Holiday on the cards for £20,000 bingo winner

Playing bingo for many years has paid off for a Wokingham man who won more than £20,000.

The 51-year-old winner, who does not want to be named, was playing at the Gala Club in East Hampstead Road on Thursday evening, 24 April when good fortune struck.

He won the National Bingo Game prize of £18,207, plus the Regional prize of £2,500.

The National prize that evening was £36,414 but he had to share with a player in South Shields, who also completed a full house in 46 numbers, the lowest call in any of the 470 clubs playing nationwide.

The man, who is retired, has been a member of the Gala Club for over five years but had been playing bingo for a long time before that. He usually plays three times a week and this was his first big win.

“I am very pleased to have won so much,” he said. “There was a great atmosphere when they announced I had won the National Game with everyone in the club clapping and congratulating me.”

Asked what he will do with the money, he said that booking a holiday would be his first priority.

29 April 2008