A gambler from Schaumburg, Illinois, was visiting the Four Winds Casino in New Buffalo for a few bets. The guest, who chose to remain anonymous, however, did not expect to return home 536,614-dollar-richer.

According to the operator, the Illinois gambler was playing a Dollar Storm Wild Ninja slot machine at the casino on April 28 when they hit the jackpot. The jackpot was won on a $5 bet, the Four Winds casino noted.

Dollar Storm Wild Ninja sports a progressive jackpot that increases over time. At the time of the Illinois gambler’s win, the jackpot stood at $536,614.25.

This is not the first time a Four Winds Casino property has paid out such a significant sum. The tribal casino chain operates four casinos across Michigan and Indiana and has paid out a whopping $3.2 million in jackpots since March.

Two of the most recent ones included a $177,894.30 progressive jackpot that was won on April 30 by a guest player from Indiana. The player in question was enjoying a Double Blessings slot machine at Four Winds South Bend and won the jackpot on a $0.88 bet.

Another visitor from Indiana won a $104,500 jackpot on May 2 after placing a $100 bet. That player was tackling a Mystical Mermaids slot machine at Four Winds South Bend. All players in question preferred to remain anonymous.

Four Winds Is Happy to Change Players’ Lives

In an official statement, Four Winds Casinos’ chief operating officer, Mary Smith, expressed her team’s excitement about the recent jackpots. She said:

Four Winds Casinos is very excited for all our guests that have recently won significant and life-changing jackpots at one of our four casino locations as well as our online casino.

Mary Smith, COO, Four Winds Casinos

The casino company confirmed that the progressive jackpots have now been reset.

Speaking of gambling in the region, a player from Indiana recently won $2,200 on a slot machine at the Blue Chip Casino in Michigan City. The man, however, asked another person to collect his winnings on his behalf to avoid having his ID scanned since he was falling behind schedule in terms of child support.

The man was charged with Level 6 felony cheating at gaming at La Porte Superior Court 4 and faces up to 30 months in prison.

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Undoubtedly, winning a jackpot at a casino is an unforgettable and exciting experience. One such lucky visitor played at Mohegan Sun, one of the largest gaming and entertainment destinations in the United States, and went home with a staggering jackpot of more than $500,000.

Details regarding the lucky visitor emerged earlier this week with Mohegan Sun confirming that his name is Jose S. The person, who is a Stafford, Connecticut resident, visited the casino and entertainment destination and hit the jackpot from Super 4 Progressive Blackjack.

As a result, the Stafford resident pocketed some $525,094. According to Mohegan, Jose felt lucky when visiting the venue. The person was right to feel lucky, considering the staggering Super 4 Progressive Blackjack jackpot. Jose did not confirm what he intends to do with the jackpot but without any doubt, he has plenty of options considering the hefty sum.

Mohegan Sun Offers a Range of Gaming Options

Visitors of Mohegan Sun can find the Super 4 Progressive Blackjack in Casino of the Earth, the venue’s state-of-the-art room located in the Hall of Lost Tribes. Visitors to the room can enjoy a wide range of table games, including Texas Hold ‘Em, Omaha and Seven-Card Stud, as well as a Race Book and more than 260 slot machines.

Casino of the Earth is a smoke-free room and offers more than 180,000 square feet of gaming and entertainment space. Currently, Super 4 Progressive Blackjack is available only in a handful of casinos across the country and Mohegan Sun is one of them.

Mohegan Sun offers some 1,600 luxury hotel rooms, more than 70 shopping outlets and entertainment venues in addition to its gaming amenities. The massive gaming and entertainment resort is located along the Thames River in Southeastern Connecticut.

Its strategic location makes Mohegan Sun perfect for visitors from nearby states. The entertainment and casino resort is also close to a wide range of antique shops and museums, among other interesting places its guests can visit.

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Bundesministerium Finanzen, the financial police in Austria, released Tuesday data regarding operations against undeclared work, illegal businesses and tax evasion. The cumulative efforts of the police along with other related agencies resulted in a total of €6.5 million ($7 million) in fines and 2,185 criminal cases.

Within the gambling sector, for the first quarter, the financial police imposed €492,000 ($526,300) in fines. This was part of its efforts against illegal gambling. Overall, 46 companies were subject to searches and investigations for the first quarter of this year. This resulted in 27 criminal complaints against individuals involved in illicit gambling activities.

A record for the most criminal complaints related to illegal gambling was reported in Vienna, where 20 such complaints were recorded. The fines related to the illicit gambling activities in Vienna represented the lion’s share of the total, or some €300,000 ($320,800).

Magnus Brunner, the country’s Finance Minister, spoke about the recent figures and explained that illegal activities and evading taxes are harmful to legal businesses. He outlined that unlicensed or illegal businesses benefit from “unfair competitive conditions” which ultimately impacts “honest entrepreneurs” and companies. Finally, Brunner said: “Therefore, as part of our anti-fraud strategy, the financial police make a significant contribution to protecting our business location.”

Most Fines Relate to Salzburg and Vienna

A breakdown of the total fines against illegal activities, including gambling, per region, reveals that the highest number of fines, or €2.3 million ($2.5 million) relate to Salzburg. Next in line is Vienna with €1.4 million ($1.5 million) in fines, followed by Lower Austria with €1 million ($1.1 million) in fines.

Not unexpectedly, the highest number of criminal complaints were related to Vienna, a total of 567, followed by Lower Austria with 424 and Upper Austria with 352.

More than 13,200 employees within 7,200 companies were subject to the probe by the financial police for the first quarter of the year. Most of the businesses inspected were a part of the construction sector, a total of 1,792. Next in line was the hospitality industry with 1,062 inspected businesses followed by the transport sector with 973 inspections.

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The person in question, Juan Gutierrez-Zambrano, 31, was already charged on May 2 with theft of $100,000 to $1 million and his bail has been set at $525,000, according to court documents.

The Man Who Took the Money in the Parking Lot in March

The theft at Monarch Casino, Black Hawk happened on March 12 and was an interesting one as it was bizarre. On the day of the heist – but do not think of it as guns blazing – a cashier, Sabrina Eddy, removed ten bricks of $50,000 each from the casino’s vault and drove away in her minivan.

She was going to St. Anthony’s Hospital in Lakewood where she met with a second suspect. Eddy was quickly apprehended over the theft and questioned over her involvement but she said that a person, introducing themselves as a “casino boss,” had called and requested the speedy delivery of the money lest the casino ends up in a “breach of contract.”

Following her arrest and questioning, Eddy was finally released, but she too faces the same charge of theft of $100,000 to $1 million. Now, the documents indicate that Gutierrez-Zambrano is the second suspect in the case, and he is indeed the person to have received the money at the parking lot in the hospital.

There have been some inconsistencies in the versions Eddy offered as well, and this is precisely why she remains a suspect as well. For one, she insisted that the person was driving a silver Chevrolet Avalanche when she met him in the parking lot.

Evidence and Eddy’s Account Do Not Match

Security footage shows a black Trailblazer instead. Eddy was also subject to a polygraph and the police records show that she finally broke down and offered another account of the story. She was approached by former “associates” of her late husband, who threatened her and her family and said that they would hurt her family if she failed to comply.

Police tried to retrieve the money by searching Eddy’s home but no money was found there. This is the largest casino heist in the history of the state with a second suspect now facing justice and no clarity as to what happened at least not publicly available.

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Monarch Casino Spa – Black Hawk in Colorado became the scene of the largest casino heist in the state on March 12 after a cage cashier drove off with $500,000.

Cashier Believed She Was Following Orders

An inside job or a casino personnel becoming a victim of a well-executed con job – that is for investigators to find out but what happened at Monarch Casino on that morning is unprecedented and hard to explain.

Investigating the missing money, a Division of Gaming inspector wrote in an affidavit that casino cashier Sabrina Eddy appeared in the video footage at 12:45 in the morning, grabbing bricks of $50,000 each from the casino vault, carefully placing the stacks of money in a box and then taping the box shut, reported 9News.

Around 12:55, Eddy walked out of the casino cage carrying the box, went to the parking garage, got into a gold minivan and drove off. An hour later, she returned to the cage and grabbed four more bricks of bills, rounding the total amount of money taken to half a million, and drove off again.

According to the affidavit, 44-year-old Eddy believed she was doing nothing wrong as she believed she was following orders from casino personnel, Monarch’s head of operations and a cage manager.

Eddy told investigators that there was a phone call on the casino’s phone from a man claiming to be the Monarch’s head of operations who told her the money was needed to solve an ongoing issue with a UPS order and if the problem was not solved, the casino would “be in breach of contract.”

At the same time, she was exchanging texts with another man who she believed was a cage manager and that man confirmed the story about the problematic UPS order, playing a part in convincing her that the money is needed for the business.

Well Executed Con Job?

Both men told her that the money should be delivered to a lawyer and acting on their instructions, Eddy drove the box to St. Anthony’s Hospital where around 4:36 in the morning, she gave it to a man who came to her door, the affidavit further revealed.

Officials from Monarch Casino confirmed a theft occurred but did not provide any further details due to the ongoing investigation. Spokesperson Erica Ferris commented that businesses sometimes experience “unfortunate things” and until this moment, Monarch Casino was fortunate to avoid such things.

Division of Gaming’s spokesperson Suzi Karrer refused to comment on the story and did not provide answers to any follow-up questions.

Ron Kammerzell, a former head of the Colorado Division of Gaming and now a regulatory consultant for the gaming industry, commented that he had never heard of a casino theft of such magnitude since 1991 when casino gaming in the state became legal.

“For something like that to happen, it would have had to defeat a number of different levels of casino controls within the property,” he said.

Eddy, who was apprehended on a theft charge, remains in arrest as she has not made bail.

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