S. D. Woman Hits $1.5-Million Las Vegas Jackpot
Lorelei Johnson, 58, of San Diego is the second Californian this week to become a millionaire in Las Vegas.
Johnson hit a jackpot of $1,511,161 at the Flamingo Hilton Hotel and Casino on Wednesday after playing the winning machine for about 20 minutes.
“I didn’t realize how much money I had won,” Johnson said Thursday. “My husband had to come over to explain that I had hit the big one.
“I had a premonition that this would be a lucky machine,” she told a news conference.
Johnson said she and her husband, Merrill, a contractor, were on their way home to San Diego and decided at the last minute to stop by the Flamingo for lunch.
She said they planned to play only $100, but ended up playing $150 before she hit the big jackpot.
Johnson said she plans to spend her winnings by paying off the house mortgages of her children, vacationing and setting up trust funds for her grandchildren.
Mike Matuk, 50, an almond grower from Bakersfield, hit a $1.2-million jackpot at Caesars Palace Christmas Day.
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