Man Turns $9 Bet on Slots Into $11 Million

LAS VEGAS — A Postal Service employee from Honolulu played only $9 Saturday before hitting a world record slot jackpot of $11.9 million.

John Tippin, 50, landed the jackpot on a Megabucks progressive slot machine at the Las Vegas Hilton.

“It’s surreal,” he said. “The first thing I realized is my life just changed as I know it. . . . It has me thinking about [retiring and] sleeping in in the morning.”

Tippin’s jackpot breaks the record of $10.9 million won Oct. 18 at another Las Vegas Megabucks machine.

Tippin, a labor relations specialist, flew with his wife for Super Bowl weekend. “I was getting ready to play another machine when it happened,” he said. “I wasn’t even trying for it.”