Beginner’s luck as Paul scoops £24,000 playing bingo

A Hull man, who only started playing bingo two months ago, has hit the jackpot and won more than £24,000.

The lucky winner, 49-year-old Paul Ian Smith was playing at the Mecca Club in Clough Road on Friday evening, 14 March when good fortune struck.

He won the National Bingo Game prize of £20,700, plus the Regional prize of £3,262 and the house prize of £286. The National prize that evening was £62,100 but he had to share with two other players in Sunderland and Chester, who also completed a full house in 44 numbers, the lowest call in any of the 470 clubs playing nationwide.

Paul, a partner in a coach company, joined the Mecca Club in January and usually plays bingo once a fortnight. He and his girlfriend, Tracy Ann Millington, started playing because they were bored!

“I couldn’t believe it when they told me how much I won,” he said. “We only started going for something to do in the evenings. I was in real shock and Tracy burst into tears.

“Everyone in the club was really nice and we had a bit of a hangover the next day from celebrating.”

He is going to spend some of the money on a new car as currently he only owns a 16 seater coach!