Here’s what happens when you hit the jackpot at a South Mississippi casino
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Hard Rock Biloxi recorded Mississippi’s largest slot jackpot and public verification.
- Gaming Commission raised on-site threshold to $250,000 and modernized procedures.
- Casinos use digital procedures; taxes withheld automatically; payout given on site.
Tommy McMillan of Biloxi was playing his favorite $1 Wheel of Fortune game at the Hard Rock Casino Biloxi in 2009 when he won what’s still Mississippi’s largest slot jackpot.
He and his wife, Arlene Miller McMillan, were dazed as they called family with news of his $14.4 million jackpot while they waited for the win to be verified. An agent arrived from the Mississippi Gaming Commission’s Biloxi office to test the machine and about an hour after the win, McMillan was posing with his ceremonial big check.
Sixteen years later, the excitement is the same when a big jackpot hits at a Coast casino, but the machines and process to claim the money are faster and more high-tech, said Nathan Parsons, gaming agent director at the gaming commission’s Biloxi office.
“It used to be every jackpot of $100,000 or more, the Gaming Commission would have to respond,” Parson said.
When the jackpot hit, a gaming commission agent would go to the casino, test and verify the machine and then sign a release before the jackpot could be paid.
“We’ve had some recent regulation changes,” he said. “Now a gaming agent doesn’t get involved until it’s $250,000 or more,” and if the jackpot hits late at night, he said, they typically don’t go at all. That’s good for the winners, he said, who want to try for another jackpot instead of waiting an hour or more for the agent to arrive and the win to be certified.
Today’s machines are much more high-tech, he said, and verifications that previously were done by the gaming commission agent now can be handled by casino staff, he said.
“The casino has all the appropriate paperwork that’s required,” he said. “All the things that we used to do the casino now does.”
If the casino has an issue testing the slot machine for the verification, an agent will go out for that. “I will say that’s never happened,” he said, but they would go out even late at night.
From win to taxes and payout
With 2025 almost over, South Mississippi casinos have seen 29 people hit the jackpot for $100,000 or more. The winners were identified by first name — or as Mississippi law allows, not identified at all.
The process is the same for each jackpot, but also for smaller wins:
When a player wins a “taxable jackpot” of $1,200 or more, the machine locks up, Parson said.
This increases to $2,000 or more in 2026 after Congress increased the threshold that hadn’t changed since 1977.
An authorized slot attendant or slot supervisor must collect information from the machine in person, including the number of the machine, the sequential number of the jackpot payout slip, the total amount of the jackpot, the winning combination of reel characters, the date and time plus signatures.
The original jackpot payout slip is deposited into a locked box only accessible by accounting. A duplicate jackpot payout slip is retained by the cashier for end of shift reconciliation. The triplicate copy of the slip is retained in the locked dispenser to be removed by accounting or security staff.
“This sounds like a lot,” he said, but many of the procedures now occur quickly and digitally. This has been a big benefit for the winners, the casino and the gaming commission, he said.
A casino representative will “key off the jackpot,” or unlock the machine before it can be played again.
The casino representative fills out the winner’s tax documents.
A 3% nonrefundable state tax is withheld automatically at the time of the win at Mississippi casinos and is paid whether the winner is a resident or from out of state. The federal tax is withheld at a flat rate of 24% and winners will be issued an IRS Form W-2G that reports the amount of the payout to the winner and the IRS. A big jackpot could push the winner into a higher tax bracket and additional taxes may be due.
Once the taxes are withheld at the casino, “Then they’ll pay you your jackpot, right there,” Parson said.
Many of the payments are made by a check or bank deposit.
“I’ve seen some people take cash,” Parson said, although he doesn’t recommend winners, who attract a lot of attention on the casino floor, carrying large amounts of money.
This story was originally published December 11, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
