Casino City’s Friday Five: Progressive jackpots and WSOP Europe edition
17 April 2026By Dan Ippolito
The World Series of Poker Europe tournament has come to a close and the Main Event crowned its winner. Before we get into that, we also have a millionaire made in Nevada, two jackpots in one night at the same Las Vegas casino, the Malta Gaming Authority taking action, and an Atlantic City casino unveiling a pair of million-dollar progressive slots.
Let’s begin with a lucky night on the Las Vegas Strip:
5. Flamingo Las Vegas pays out two jackpots in the same night
Two guests struck a jackpot at Flamingo Las Vegas just three hours apart on 11 April. Tuesdee hit a straight flush while playing Three Card Poker and walked away with $149,944 after landing the major progressive jackpot.
A few hours later, Tim hit a royal flush while also playing Three Card Poker and won $475,669 after hitting the mega progressive jackpot. He plans to put his winnings toward retirement.
4. $1.6 million jackpot at The Resort at Summerlin
A lucky local struck it last Thursday evening, taking home a $1.6 million Mega Grand Jackpot at The Resort at Summerlin.
The winner, who is a Resort at Summerlin regular, landed the life-changing payout while playing Dollar Storm on a $30 bet.
3. Malta cancels authorization of Winzon Group
Earlier this week, the Malta Gaming Authority announced it is proceeding with the cancellation of authorization issued to Winzon Group Limited, effective as of 11 March.
The company is required to do the following:
- Inform all players that the service has been canceled by email and post the notice on its website for 30 days.
- Return all player funds to the rightful owners, following the rules set out in the Gaming Act and related regulations.
- Provide the authority with a transaction report from its system, along with bank statements, confirming that all player funds have been properly paid back to registered players.
Atlantic City’s first $2 million Dragon Link progressive slot machines by Aristocrat Gaming are now live at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino - Atlantic City, where they offer one of the largest jackpots found in any Atlantic City casino.
The pair of side-by-side $2 million progressive slot machines are located in the casino’s high-limit area and feature the themes Dragon Link Golden Century and Dragon Link Happy & Prosperous.
Displaying a $1 denomination, the two high-limit machines are linked and configured for $50 minimum bets and $3,125 maximum bets. Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City offers Dragon Link progressive slots with potential jackpots of $2 million, $1 million, $200,000 and $100,000.
1. Kudzmanas claims 2026 WSOPE Main Event
Kudzmanas’s path to the championship was marked by his aggressive play, particularly when holding a big chip stack, helping him take home the monumental €2 million top prize and the custom-crafted WSOP Europe Main Event Champion’s gold bracelet.
While this victory was the biggest of his career by far, it is not the first WSOP gold bracelet win for Kudzmanas; his poker resume already includes two online bracelet wins.
This year’s WSOP Europe shattered all expectations. The festival was a global affair, with players from more than 80 countries competing for 15 WSOP gold bracelets and over €39,500,000 in prizes, with 15,779 entries across all bracelet events.
With that coming to a close, our attention now turns to the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, which returns on 26 May and will run through 15 July.
?? Marius Kudzmanas ???? wins the €5,300 WSOP Europe Main Event, outlasting a record-breaking field of 2,617 entries to claim €2,000,000 from a €13,085,000 prize pool!
— WSOP - World Series of Poker (@WSOP) April 11, 2026
His third WSOP bracelet...and a defining moment in Prague.
?? Thank you all for a wonderful series! pic.twitter.com/K9vtS3VOrJ