‘I scooped £8,000!’
Linda Pace, 51, from Suffolk, used her jackpot to give her home a makeover...
Sitting at my computer, I watched the bingo game play out in front of me. It seemed like I kept missing the numbers by just one! when I needed 25, 24 would be called or if I needed 17, 18 would be out next. ‘Oh, pants!’ I muttered to myself. I was playing in Bejeweled, the day before Christmas Eve, 2016. I’d spent 90p on nine tickets and was chatting away in the online chat rooms to the many friends I’ve made on the Woman Bingo site. It didn’t matter that I was missing the numbers as I was having a laugh anyway!
Dancing with happiness
You see, playing on Woman Bingo is just like being in a bingo hall, it’s so sociable and the people are so friendly. Plus, you can refer your friends on the site, then see which rooms they’re in if you want to have a chat.
That night in December, I was playing and chatting to my friends when suddenly one of my numbers did get called! Now I was only waiting for one more for a full house.
Just seconds later, though, it seemed as though my internet connection was playing up. The screen had frozen and I couldn’t see what numbers had been called. ‘What a time for the internet to fail me,’ I thought, rolling my eyes. It would take me five minutes to reboot the system and get back to playing. How frustrating!
But then, my screen came to life again and a message flashed up… This was certainly no error message – the sign said I had won the jackpot, scooping £8,000!
I wasn’t sure if it was true, but then my friends were saying congratulations and asking how it felt to win the jackpot.
Grabbing my phone, I took a photo of the screen to make sure I wasn’t seeing things. Sure enough, the jackpot money was in my account!
I danced around the room with delight once I realised it was all real. I couldn’t help myself from whooping with joy – my dogs thought I had gone mad! Once I had calmed down a bit, I called my dad.
‘Dad, you know I sometimes play bingo online?’ I said. ‘Yes, love,’ he replied. ‘I’ve just hit the jackpot and won £8,000!’ I cheered. ‘Are you sure?’ he asked. ‘I’ve taken a photo of it,’ I said. ‘I’ll show you it.’
‘Well, that’s fantastic news. Well done you!’ he laughed, over the moon for me.
Settling down after the excitement, I looked around my cottage. I knew just what the money would go towards…
For the past five years, I’ve been struggling with flooding at my house. I’m finally over the worst of it and have built trenches in my garden to stop the excess water coming into my home. With that sorted, I could finally extend the cottage as I’ve dreamt of doing for years.
‘I ALWAYS HAVE A real giggle’
Lovely new furnishings
Even though the extension plans were in place, I hadn’t yet given much thought to furniture and decoration. Now, my jackpot win meant I could buy pictures, a sofa, a TV, carpets and new tiles for the kitchen. It was amazing having such a huge sum of money I was able to kit out the whole extension comfortably.
Some people asked whether I’d prefer
to go on holiday with my win, but once the extension is finished, my bedroom and my lounge will look out over rolling fields – and that’s worth more to me than a quick jaunt in the sun!
Bingo has been in my life for years now, my mum and I used to go to the local hall every Saturday for 20 years while she was still alive. It was always such fun – and playing online is just the same and just as friendly.
It’s been lovely to log in to Woman Bingo whenever I had some spare time, to chat to my friends and have a real giggle. It always cheers me up and I can’t count the times I’ve been in fits of laughter because of something one of the other members has said. I even spat my coffee out over the keyboard when something really tickled me once! There are chat room hosts who keep the conversation flowing and offer the chance to win an extra couple of pounds or a free ticket if you take part in a chat room game. It’s such a great site. Jackpot or no jackpot, Woman Bingo never fails to put a smile on my face.