Platinum Winner

The first Platinum Jackpot offered by the National Bingo Game has been won by a player at the Castle Club in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. Christine Bradfield, who is 57, has been playing at the Castle Club twice a week ever since it opened in 1997. Her loyalty paid off handsomely when she won the Platinum Jackpot and won over £1.1 million.

The new progressive jackpots offered by the National Bingo Game were introduced last year, and give bingo players the chance to win lottery-sized sums of money playing their favourite game. Having become the first bingo millionaire in National Bingo Game history, it is also possible that Christine Bradfield has set a new world record, as Paul Talboys, Chief Executive of the National Bingo Game, explained:

“What a wonderful night for bingo,” he said. “We know it is the biggest bingo win ever in this country, but believe it to be the biggest in the world. It is just the boost we needed in these difficult times for the industry.”

The “difficult times” that Paul referred to have been caused largely by the ban on smoking in public places that came into effect in England and Wales in 2007 (the ban was already in place in Scotland). It is now illegal for anyone to smoke in a UK bingo club – or any other enclosed public place – and this has led to many players simply staying away from traditional clubs and playing online instead.

When Christine recovered from the shock of winning, she telephoned her husband from the Castle Club to tell him about it. “When we sleep tonight, but he has to go to work in the morning,” she said after hanging up. “I work three days a week in a garage and luckily I don’t have to be in until Wednesday, but I’ll be here then. I won’t be giving up work – I couldn’t be at home or I’d be out shopping all the time.”

The National Bingo Game Platinum Jackpot has now been reset and has already climbed to more than £220,000. How long we will need to wait for the National Bingo Game to generate its second millionaire remains to be seen.

6th February 2008