A lucky Camborne bingo player received an unexpected boost to her night at Apollo Bingo, when she called ‘house’ on a life-changing £50,000 jackpot on the National Bingo Game.  

The lucky winner, a 70-year-old married mother of four and grandmother of nine who has asked to remain anonymous, is a long-standing regular at Apollo Bingo Camborne.

She was at the club on Friday, January 27, having arranged to meet another bingo regular there for a fun night out together.

The lucky winner was actually introduced to bingo by one of her daughters more than 20 years ago and discovered that she really enjoyed the social side of the game and that any win was just an added bonus to a night.

She said: “After a bit of a rubbish day with some things that went wrong, I thought I’d pop out to my club to try my luck, grab some food and see the friendly staff. My local club is fantastic. The staff are a great bunch and I have made many friends there over the years, I just wanted to unwind for the day.

“First, I won £500 on the fruit machines, so thought that’s my day getting better, I didn’t think there was more to come.”

While playing the National Bingo Game she heard all her numbers rolling off the caller’s tongue and to her surprise realised she was about to get a full-house and needed to make a claim.

She said: “It was surreal – everything went in slow-motion and the silence was deafening.

“Then when my £50,000 National Bingo Game win was confirmed as ‘good’ the club exploded.

“I am yet to celebrate and so shocked, but am sure it will come in the coming days.” 

The lucky player has had a number of good wins over the years but nothing as big as £50,000. She is intending to share it with her two daughters for home improvements, plus give some cash for the grandchildren and some donations to charity.

She added: “When I started playing bingo a friend said to me, ‘If you can’t afford to lose, don’t play. If you win it’s a bonus’ and that’s always stuck with me, but the excitement at even winning £10 is amazing. I get just as excited, but the best bit is the people, I have met some amazing friends here over the years and have also lost some too.” 

Craig Vigus, general manager, said: “Our winner, is such a huge part of our bingo family here at Apollo Bingo Camborne. Every visit she is always friendly, courteous, and such a ray of sunshine to be around. As far as customers go, you really can’t get much better. We are all so thrilled for her that she won.”