An American couple has won $2.4m (£1.45m) after winning the most anticipated jackpot in Las Vegas slot machines.

Walter and Linda Misco from New Hampshire played for about five minutes before hitting the jackpot at the 20-year-old ‘‘Lion’s Share’’ machine at about 11 p.m. Friday.

“It was surreal when it happened,” Misco said. “I just sat there thinking it hadn’t actually happened.”

The 66-year-old retired businessman told reporters Saturday that his wife Linda Misco suggested he play that night. He said the two read about the machine online. The two told reporters the winnings would help put their five grandchildren through college. They said they may buy a new car as well.

MGM Grand President Scott Sibella congratulated the couple who live in a farmhouse in Chester, New Hampshire.

“We’ve waited over 20 years for this! Our famous Lion’s Share Finally Hit for $2.4 million,” the casino said.

The machine had attracted queues of punters for two decades due to its jackpot, which accumulated over 20 years of parsimony. The Lion’s Share was the most popular slot of 1,900 at the MGM Grand, and was played almost once every five seconds each day.

Walter and Linda Misco may get to keep the Lion’s Share machine, which is being retired from the MGM Grand. The machine, the last of 50 that were unveiled when the casino opened in 1993, became famous for never paying out a jackpot, though small hits on a $3 maximum bet could earn a player as much as $10,000.

The machine has become so renowned that it has its own Twitter account, @mgmlionsshare, and its popularity was further fuelled by a Wall Street Journal piece earlier this year highlighting its formidable bounty.

According to Nevada law, slot machines are required to pay out 75% of the money that goes into them. Now that it has relinquished its jackpot, the $1-a-go machine, the only game left from an entire network of slots installed in the early 1990s, will be retired.