

The machine just kept adding up the money. ”I picked a gem, and I didn’t know what was happening. “I had only been there 20 minutes or so,” said the Bay City resident. On July 10, Jacquelyn Williams was at Turtle Creek with her mother and playing a Life of Luxury machine for the first time when her 60 cents resulted in a $6,358 jackpot. Then her fiancé went back two days after that and hit for $5,400 on another Quick Hit machine, right next to the one that originally paid off for Guggisberg. Two days later, on a Friday night, she returned and won another $2,200. Guggisberg quickly made plans for a family trip to Florida next April. “All of a sudden all of these Quick Hit symbols came up,” she said. Kalkaska resident Jennifer Guggisberg was celebrating the July 4 holiday by playing a 10-cent Quick Hits game at Turtle Creek when she hit for $4,638. “It just goes to show, it’s timing and luck.” “It changed her perspective,” recalled Barrientoz.

On her very first pull ever, she won the $330,000-plus jackpot. She sat down and slipped $20 into a progressive Wheel of Fortune machine. She felt out of place, but was willing to try her hand at a slot machine. It was the widow’s first-ever visit to a casino. “They just wanted to take their friend out to have some fun, take her mind off her troubles.” “About 12 years ago a group of ladies came in to play and brought a friend whose husband had passed away,” recalled Johnny Barrientoz, director of slots who oversees some 1,430 machines at both Turtle Creek Casino and Leelanau Sands Casino. It could be a life-changing moment if the prize is hefty enough. Suddenly you realize you’ve just won a big jackpot. It’s the dream of every slot player: Slide money into the machine, press the button, (or pull the handle if you’re an old school player), and watch the symbols line up.

What Really Happens When You Hit a Slot Machine Jackpot By Al Parker | Sept.
