‘I won £1,610 when I wasn’t even looking!’

Marie Templeton, 53, from Glasgow, is no stranger to hitting the jackpot…

I’ve been playing online bingo for about eight years now. I used to go down to the local bingo hall, but it’s so far away, it was a pain to get there, and as you had to queue for books it soon became a bit of a chore rather than fun with my friends.

When i saw an advert for Woman’s Own Bingo, i decided to sign up. Playing online is much more convenient – you can play on your laptop or download the app on your phone to play while you’re on the go. i really like playing on my phone and sometimes i buy a few tickets before i go out and walk the dog.

in september this year, i logged into my account one sunday evening. i had played a free game on the site – each day you get a free game after you’ve made the initial deposit – and i was chuffed when i won £44 from the free game! With the money in my account, i bought myself 30 tickets for Round the Clock Bingo.

i have a few favourite games – Bingo Lounge, emerald Bingo and Round the Clock – but there are loads of other great games on the site too.

i usually buy my tickets and then leave my games to play out without watching them. the computer ticks the numbers off automatically and it means you sometimes get a nice surprise when you check your account a few hours – or even minutes – after you’ve bought your tickets and find out you’ve won some money while you’ve been away! that sunday evening, as usual, i wasn’t looking at each game play out, but when i picked up my mobile a little later, i was in the emerald Bingo room when i saw my account balance shoot up – £1,610 had gone into my account. i must have hit the jackpot from my tickets in Round the Clock!

sure enough, when i checked i instantly realised i had won the jackpot in the room i wasn’t watching!

I just couldn’t believe my eyes… i’d had yet another jackpot win!

you see, this wasn’t my first win on the site but my fifth! in the eight years i’ve been playing, i’ve won five jackpots and more than £26,000.

Now, you might think that after five jackpots the novelty would have worn off, but i can tell you that it’s exciting every single time! and even though i know how it all works, it’s still so surprising and fun when it happens. When i saw that the £1,610 was in my account in september, i was absolutely over the moon.

this time around, i shared the money with my daughter. she’d been wanting to go on a holiday for a while now, so i gave her some money so that she could go down to our friend’s

‘I couldn’t believe my eyes when I won again!’

caravan for a week with my granddaughter, who’s eight. they had a week just the two of them, then i went and joined them there afterwards so we could spend some quality time all together.

i also went out for a meal with my partner. i’ve won the jackpot so many times now that we’ve made it tradition to go to a restaurant just up the road to celebrate each time! there’s an amazing cake on the menu, so we always get that for dessert as a celebration of my win.

my partner always tells me i should treat myself with my jackpot wins, but to be honest, i really do prefer spending the money on other people and of course, i just love spoiling my only grandchild!

the only thing i buy myself when i win is posh washing powder and i stock up on toilet roll! i know it sounds mad, but i love my washing smelling gorgeous and would rather use the money i win towards some clothes and new school shoes for my granddaughter!

i have treated myself with previous wins though. When i won £15,235 in February this year, i used the money towards my wedding and i managed to buy myself a car, too. the wedding was fantastic, and having a car makes it so much easier to get to work. i also bought new furniture for the house when i had another win back in 2016. so now, i just like treating other people. a few of my friends have signed up to Woman’s Own Bingo since i’ve told them about my wins, and my husband, alan, has a few games every now and then. He prefers the slots to the bingo, but there really is something on the site for everyone.