October 11, 2022

7 Biggest Gambling Wins in 2022 (So Far!)

Biggest Gambling Wins of 2022
  • Most of the biggest gambling wins of 2022 are sports betting wins.
  • One of the biggest gambling wins of 2022 was a progressive jackpot slot winning at an online casino in New Jersey.
  • The biggest gambling win of 2022, and usually any year, is the winner of the national lottery.

The lottery. Progressive jackpot slots. Sports betting. So many fun ways to win!

And win they have — in New Jersey alone, players have won over $253.3 million in total casino winnings between April 2021 and April 2022, according to the state’s Division of Gaming Enforcement. That’s 24% higher than the year before! And online casinos in New Jersey saw even higher numbers, reporting $545.4 million in year-to-date winnings.

That means these numbers go way into the billions when you count all the winnings throughout the U.S. So, let’s meet the lucky winners of the biggest gambling wins of 2022 (so far)!

  1. $1.34 billion – Unknown – Mega Millions Jackpot, Illinois
  2. $2.8 million – Hector – Bison Fury, BetMGM NJ
  3. $1.5 million – Roberto Acrueno – Dancing Drums Explosion, Thunder Valley Casino Resort
  4. $1.2 million – Marco Piemonte – Sports Betting Georgia Bulldogs vs. Alabama Crimson Tide
  5. $1.1 million – Marco Piemonte – Sports Betting, LA Rams vs. Cincinnati Bengals
  6. $579,000 – Unknown – Sports Betting, Determining Who Goes to the Super Bowl
  7. $532,000 – Unknown – Sports Betting, College Basketball

1. $1.34 Billion – Mega Millions Jackpot, Illinois

In July 2022, a Speedway gas station in Des Plaines, Illinois, printed the mega-winning ticket for the Mega Millions Jackpot. It had all six winning lottery numbers: 13-36-45-57-67 with 14 as the Mega Ball.

One lucky ticket holder won the $1.34 billion jackpot, beating 1-in-303 million odds to win. This win became the largest-ever lottery prize in Illinois, the second-largest payout in Mega Millions’ history, AND the third-largest prize of all lottery wins in the U.S.

In addition to this lucky win, 26 other ticket holders won smaller prizes since their tickets also had the five winning white-ball numbers. These 26 people won between $1 million and $2 million, depending on whether they bought the Megaplier. Another 375 tickets had four matching white-ball numbers, earning them between $10,000 and $20,000.

2. $2.8 Million – Bison Fury, BetMGM NJ

In April 2022, a man named Hector had one lucky spin on the Bison Fury progressive jackpot at BetMGM online casino in New Jersey. He won $2.8 million, the biggest slot win of 2022. 

Bison Fury is an exclusive title to BetMGM, Borgata Casino, and Party Casino. And it’s part of a 19-game progressive jackpot network that feeds into one giant pot, which Hector claimed back in April. In addition to Bison Fury, you’ll see popular jackpot slots like MGM Grand Millions, Mirage Mega Magma, and others in this network, too.

BetMGM’s Bison Fury must be really lucky because it paid out one of the biggest slot wins of 2021, too!

3. $1.5 Million – Dancing Drums Explosion, Thunder Valley Casino Resort

Roberto Acrueno won $1.5 million on a one-cent wager. That’s right, he was playing a penny machine and walked away a millionaire.

Acrueno won exactly $1,538,738.97 on the Dancing Drums Explosion slots machine at Thunder Valley Casino Resort, an Indian casino near Sacramento, California, operated by the United Auburn Indian Community.

But it wasn’t just a single lucky pull. He was a Platinum member at the casino, meaning he had to earn at least 50,000 points in a single earning period. So, he spent a lot of time there, and it finally paid off. This goes to show you that being a loyal member of your favorite casino could bring you a lot of luck.

4. $1.2 Million – Sports Betting Georgia Bulldogs vs. Alabama Crimson Tide

Right at the start of the year, sports betting aficionado Marco Piemonte bet $30,000 on the Georgia-Alabama playoff game. It was a parlay from previous winnings he got a few weeks before when he predicted the results of the Final Four games in the NFL, correctly picking the two teams that would go on to Super Bowl LVI in February 2022.

This $30,000 parlay turned into $1.2 million, one of the very best sports betting wins of 2022. 

5. $1.1 Million – Sports Betting, LA Rams vs. Cincinnati Bengals

Piemonte strikes gold again! He took $60,000 of his Georgia-Alabama winnings to bet on the LA Rams winning Super Bowl LVI.

And they won. They beat the Cincinnati Bengals, and Piemonte took home another $1.1 million on top of his winnings from the month prior.

6. $579,000 – Sports Betting, Determining Who Goes to the Super Bowl

Another bettor made incredible money off successfully betting on the Rams to win Super Bowl LVI in February 2022. This lucky winner took a $20 free-play bonus from signing up on Fanduel and turned it into nearly $580,000. 

But when you win on free play, you usually have to roll over your winnings into other bets until you meet playthrough requirements.

7. $532,000 – Sports Betting, College Basketball

Let’s see the magic of well-picked spreads and knowledgeable moneyline wagers. One bettor wagered just $1.10 on a few college basketball games in late February 2022. They won $532,000, showing us that even a small amount of money bet on the right wager can go a long, long way.

What Can We Learn From the Biggest Gambling Wins of 2022?

For starters, you don’t need to wager a lot of money. From one penny to just over a dollar, you can take a small amount of money and turn it into hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of dollars with just one lucky bet. Of course, you can win larger amounts of money when you make larger bets. But you don’t have to already be a millionaire to win even more at your favorite gambling game.

Second, progressive jackpots are where the money is. They don’t take any skill to operate, unlike the sports bettors on this list who had to know quite a bit about the sports they were betting on. (Unless they were even more lucky?) Plus, progressive jackpots are always collecting more money from every qualifying spin. And the more machines in the jackpot network, the faster that jackpot will grow.

Finally, you can have a lot of success when you take advantage of free play. You may have to roll over your winnings to future bets or wager a certain amount of your own money before you can cash out. Either way, winning on a welcome bonus offer can be a great way to build up your bankroll so you have more chances to win.
Even as 2022 comes to a close, you still have time to make this list! Check out our reviews of the best online casinos in New Jersey. We can help you find a new favorite online casino that has the game selection, customer service, and welcome bonuses you want.