PENDLETON, Ore. – The Wild Horse Resort and Casino awarded a $144,666 Wheel of Fortune quarters MegaJackpot Jan. 12.

The winner, who asked to remain anonymous, said she was in town for a business trip and was at the casino with a coworker. The winner reported that she didn’t have any specific expectations of the winning machine. “Someone else was playing and didn’t win. They left, and I put my money in that machine.”

After investing only $20, the winner said her first thought upon realizing her MegaJackpot win was her daughter’s wedding in June. The MegaJackpot winner added that she was excited to share news of her good fortune with her husband, and plans to use her winnings to “pay off my bills, yeah!”

This MegaJackpot is the first be paid at the casino this year. On March 14, 2009, the casino awarded a $1.2 million Twilight Zone! Video Slots penny MegaJackpot, the third MegaJackpot over $1 million to be paid at Wild Horse. Wild Horse Resort and Casino has now paid more than $15.4 million in IGT MegaJackpot prize money since 1997. In fact, the Wild Horse Resort and Casino holds the state record for largest MegaJackpot paid to date. In June of 1999, the casino awarded $9.1 million on the Megabucks progressive system.

The casino, along with more than 300 tribal casinos across the nation, belongs to a 17-state Native American progressive gaming network. The network is made up of casinos that carry progressive gaming systems distributed by IGT. Each time a coin is played in a linked machine, anywhere in the network, the cumulative jackpot continues to grow. The Wild Horse Resort and Casino is one of 10 tribal casinos in Oregon.