A MEGAWINNER

      Unknown thousands in Las Vegas have waited an hour and dropped $100 pursuing a hunch on a progressive slot machine.
      The smiling face of Sue Henley being handed a cardboard replica of a $12.5 million check will be used to inspire thousands more.
      Henley, a 47-year-old Las Vegas resident, was presented to the world Monday as the winner of the largest slot machine jackpot in Nevada history. The precise total, including a secondary jackpot: $12,513,166.20. It will be paid over 25 years.
      After finishing her night shift as a construction inspector on the Desert Inn Road widening project, Henley went to New York-New York and waited in line for an hour to play one particular Megabucks Double Diamonds progressive machine that she had noticed on a previous visit to the casino. She spent $100 before lining up four diamonds on a $3 bet about 2 a.m. Monday.
      "I just had a hunch about that particular machine when I was here Friday of last week," Henley said.
      "I gamble when I have a feeling."
      At 10:30 a.m., Henley said she still had not had a chance to sleep, as she stood before a bank of TV cameras and newspaper photographers. Henley had originally planned to remain anonymous but changed her mind after word had spread to friends and acquaintances by midmorning.
      In a news conference at New York-New York's Motown Cafe, Henley was escorted by two women dressed as Statues of Liberty onto a stage that she shared with her husband, Les, New York-New York President William Sherlock and executives from International Game Technology Inc. -- developer of the Megabucks progressive system.
      Megabucks, which links 747 machines in Nevada to a single primary jackpot, has a history of paying big jackpots at newly opened properties.
      Along with New York-New York, Monte Carlo and The Mirage both saw multimillion-dollar winners shortly after their openings.
      "The newer properties are where the activity is," said Ed Rogich, director of marketing for IGT. "This is one of the busiest properties."
      Henley said she has no particular plans as to how she will spend her winnings other than to spend much of it on her son and grandchildren in Phoenix. She also said she will continue working, despite her newfound wealth.
      Las Vegas has been good to the Henleys, who moved here from Phoenix six years ago. Henley said she won a $50,000 jackpot on a slot machine at the Las Vegas Hilton in February.
      Henley said she generally gambles "every few months" -- whenever she has the same hunch or feeling that brought her to New York-New York on Monday.
      In its 10-year history, the Megabucks system has paid more than $211 million in jackpots, according to IGT. The system pays back 92 percent of its handle, according to Rogich.
      Rogich said he did not know what the odds are of winning a multimillion-dollar jackpot, except that they are very long.