Winner Gary Mann and his wife Violet (centre), with Gold Eagle general manager Kelly Atcheynum (left) and SIGA president and CEO Zane Hansen (right). (Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW staff)

By battlefordsNOW Staff

Smoke Signals jackpot

NB man wins over $1 million at Gold Eagle

Mar 11, 2022 | 1:16 PM

It was a special day for a local area man who took home some big winnings at the Gold Eagle Casino Friday.

North Battleford resident Gary Mann hit big on the Smoke Signals jackpot on March 5, winning a total of $1,301,560, the casino announced.

The retiree and his wife Violet were presented with the cheque during the announcement March 11. Mann appeared still surprised at his luck.

“I haven’t grasped it yet,” he said. “I can’t sleep.”

Smoke Signals is a top tier progressive jackpot at Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority’s (SIGA) Gold Eagle Casino in North Battleford.

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Mann said on the lucky day he and his wife were visiting the casino with a group for a friend’s anniversary and decided to play the machines after dinner.

He and his wife started playing a machine called Lago di Amore. Mann said after quite a few spins he ended up winning.

“We just put in our money,” he said. “I was the last one on, and hit the jackpot… The gods were with us.”

He didn’t have his glasses on, so at first he thought he won $1,300. Then, he realized he actually won $1.3 million instead, which was a happy surprise.

Mann said he and the family haven’t decided how they will use any of the winnings yet.

“We’re spontaneous,” he said.

SIGA President and CEO Zane Hansen was thrilled to announce the winner.

“We’re so happy to be congratulating Gary on the big win,” he said. “This is the fun part. When Smoke Signals [has a jackpot winner] it echoes through the company right away. Days like this are a lot of fun to come and meet the winner.”

Gold Eagle Casino General Manager Kelly Atcheynum was also delighted to see another big prize winner at the casino.

“We’re really happy it’s a local person from North Battleford [winning] today,” he said.

Atcheynum added that March 2022 is the 26th anniversary when the casino first opened in North Battleford.

“It’s really nice to see a big jackpot like this go out on our anniversary month,” he said.

SIGA’s Smoke Signals progressive jackpot has paid out over $50 million to date, with $23,281,691 of that amount from the top tier. SIGA said Smoke Signals has now been reset to $1-million, which can be won at any time.

—

Angela.Brown@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow