Takes becomes millionaire in Vegas
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Cascade resident Michael Takes became a millionaire overnight after hitting the jackpot, March 31, playing Let It Ride at the LINQ Hotel + Experience in Las Vegas. Takes was in Vegas for the National Bowling Congress with several teams from Cascade and Farley. Takes said he’s bowled in professional tournaments since 1978 when he was 16 years old and would substitute for his dad’s team.
Takes said, “Since 1995, we’d always go to Reno or Vegas to bowl in the National Bowling Congress, so we’ve been doing it for several years. We didn’t go the last two years because of COVID-19.”
As was traditional for Takes when attending a competition in Vegas or Reno, he took some time to play at the casinos. Takes was close to wrapping up his night when he decided to play a round of Let It Ride, winning the whole pot at 2 a.m.
“It was pretty late at night and we had to bowl at 8:30. I walked by a game called Let It Ride. Around there the game was in about every casino and I said, ‘Oh my God, there’s Let It Ride, I’m going to go play it.’ The jackpot was $1,040,000. I sat down to play it and maybe an hour and a half later I won.
“I was playing the last hand and the dealer turned the card toward me. I could see it was a queen and I needed the queen of hearts. I didn’t know if it was the queen of hearts or diamonds. She flipped it over and it was a queen of hearts and I couldn’t believe it. I’d just hit the jackpot. I didn’t go nuts, but I got up at the table, put my fist down and announced I’d hit it. Everyone in the casino was giving me high fives. It was quite the experience. As a gambler, you always think of the top prize and I got it that night.”
Takes said he’s particularly grateful for his good fortune in light of the three-year anniversary of his barely surviving a heart attack. He said he considers that luck far greater than the luck that gave him the jackpot.
“I died and they brought me back,” he said. “I had a massive heart attack three years ago. I was a goner, so you might call me lucky that I won this, but I was far more lucky to be alive. I would have never won it if the doctors and nurses didn’t do such an excellent job. I would have been dead.”
Takes said he’s taking careful steps to be smart with his winnings, consulting his son, Regan Takes, on how best to invest and spend it.
“Right now my oldest son is a CPA and financial advisor, so the ball is in his court. I’m taking advice from him. Everybody who’s ever won anything has either gone bankrupt or gone out spending it all and can’t pay the taxes. I’ve heard every horror story you can possibly tell, so we sat down with my son, he put all the ducks in a row and I’m going to follow his advice.”
