‘I won £67,630!’
Louise Regulski, 54, was so overwhelmed when she hit the jackpot, she cried tears of joy!
As I closed my oven door, I couldn’t wait to tuck into the roast beef I had prepared for our Sunday dinner and my mouth was watering at the thought.
With some time to spare, all my housework done and the telly on in the background, I thought I would log in to my online bingo account. I’ve been a member of Woman’s
Own Bingo for over five years, switching to playing online after my local bingo hall became a bit of a hassle to get to.
I always play Sapphire Bingo and usually log in on a Saturday or Sunday night.
Lost for words
This Sunday in January, I bought 10 tickets for Sapphire, costing me £1. I was just settling in to the game, watching my numbers being dabbed off on my screen, when I noticed I’d won two lines, and before long I’d won the Full House as well. ‘Winning just over £170,’ I thought. ‘Wow!’
But I hardly had time to register my win because almost immediately another message came up saying I was a winner again.
But this time I’d won a huge amount – in fact, I had hit the jackpot! Overwhelmed, I didn’t know what to do, as my balance had gone sky-high. The jackpot was an amazing £67,630!
Rendered speechless, I tried to call my husband, Terry, into the room to tell him the good news.
Terry looked at me like I was a mad woman, as I tried to explain what had happened. I found I couldn’t get a single word out.
‘What’s wrong, Louise?’ asked Terry, looking panicked.
Getting up and walking away from the laptop, I tried once again to explain, but found I just still couldn’t get my words out.
‘Are you ill?’ asked Terry, as I frantically pointed to the lounge where the laptop had been.
I hadn’t uttered a word since my win. Poor Terry!
Eventually, I dragged Terry towards the computer and pointed at the balance on the screen.
‘You are kidding me,’ smiled Terry. ‘Have you hit the jackpot?’ he asked.
Still in shock, I burst into tears, I was so happy with my huge win.
Sharing the news
Once the shock had died down, I called the Woman’s Own Bingo customer support and a lovely lady called Dawn told me that yes, I had won the jackpot and hit £67,630. In fact, she said the money would be
in my bank account the very next day! I took a picture of my winnings and shared it on social media where my eldest daughter commented, ‘Oh come on Mum, you’re having us on.’ But I soon assured her that it really had happened – and I was just as shocked as she was! Lots of lovely messages came in from family and friends, and it all started to feel real.
Time to party
In all the commotion, I had totally forgotten about my roast beef in the oven and so we had a Chinese takeaway instead to celebrate! One of my daughters came over, too, and Terry put on their favourite music: Bruce Springsteen. We always have a ‘Brucey party’ when we have some good news to celebrate as my husband and daughter love Bruce! We had a great time but I hardly slept a wink that night, as my mind whirred with what to do with the money.
Just as Dawn had said, the very next day the money was in my bank account. It was then it finally started to sink in – I was a jackpot winner!
I eventually decided what I wanted to do with the money, giving Terry £5,000, my two daughters £2,000 each and my two grandchildren £1,000 to do what they wanted with.
I wasted no time in booking a holiday to Corfu for me and my two grandchildren – we are flying out in August this year to a place by the coast called Gouvia.
I also ordered myself some new dining furniture and a brand-new suite for the house. Meanwhile, my husband and my eldest daughter – the Bruce Springsteen fans – decided to book tickets to New Jersey for 2018.
Looking ahead
I decided to put £40,000-worth of the jackpot into savings. Terry will retire in five years and I will retire in 13, so we wanted to have some savings we can dip in to when the time comes. We’ll be able to go away on holidays and treat the family with that money.
One thing I also got was a new laptop, which I now play my favourite
Woman’s Own Bingo games on!