The trend of well-known names taking home the Smoke Signals jackpot continues.
On Friday, Prince Albert’s Northern Lights Casino revealed that John Quinn, former Prince Albert police chief and current country music performer, is joining former FSIN chief Alphonse Bird in the millionaire’s club.
Just after midnight on Tuesday, Quinn was with his wife Sharon when he made the fateful play on the Smoke Signals slot machine that left the $1.57 million richer.
Smoke Signals is a Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority-wide jackpot that starts at $1 million and builds as people play at the different machines in SIGA’s six casinos.
The win left John and Sharon’s hearts racing, and was still sinking in on Friday when they were presented with their cheque.
Even with all the excitement on Tuesday, John made sure to call his family – which consists of four children and 10 grandchildren – to let them know the good news.
“I phoned my family from the casino, and I looked at the time I phoned them and it was 20 minutes after 12 and I woke them all up,” John said.
But he can’t take all the credit for his big win. Sharon says she chose the machine John won on.
“We were actually gonna go home – there was someone on it. And this guy got up and left, and I said ‘grab my machine,’ so you know, if we would have left and he was still on it… It’s just unreal,” she said.
The two have a wide range of plans with the money, including paying off bills, sharing the wealth with their family and visiting family on the west coast.
John said they have a grandkid who was just drafted to the NBA, so they’ll take in some sports in the USA as well.
John says he and Sharon have discussed what they’d do if they won a million in the past, “oh I’d buy a new car, I’d buy this and that,” but the reality is completely different.
“You suddenly realize you don’t need a lot. Your wants are different than your needs,” he said, adding that he doesn’t plan to buy a new car quite yet.
The last reported Smoke Signals win was in April – that prize rang in at nearly $2 million.
The big winner that time was Bird and Jacqueline Ironstand-Bird from Montreal Lake First Nation.