Wind Creek pays first million dollar jackpot
Published 8:29 pm Wednesday, March 7, 2012
A Pensacola, Fla., man went to work as usual Monday morning — in spite of becoming an instant millionaire on Saturday.
Identified by Wind Creek Casino and Hotel officials only as ‘George’, the jackpot paid to him March 3 was $1,032,528.84 — the largest jackpot ever paid out by the facility.
“This jackpot is particularly exciting for us because it is the largest jackpot ever paid out by Wind Creek Casino & Hotel,” Arthur Mothershed, general manager of Wind Creek said. “We’ve awarded a million dollar prize twice with the “Someone Will Be A Millionaire” promotion, though this is the first time a single jackpot has surpassed a million dollars. We work hard to create a fun, friendly place for our guests to play. Ultimately, the most exciting experience for a guest is to win big, and this was definitely a big payout!”
George, who was with his wife and mother on the night he won, said the night began good and ended even better.
“We had a good time that night,” George said. “The staff at Wind Creek are all super nice and they go out of their way to cater to everyone. That’s what brings us back.”
The winner said he had been playing about 30 minutes when the jackpot hit. His mother was sitting beside him and became excited because she thought he had won $1,032.
“That’s not a thousand, that’s a million,” he said.
George explained how a month earlier, he, his aunt and his wife had all won jackpots at Wind Creek.
The luck George had on Saturday was the continuation of luck his family had already experienced at the Poarch Band of Creek Indian-owned facility.
“I’ve always liked Wind Creek because they seem to have a lot better payouts than Biloxi,” George said. “My wife won $5,000 at Wind Creek last month, and that was the most we had ever won in our lives. I thought $5,000 was a big deal. After I won the million, my wife said, ‘You just had to go out there and outdo me, didn’t you?’”
George, a sheet metal mechanic for 23 years, said he wasn’t sure what the future held for him after his big win.
“To tell you the truth, I don’t know what I’m going to do next, it hasn’t sunk in yet,” George said. “I’ve worked all my life. I went to work the following Monday morning and everyone was saying, ‘What are you doing at work?’”
Wind Creek Casino & Hotel is located at I-65 and U.S. 21 in Atmore and can be found on the Web at www.windcreek.com.