Pembroke Pines woman hits $1.4 million slots jackpot
Stop me if you're heard this one before: Someone hit a million-plus jackpot at Seminole Casino Coconut Creek.
Victoria Gaskin, 49, won $1,469,701.20 on the Millionaire Sevens. It's a linked progressive machine, meaning that the jackpot builds with money from several Seminole casinos. It's a 5-cent machine, but she likely was playing 45 cents a push to cover all the paylines.
Gaskin, of Pembroke Pines, was on an outing with her daughter, Brandi Northington. She was in an auto accident on Oct. 3; Brandi talked her into going out and getting her mind off her troubles. Gaskin's grandfather had died earlier that day as well.
"I hit it just once or twice and I thought I got a bonus and said, oooooo it’s adding up – when’s it gonna stop?" she told casino representatives. (She's pictured with her daughter and Seminole Coconut Creek GM Steve Bonner.)
The casino said she thought she saw the light going around -- it was jackpot light, and the machine locked up -- and Gaskin thought she had won $400 or $500, she said. Her daughter, who’d walked away for about 10 minutes, returned and said: “Mom you won the progressive slot!”
It's the third big hit since March at the Coconut Creek casino. On March 22, Paulette Miles of Margate played the "Cash Cow" nickel machine and won $1,114,815. On July 19, a Lake Worth retiree who declined to be identified played a 25-cent "Wheel of Fortune" machine and won $2,029,595.34.
Gaskin's story:
She'll be going home to Buffalo for her grandfather's funeral, then use the rest to pay off her townhome, which she bought in 1998. After that, she'll buy a new car to replace the one that's almost totaled, but she'll wait awhile, because she's banged-up so bad she can't drive for awhile anyway.
The rest will go into investments (talk about gambling!). She hopes to retire early from her 20-year job as a fleet service clerk (ramp bag handler) at Miami International Airport.
NICK SORTAL began playing 3-card "gut" and "Indian poker" on high school band trips, moved on to "night baseball" and "pass the trash" during a Dr. Pepper-infused midnight game in the 1980s at the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, and now play in a regular neighborhood Hold 'Em game in Plantation. I have been given the assignment of writing about the gambling life in South Florida casinos for the Sun-Sentinel...which means sitting around watching poker on TV now counts as research.
