Kathleen Budz had been at the slots in the New York-New York casino for only a couple of hours when the big money came along. The Chicago grandmother was seated at one of four chattering Wheel of Fortune games in the Big Apple-themed casino―a rococo affair with a mock Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, and Coney Island roller coaster. The gambling device in question is a fairly typical modern Vegas slot. Three spinning reels occupy the center of the machine. Players can wager as little as a quarter, and small jackpots―a dollar or 10―come along frequently enough to keep the action going. But the huge bonus prize is the real draw―announced by an electronic display that resembles the ticking wheel on the TV game show, placed just above eye level. As her losses mounted to more than $200, Budz fed the machine $5 tokens, pressing the Spin button almost rhythmically―no serious slot player touches the pull handle on a one-armed bandit. To Budz, a few hundred bucks on a Vegas visit is "just entertainment."Then it happened: The symbols on the three reels matched, and the digital Wheel of Fortune began to spin, indicating a win. On the top of the machine, the jackpot was posted: $4 million. Budz couldn't read the total; she'd forgotten her glasses. But her husband, standing behind, did. "Seven digits," he yelled. "Seven digits!"
展开▼