Retired lunch lady hits $3.5 million jackpot in New Hampshire

Alana Cole of Lebanon had been feeding quarters into the Wheel of Fortunes slot machine at Casino Magic Biloxi in Biloxi, Miss., for just 40 seconds when she hit the $3.5 million jackpot.

Cole, a retired school cafeteria worker who spends the winter in Naples, Fla., arrived at the casino Jan. 30 with her friend Larry Driscoll and another couple.

"We had no more than got to the casino and had dinner ... then we went upstairs (to the gaming rooms) and he went his merry way and I went right to the Wheel of Fortune game," Cole, 56, said in a telephone interview Saturday with The Valley News of Lebanon.

Cole had put about $20 into the slot machine when it began to flash and broadcast the voices of an audience chanting "Wheel of Fortune" and applauding. The Wheel of Fortune is a progressive game which takes a portion of all bets throughout the state and adds that to the pot.

But Cole didn't believe onlookers who told her that meant she had won the big prize.

"When everyone gathered around, I just couldn't believe it," she said.

Over her protests, the casino managers upgraded her hotel room to a deluxe suite and gave her a limousine ride to the airport - her first trip in such a luxurious car.

Cole said she didn't have any immediate big purchases in mind.

"I'd love to take my family on vacation," she said. She has one son and two daughters and said she has always wanted to visit her niece in Alaska.

A casino spokeswoman called Cole's win a "massive" jackpot.

"We love it when jackpots hit. It inspires everyone else to keep playing," said Diane Calhoun, public relations manager for the casino.

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