£26,000 bingo win for Pontypool pensioner
14 May 2008

It’s proving to be a lucky year for one Pontypool pensioner. After winning £1,000 playing bingo at the Mecca Club in Monmouth Walk, Cwmbran in January, she has just scooped another £26,000 at the same club.

The 77-year-old woman, who wants to remain anonymous, has been a bingo fan since 1961 when she started to play at a small club near her home. She later joined the Mecca in Pontypool and when that closed she moved on to Cwmbran where she plays four times a week.

And it was while there on Monday evening, 12 May that she won the National Bingo Game prize of £25,000, plus the Regional prize of £1,753 and the house prize of £89. She completed a full house in 41 numbers, the lowest call in any of the 470 clubs playing nationwide.

The woman has been married for 59 years and has two children and seven grandchildren.“I’m still feeling a bit numb but it’s great!”she said.

“I’m going to share some with the grandchildren but I don’t know yet what else I’m going to do with it. There’s not much we want really. We’ve never had much but we’re not hungry, we have a roof over our heads and we don’t owe anyone anything. Maybe I’ll just put some away for our old age.”

This was the second National Game winner at the Cwmbran Club in less than three weeks. On Friday, 25 April a local woman won nearly £65,000.