On June 9th one lucky individual pocketed a staggering $3.2 million playing on Wheel of Fortune at the Silverton hotel-casino. The jackpot dwarfs previous records at the casino and came about courtesy of a tiny $5 bet. The money was won on the Wheel of Fortune Winning Wedges Video Slots.

This marks the biggest Wheel of Fortune win this year, though it’s worth pointing out that there have been several other million dollar plus winners this year alone on the Wheel of Fortune game. You can almost set your watch by it! In January one lucky person won $1.5 million at Palace Station, the following month saw a $1.2 million win at the Fremont, in March a $1.6 million win was bagged at the Exacibur. After a gap of no million + wins in April, May saw a Canadian tourist at the Cospolititan walk away with an impressive $1.6 million, and in June at the Venetian there was another $1 million plus win.

The Silverton winner, and several of the others elected to stay anonymous. I can’t say that I blame them either. If I suddenly had an extra $3.2 million in my bank account I’d probably not be ringing the neighbours doorbells to inform them of it either!

Think about a game show where no skill is needed and contestants have the chance to win big prizes; well that is exactly what wheel of fortune is all about. The show was designed to be a gripping one, full of exciting moments throughout, and those watching had the vicarious thrill of watching contestants make choices that define their future fortune (solving puzzles and spinning the prize wheel)!

The game is simple enough. Contestants unravel a mystery phrase or name of a place, thing or person by picking consonants and buying vowels. Each vowel goes for 250$. Contestants get to spin the ‘wheel of fortune’ with a range of dollar values ($250-$10,000). If the consonant you picked is in the mystery name or phrase then you get your dollar amount multiplied by the number of times your consonant appears in the phrase. If for instance you spun the wheel and landed on $250 then picked the letter G and it appears three times in the phrase, your money is multiplied by a magnitude of three .

So the premise of the game is to outsmart the other contestants then hope that your luck is in when you spin the prize wheel. It’s not always a formality though as a little bad luck on the wheel can cost you all the money you’ve won or a sizeable chunk of it.

The wheel of fortune game was been exported to various countries, and beyond that has appeared as a casino game both online and off. It’s appeared in various formats, sometimes as a slot machine, and others as a stand alone Wheel of Fortune game in its own right.