Million-Dollar Mix-Up Makes Winners Out of Two Men Named Kevin Lewis

Aug. 12, 2013— -- A Cincinnati casino is paying up -- twice -- after it committed a million-dollar mix-up that put prize winnings in the hands of the wrong man.

Horseshoe Casino Cincinnati awarded $1 million each to two different Cincinnati natives named Kevin Lewis after it mistakenly allowed the wrong man to collect the winnings from a promotional contest it held on Saturday night, casino spokeswoman Jennifer Kulczycki told ABCNews.com.

"This was our blunder," Horseshoe Cincinnati Senior Vice President and General Manager Kevin Kline said in a statement. "So, consistent with our commitment to do the right thing for our guests, Horseshoe awarded a $1 million prize to each of the men."

The casino, which is in the midst of a $3 Million Summer Giveaway promotion, called out for Kevin Lewis to come down and collect his prize after he was selected as the winner of the August drawing at around 9 p.m. Saturday.

"A gentleman whose named they called, Kevin Lewis, was in the crowd, came forward and was given his jumbo check," Kulczycki said. "Then as the local leadership team moved on to do the secondary verification process, the team realized it had made a blunder."

While Kulczycki declined to provide specifics on the two-step verification process the contest employs, she said it turned out there was a second Kevin Lewis from Cincinnati, roughly around the same age, who had actually won Saturday's $1 million drawing. But he was not in the casino when his name was called.

"There were several similarities between the gentlemen that led to the confusion on our end," Kulczycki said.

Both Kevin Lewises are life-long residents of Cincinnati, she said. Both are men are in their 50s, engaged to be married, and are frequent visitors to the casino.

"Obviously, it was a pretty exciting moment for the wrong Kevin Lewis. Clearly, he thought his life had been completely changed," she said. "Leadership quickly made the decision to give them both the prize. It was only the right thing to do."

While Kulczycki said both Kevin Lewises did not want to comment on their winnings, "both of them were ecstatic" to become overnight millionaires, she said.