Million-Dollar Jackpots: How Uncle Jerry Rigged McDonald’s Monopoly Game

Killer Stories with Harvey Guillén

Spotify Studios

True Crime, Education, History

4.7 • 30.7K Ratings

🗓️ 11 May 2026

⏱️ 36 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

When McDonald’s ran its beloved 1990s Monopoly sweepstakes, Jerome "Uncle Jerry" Jacobson had one job: Protect the game pieces. Instead, he used his position as Head of Security to rig the game. For years. To the tune of over $24 million in cash and prizes. Sources for this episode include:"How an Ex-Cop Rigged McDonald’s Monopoly Game and Stole Millions." by Jeff Maysh The Daily Beast, July 29, 2018. Keep up with Killer Stories! Instagram: @killerstoriespodTikTok: @killerstoriespodX: @killerstorieshq Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	There is a specific kind of madness called gambler's fallacy.
0:11.7	We tell ourselves that luck is a debt that the universe eventually has to pay back.
0:16.6	The more we lose, the more do we are for a win.
0:22.0	And corporations know this.
0:24.2	They weaponize it.
0:25.7	They call it a sweepstakes.
0:29.2	For 12 years, McDonald's ran the most successful marketing campaign in history.
0:36.0	The Monopoly Game.
0:37.0	The game Monopoly has come to life at McDonald's.
0:40.3	We'll make DLT, Coca-Cola, or $1 million.
0:45.3	We all remember it.
0:46.3	The peel-off sticker on the French fry box,
0:49.3	the desperate hunt for boardwalk and park plays,
0:51.3	the promise that if you just ate one more Big Mac, you could win a million dollars.
1:01.0	We bought the lie because we assumed the pieces were random. Well, we were wrong. The winning pieces weren't distributed by chance.
1:13.6	They weren't scattered across the country.
1:15.6	No.
1:16.6	They were in one man's pocket.
1:20.6	From 1989 to 2001, there were almost no legitimate top prize winners of the McDonald's Monopoly game.
1:27.8	The entire system was hijacked by one man.
1:32.6	An unassuming ex-cop named Jerome Jacobson.
1:36.9	He was the head of security, hired to protect the integrity of the game.
	...

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