Two days after recording an hour-long video interview with SlotsFan, Jackpot Judo (Eric Lewallen) lost his wife Diane in a tragic car accident.
The slot community showed up immediately. Over 1,300 people have donated. Major creators stepped up with money and support. The GoFundMe is less than $5,000 away from its $100,000 goal.
This is what happened and how you can help.
What Happened
Diane and her daughter Alexa were driving home to Tennessee after visiting family in Pennsylvania when a semi-truck veered off the road, recovered, then flipped and slid into oncoming traffic, hitting their Ford Bronco head-on.
Diane did not survive. Alexa, miraculously, walked away without injuries.
Eric (a military veteran, former deputy sheriff, and father of four) now faces funeral expenses and an uncertain future. The Lewallens didn’t have life insurance.
The Community Response
Within hours of the news breaking, the slot community mobilized.
Mr. Hand Pay, one of YouTube’s biggest slot channels with over 1 million subscribers, launched a GoFundMe campaign and personally donated $5,000. The goal: $100,000 to cover funeral expenses and start a college fund for Eric’s children.
As of today, more than 1,300 individual donors have contributed, bringing the campaign to within $5,000 of its goal.
Major creators across the slot community have stepped up with donations and support:
- Gamble Smart community
- Dinger Nation and Granny Gang
- Let’s Talk Slots
- Casino Kelly
- Las Vegas Slots
- NJ Slot Guy
- Johnny Slots and Minimom
- Mid-South Slots
- The Pokie Bandit
- Jackpot Joe
- The Big Payback
But the response goes beyond money. Multiple creators have committed to helping Eric so he doesn’t have to worry about creating content for the next couple of months.
SlotsFan’s Contribution
SlotsFan donated $1,000 (the YouTube revenue earned by our podcast interview with Judo, which has been viewed over 82,000 times so far).
In that interview, recorded just days before the accident, Eric spoke about what mattered most to him: discipline, gratitude, and not taking anything for granted.
He talked about his upbringing, his time overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the perspective those experiences gave him.
“I’ve lived in conditions that people wouldn’t believe,” he said. “It truly gives you an appreciation… every day is a blessing. You don’t take anything for granted.”
He also talked about his father, his hero, who now flies in from Spain to spend time with Eric and the family.
When asked what lesson he wished he’d learned earlier, Eric’s answer was immediate: discipline.
“You’re never going to go home a winner unless you master that discipline,” he said. “There’s nothing worse than having to drive home from a casino in a bad mood because… I was $2,300 up at one point. If I just would have stopped, I would have had $2,300 in my pocket.”
He couldn’t have known that just days later, he’d be facing a much more serious kind of loss, one that no amount of discipline or planning could prepare him for.
How to Help
The GoFundMe campaign for Eric and his children is nearly at its $100,000 goal, but every contribution helps.
Donate to the Jackpot Judo Family GoFundMe
If you’ve ever watched Eric’s videos, laughed at his intro, learned from his tips, or felt like part of the Judo Family—now’s the time to give back.
Eric would do anything for anyone. Let’s do this for him.
Our hearts are with Eric, Alexa, Evan, Erin, and the entire Lewallen family.
