£1,250 Birthday Win!

Gillian made sure she celebrated her 65th in style!

reading the messages on my computer, I couldn’t help giggling to myself. ‘What’s so funny?’ my husband Roger, 68, asked.

‘The roomies are at it again,’ I laughed.

I’d been a member of Pick Me Up! Bingo since January 2015. And I loved chatting to people in the chat rooms. The ‘roomies’, as they’re known, often had me in stitches with their amusing comments.

I loved playing the different bingo games, too.

Sapphire and Emerald – 90-ball bingo games – were my favourites, though I often played a few slot games as well.

The variety on the site is really brilliant. I’d had a few small wins here and there over the years.

I just played for fun, though, and winning was really an added bonus.

I often checked out the Promotions page on the site, too, as they run lots of fun competitions, giving away a variety of prizes.

And, in April last year, I spotted a competition to win two VIP passes to Epsom Downs racecourse.

Overjoyed

All the entrants had to do was think up a good name for a horse.

I decided that I’d enter with the name Hot To Trot.

Just days later, I received an e-mail saying I’d won.

‘I can’t believe it!’

I told Roger, overjoyed.

It was so unexpected, but such a lovely surprise, too.

So, in the June, Roger and I went to Epsom Downs, where we were treated to an open bar, a four-course lunch, afternoon tea, and even an amazing goody bag containing a selfie stick and a pair of binoculars. ‘This is incredible,’ I beamed to Roger. We had such a fantastic day out. We made friends with the other winners, too, and really enjoyed ourselves.

Back home, I was still beaming after my lovely win. Weeks on, I decided to buy a few tickets for three Emerald Linked games.

These are games that start on the hour and at half past the hour.

I left my games to play out and went off to the kitchen to unload the dishwasher. I liked that the games automatically dabbed off my numbers for me.

Minutes later, I went back to check my computer.

And I was stunned to see a message on the screen.

It was alerting me that I only had one number to go.

I watched in amazement as my number was called and the message Winner! flashed up on the screen.

‘No way!’ I laughed, my jaw dropping. I’d won £1,250! I had to keep blinking to check what

I was seeing was real.

When I shouted out to Roger, he came rushing in to check.

‘You’re right,’ he laughed, amazed. ‘You’ve only gone and won!’

We were both thrilled, and we cheered with excitement.

‘This calls for a bottle of bubbly,’ Roger grinned, opening a bottle to celebrate.

That night, we got chatting about what we were going to spend my winnings on.

It was my 65th birthday in the July and we’d already booked ourselves a luxury two-week cruise around Russia, Norway

I’d already won VIP passes to Epsom Downs!

and Finland…

‘Let’s treat ourselves a bit while we’re away,’ I suggested to Roger.

And, before we went, I bought myself some lovely, formal evening dresses to wear, and Roger some new, smart shirts.

Two weeks later, we set off for our trip…

We boarded the cruise ship at Southampton.

In Saint Petersburg, Russia, we splashed out on a tour of the city, where our new selfie stick and binoculars came in very handy!

We even booked a river cruise with champagne and chocolates included. Then, on my actual birthday, we had a lovely meal in a posh restaurant. We had such a brilliant time, and I couldn’t have imagined celebrating my special birthday in a better way than that.

I really have been spoilt rotten with my wins this year. And it’s all thanks to Pick Me Up! Bingo.

MY WIN MEANT LOTS OF TREATS ON OUR HOLIDAY!