US Marine Wins $2.9 Million Las Vegas Slots Jackpot

A 26 year-old US Marine woke up Monday morning in a euphoric state of disbelief, after scooping a massive $2,882,808 progressive slots jackpot while playing at the Bellagio Las Vegas on Sunday.
Usually stationed in  Washington D.C., Cpl. Alexander Degenhardt’s duties took him to Nevada as part of a week-long military training exercise. While on a break there, he then decided to leave the Nellis Air Force Base and head towards the Las Vegas Strip, along with a buddy.
With just two hours to kill before getting on a plane back to DC, Degenhardt put $100 into the Bally Technologies’ Money Vault slot machine, which takes between 40 cents to $2 a spin. After just 10 minutes at the Bellagio, he was already $90 up when suddenly he hit the enormous jackpot, and commenting on the life-changing win, he said:
“I figured I’d just go lose $100 real quick. I was overwhelmed and in shock. It’s something you always want to happen, but when it does happen you don’t believe it.”
However, Degenhardt will now have plenty of time to get used to his new financial status as he will receive over $100,000 each year for the next 20 years. Dispelling any notion that he might change his self-described “thrifty” life style, though, Cpl. Alexander Degenhardt said he bought some clothes at a nearby thrift store after his win, and that he had no intention of trading his car, which has more than 250,000 miles on the clock.
“I plan to keep driving it until I can’t anymore. No sense in wasting money. I’m really pretty thrifty.”
He did say, however, that he would use some of the money to help out his mother and his sister, who is expecting a baby. And finally, the young Marine put his good fortune down to his recent decision to become a bone marrow donor. As he explains:
“They asked me if I was sure I wanted to go through with it, because it’s kind of painful, but what’s a little pain if it will save someone’s life? I look at this as kind of good karma for that.”