A Toronto man, reeling after the sudden death of his long-time girlfriend on April 5, has been searching for ways to channel that grief.
Just two weeks after that loss, he went to Casino Woodbine in Toronto, a place where they would regularly go as a couple. The other night he won a massive $CAD3.2 million ($USD2.4 million) progressive jackpot – a win which he credits entirely to his late girlfriend.
“She always went upstairs to play the slots, and I would go downstairs to play the tables,” said Marcelo Loyola, a solutions contractor. “We were always there together, and the past couple of weeks have been really hard. That day I just felt her spirit in me, so I went upstairs to play the slots, even though as a table games player I never do that.”
That’s where things get interesting. Loyola said he found himself playing the slots the way his late girlfriend used to play. After playing some different slot games, he went to her favourite machine. There she used to watch the jackpot build, although she never won it herself.
Loyola said she had her own way of playing it. That night he channeled it, and that’s how he won the $3.2 million.
“Rather than waiting for the wheels to stop naturally, she would press the button to stop the machine mid-spin in an attempt for the three ‘Jackpot’ icons to line up,” he said. “I would always say to her, don’t play it like that, just let it spin! But I felt her with me that night, so I played it like she did. I stopped it and it hit! I saw ‘Jackpot, Jackpot, Jackpot’ and I started screaming that I won the jackpot and running around and going crazy.”
Onlookers and casino staff came by, excited about his win.
“A lot of people at Casino Woodbine know us, and they knew she had just passed away,” he said. “They were giving me their condolences, and at the same time they were also congratulating me. It’s just an incredibly emotional story and it’s hard for me to tell it. But I know for a fact she was there with me. It can’t be a coincidence.”
Loyola says he plans on buying a new home for his parents, invest some of the winnings, and go visit his brother and his family in British Columbia
For Loyola, while he is obviously happy about the win, he wished his girlfriend was there to enjoy the experience with him.
“She would have been overjoyed. She loved the casino and she loved to win,” he said.
