Mega Moolah online slot. However, there were no further reports on what this lucky player did with his winnings.
What Other Famous Jackpot Wins Have Occurred at Online Casinos?
The biggest-ever jackpot win at an online casino occurred as recently as December 2023. The prize pool that connects ten Wow Pot Jackpot slots from Games Global and its partner studios across a vast network of more than 200 fully licensed and regulated casino sites had been climbing for several months before one lucky player landed the largest of three progressive jackpots—the Wow Pot Jackpot.
This fortunate player landed a mouth-watering €38,461,200.95 on December 20, just five days before Christmas, making it one of the best presents anyone could ever receive at the most festive time of the year.
How do Progressive Jackpot Slots Work, and How can You Increase Your Chances of Winning?
A progressive jackpot slot has an accumulating prize pool that everyone who plays naturally contributes to when playing in the real money mode. This is in contrast to a fixed coin jackpot, which is always capped at a certain amount and can never exceed this amount.
Let’s just take the Mega Moolah online slot machine and use this game as an example. Each time you hit the spin button in this game, a tiny percentage of that stake is automatically contributed to one of four progressive jackpot prize pools—the Mini, Minor, Major, and Mega Jackpots.
This jackpot slot can be found at hundreds of legally permitted online casinos, meaning millions of players all contribute to the jackpots each day simply by playing these games. The jackpot tickers climb in real time, meaning you can always see how much they are worth.
In most progressive slots, the jackpot can drop at any time when landing all five jackpot symbols across a specific payline, or by winning the jackpot during a randomly triggering jackpot bonus round that takes place away from the reels.
In the Mega Moolah slot, the jackpot can be won during a fun Wheel of Fortune-style bonus feature that can randomly trigger during normal play. There’s no way of boosting your chances of winning a jackpot.
However, it does often state in the paytable of many jackpot slots that you can increase your chances of winning by betting max, but only do this if you can afford to. In most slots, all players stand an equal chance of winning, whether you spend just $/€/£0.25 per spin or $/€/£10.00 per spin, which evens the playing field a little.
What are the Most Famous Progressive Jackpot Slots to Keep an Eye Out for in 2025?
There are hundreds of progressive jackpot slots out there, but some of the most famous ones, with the biggest average jackpots, to keep an eye out for are the following
- The Mega Moolah jackpot slots (there are over 10 slots in this series, all connected to the same prize pool).
- The Jackpot King slots (20+).
- Mega Fortune (standalone title).
- WowPot Jackpot slots (10).
- Age of the Gods jackpot slots (15+).
- Dream Drop Jackpot slots (60+).
- Mega Pays Jackpot slots (8).
Conclusion
To ensure you never spend more than you can afford when chasing these elusive progressive jackpots, it’s important that you consider setting a reasonable spending budget first and gambling responsibly each time you log in to play.
Also, never play to win progressive jackpots while tired or intoxicated, and only ever play to win jackpots on world-class sites controlled by trusted iGaming operators.