A New Zealand man has won over $10m playing an online slot, which will likely spur the government to accelerate plans to clamp down on international online gambling sites.
On Tuesday, Rawiri Pou (pictured left) attended a press conference at an Auckland hotel where he was presented with a giant novelty check for NZ $10,144,395.82 (US $7.2m) for winning the Mega Moolah progressive slots jackpot on Casinoland.com.
The 27-year-old Pou, who currently works for a Kentucky Fried Chicken in Matamata, said he originally won $1,500 playing the slot but decided to roll over his winnings, leading to the giant payday on June 17. A Casinoland spokesperson said the company was thrilled for Pou and promised that the “life-changing amount of money” would be in his bank account by Friday.
Pou says he has no plans to quit his KFC job, perhaps because he admitted that he still “doesn’t know what to feel” about his good fortune. That said, he did apparently feel a little smug about his parents having previously scolded him for wasting his money on gambling sites.
The jackpot is impressive but far from a record. Last October, a UK punter won €17.9m playing Microgaming’s Mega Moolah at online gambling site Betway.
Record or not, Pou’s big win is a big embarrassment for the New Zealand government. It’s not currently illegal for Kiwis to bet with international gambling sites but the government is actively exploring ways to choke off access to gambling sites like the Malta- and UK-licensed Casinoland.
The only acceptable form of online gambling in the country is the NZ TAB’s online sports and race betting. Local casino operator SkyCity Entertainment even caught hell for launching a free-play online casino last summer.
The New Zealand government has yet to comment on Pou’s payday but the New Zealand Racing Board is likely burning up the phone lines demanding to know what Racing Minister Nathan Guy is going to do to ensure more people don’t realize the full scale of available options besides the lowly TAB.
