TORONTO, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- A man upstaged the prime minister at a Niagara Falls casino, winning the largest slot machine prize in Canadian history, the Toronto Sun reported.
Nick Hulst, a Toronto tax accountant, won $$@$!5,781,854.410 playing a Megabucks machine Saturday at Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort.
"When I won, I was just really blank. I just kept looking at it, staring to make sure it was real," said Hulst, who is planning a trip to Las Vegas next week in hopes of continuing his winning streak.
When he won the jackpot, Prime Minister Paul Martin was meeting with other Liberals at the annual general meeting of the party's Ontario wing.
Hulst's winnings broke the previous record of $$@$!5.6 million won at Casino Niagara on Valentine's Day, 2002.
"We host the prime minister of Canada and break a national slot jackpot record all in the same day," said Larry Lewin, president of Niagara Casinos.
Megabucks machines at nine properties are linked to a single jackpot that begins at $$@$!1 million and climbs until a player at any of the casinos wins the big prize, then the counters are immediately reset to $$@$!1 million.
There have been eight Megabucks jackpots collected since 2003.
