Slot player hits $1.2 million progressive jackpot at Four Winds South Bend

SOUTH BEND — Who needs Powerball?

A new millionaire was created Friday with a $5.88 spin on a slot machine at the Four Winds Casino in South Bend.

The lucky patron, who the casino identified only as a resident of Edwardsburg, Michigan, was playing the Dancing Drums Explosion slot machine when the player hit the game's progressive jackpot.

It paid an astounding $1,203,894.57.

The jackpot was the biggest of the recent big hits at the four Indiana and Michigan casinos owned by the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi.

A guest from Wheatfield, Indiana, won a $220,980 top prize Sept. 27 playing Dollar Storm: Caribbean Gold at the Four Winds Casino in New Buffalo, Michigan.

Two days later, a player from St. Anne, Illinois, playing a Triple Diamond Strike slot, hit a $202,500 jackpot at the same casino.

Four Winds Casinos feature multiple slot machines with progressive jackpots starting at $100,000.

The South Bend location offers players some 1,400 machines, ranging from penny slots to slots costing $25 per spin.

In addition to the big wins at Four Winds, two Illinois residents hit top prizes in September worth $293,791.80 and $126,495.63 on slot spins at the Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana in Gary.