Elderly woman wins US$10m on slot machine

PHILADELPHIA - An 84-year-old New Jersey woman won US$10 million ($15.96 million) on a nickel slot machine in an Atlantic City casino in what the operator said today was the largest prize in the city's gambling history.

Great-grandmother Josephine Crawford of nearby Galloway Township was playing the nickel slots in Harrah's casino in the game where each play costs 5 cents, or a nickel.

When she was down to her last US$5 credit, the Megabucks machine suddenly flashed the news she had won the jackpot of US$10,010,113.48, casino spokesman Christopher Jonic said.

"There were a whole lot of bells and whistles, and she had no idea really what had happened," Jonic said.

The win was confirmed by Harrah's staff and by International Gaming Technology, the owner of the machine, and Crawford was presented with a cheque, Jonic said.

She has the option of taking the money as a lump sum of around US$5.5 million after taxes, or accepting a 25-year annuity.

"Somehow, I'll spend it. I'm just happy I won it, for my family, although they don't need it," Crawford told the Philadelphia Inquirer.

The jackpot was accumulated by Megabucks, which operates hundreds of slots in Atlantic City's 12 casinos, and takes a small portion of every play.

The jackpot had not been won for about three years.

Crawford's win beats the previous Atlantic City record of US$8.54 million in August 1994. She had been a customer at the casino since 1980.

- REUTERS