18 Dec

Guinness confirms Betway’s €17.9M Mega Moolah Payout set World Record

Two months ago, Jon Heywood of Crewe, Cheshire, UK was on top of the world. He had just collected a colossal online slots jackpot of over €17 million. Two months later, it’s been officially confirmed by Guinness World Records that Jon’s newfound wealth is worthy of entry into the epic book, being the ‘largest jackpot payout in an online slot machine’ ever awarded.

Guinness World Record Online Slots Jackpot

The 26 year old British soldier won the staggering amount of €17,879,645.12 on October 6, 2015, paid out in his native GBP currency to the tune of £13,213,838.68. His phenomenal win made global headlines, not just because of his gallant military status and tours in Afghanistan, but because his number one goal was as entirely selfless; to acquire the very best medical care for his ailing father.

“That’s more important than anything,” he told the press at the time. “Family comes first and I’d give all this money back for him to be healthy again.” With that done, he also intended to plan a Mediterranean vacation for his entire family, and purchase his dream car – a “yellow Bentley Continental GT.”

Now, Heywood’s story is earning worldwide media attention again as the people from Guinness have confirmed his win to be the largest online slots jackpot ever paid.

Guinness Confirms World Record Online Slots Jackpot Payout

“I’m pleased to confirm that the Guinness World Records title for the largest jackpot payout in an online slot machine game is €17,879,645.12,” said a spokesperson from Guinness World Records. The representative verified that the life-altering jackpot “was won by Jonathan Heywood, while playing Microgaming’s Mega Moolah on Betway’s website.”

Heywood had logged onto Betway from his smartphone on October 6, made a deposit of £30 and was spinning the reels of the Mega Moolah for just 25p per spin when the monstrous jackpot was struck.

“Guinness World Records is the most respected adjudicator of world records on the planet,” said Alan Alger, Head of Public Relations and Communications for Betway. “This proves beyond doubt that Betway hands out the biggest jackpots to their players,” he said.

“Having the record is a great honour,” continued Algar. “However, the main point is that we keep changing the lives of players just like Jon, who won this huge jackpot in minutes and from just a 25p spin.”

The new world record for largest online slots jackpot just barely beat out the previous record, set back in 2013. A 40 year old Finnish man from Helsinki struck the progressive jackpot on Net Entertainment’s Mega Fortune slot at PAF online casino for €17,861,813.00, not quite €18,000 less than the amount Heywood collected in October.

Current Value of Progressive Online Slots Jackpots

Since October, the Mega Moolah progressive has continued to grow from its initial €1,000,000 seeding. At the time of writing, the slots jackpot has grown to a value of €3,137,245.

The former record holding Mega Fortune slot, which seeds at €250,000, is currently valued at €774,594. Why so low? The Mega Fortune averages a lot more strikes than the Mega Moolah, having just awarded €1,325,427 on December 7. Not even two weeks prior on November 28, another lucky online slots player took home €8,577,104.