hit the jackpot

Idioms  

1. Be highly successful, especially unexpectedly; win, especially a lot of money. For example, She hit the jackpot at the auction; that platter turned out to be genuine Meissen. This term comes from a form of poker in which a hand can be opened only if one holds at least a pair of jacks (or higher). Often a number of hands must be dealt before anyone can open, and since players must put in money for each round, the jackpot, or total amount held, is apt to be quite large. [Early 1900s]

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Example Sentences

The winner was the only person to pick all five numbers that were drawn Saturday night — 7, 10, 11, 21, 32 — plus the Mega Number 5 to hit the jackpot.

From Los Angeles Times • May 11, 2025

Kirat Assi thought she'd hit the jackpot when Bobby, a handsome cardiologist, got in touch with her in 2009.

From BBC • Oct. 19, 2024

But by the time Justin Bieber waved the checkered flag on Formula 1’s return to Las Vegas, the $500 million Sin City gamble had hit the jackpot.

From Washington Times • Nov. 19, 2023

While the doubling down on long-term bond allocations is not exactly a leveraged bet about to hit the jackpot, there are elements of that scenario that may trigger speculative squeezes of sorts.

From Reuters • Nov. 15, 2023

Nesting usually occurred between February and July, but fledglings had been observed in dens as late as October Systematically, Roy scrolled down the search items one by one until he finally hit the jackpot.

From "Hoot" by Carl Hiaasen