iStockphoto / Milan Koelen
One gambler in Las Vegas just siphoned off all of the luck in Sin City when they turned a $5 side bet while playing Pai Gow at The Venetian into a jackpot that paid out $2,211,469.
The Venetian Resort and Casino in Las Vegas announced the news on social media today, sharing a photograph of the seven card straight flush the Face Up Pai Gow player hit on their $5 side bet that triggered the largest progressive jackpot ever paid out at The Venetian Resort.
This is one of those wins you look at and think ‘why not me?’
The Venetian Resort
For anyone looking to feel better about seeing this person win $2.2+ million on a Pai Gow progressive jackpot, consider this for a moment: they probably had to pay well over $500K in taxes immediately.
A standard deduction of 24% is often taken out of gambling winnings which gets reported as ‘other income’ but the thresholds go up depending on the amount won, and the website AS.com claims “ If you have won more than $5,000, the payer may be required to withhold 28% of the proceeds for Federal income tax. However, if you did not provide your Social Security number to the payer, the amount withheld will be 31%.”
28% of $2,211,469 is $619,211 in taxes that was potentially taken out of that jackpot before the person walked off the casino floor and that’s just wild to me.
On Facebook, The Venetian Resort Las Vegas captioned that photograph “When a $5 side bet turns into $2,211,469! A very lucky guest was dealt a seven card straight flush while playing Face Up Pai Gow. This was the largest Pai Gow Progressive paid out in the resort’s history. Who’s feeling lucky?”
The short answer: not me. How am I supposed to feel lucky when this person just won the largest-ever progressive jackpot in Pai Gow history at The Venetian? They just sucked all of the luck out of the air for the next six months, at least.
Back in January, a gambler his a progressive jackpot playing Pai Gow in Pittsburgh that was worth $1.4 million and at the time it seemed that would be the largest Pai Gow progressive jackpot of the year but this Venetian jackpot blew that one out of the water with $800K+ more.