For most people, a trip to the casino is a form of entertainment where the dream of a life-changing win is part of the thrill. These stories of incredible luck serve as a testament to the unpredictable nature of gambling. Here are some of the most famous and largest casino wins in history.

The Megabucks Jackpot: A Software Engineer's $39.7 Million Win
The largest slot machine jackpot in history was won in March 2003 at the Excalibur Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. A 25-year-old software engineer from Los Angeles decided to play the famous Megabucks slot machine while waiting for a basketball game to start. After feeding about $100 into the machine, he hit the jackpot of a lifetime. The total prize was a staggering $39.7 million, a sum so large that the casino agreed to pay it out in 25 annual installments of about $1.5 million. The winner chose to remain anonymous, and casino (atuttavita.com) his story remains the ultimate testament to the incredible, albeit minuscule, chance of hitting it big on a slot machine.

Don Johnson: The Man Who "Broke" Atlantic City's Blackjack Tables
Sometimes, a big win is about more than just a lucky spin. Between 2010 and 2011, a man named Don Johnson went on an unprecedented winning streak, taking three Atlantic City casinos for a combined total of over $15 million playing blackjack.

His secret wasn't card counting in the traditional sense. His strategy was to leverage his status as a whale to get better rules. He secured a 20% discount on his losses, a very high maximum bet, and other rule changes that significantly reduced the house edge. This combination of perfect play and negotiated advantages gave him a small but crucial edge over the house. He won so much that he is no longer welcome to play at many of the world's top casinos.

The Double Megabucks Winner
Winning a massive jackpot once is a statistical miracle. Winning it twice is almost unbelievable. But that's exactly what happened to World War II veteran Elmer Sherwin. His first jackpot was for $4.6 million, casino (atuttavita.com) hit on the opening day of The Mirage. He didn't stop playing, hoping for casino a second miracle. Sixteen years later, at 92 years old, lightning struck again, casino (atuttavita.com) and he won a second Megabucks jackpot, this time for $21.1 million. A true philanthropist, he gave a significant part of his second win to those in need.