Today our attention turns to large, coastal town of Ayr in southeastern Scotland, where one most fortunate granny is counting her lucky stars – and over 220,000 pounds – after becoming a bingo and slots winner all in the same night. The first win came on a bingo game at the Mecca Bingo Club in Ayr that resulted in such a large win, hall staff had to break from the action to calculate her prize. While they were doing that, she spun the reels of a slot machine to snag the second win, collecting a grand total of £221,300.
Bingo / Slots Winner Jean Murdoch (73) w/ £221k cheque; photo courtesy DailyRecord
73 year old Jean Murdoch was playing bingo at the Mecca hall on that fateful evening, just as she had done twice a week for the past many years, when to her surprise, she was able to call House after just 40 balls had been called. However, she said she wasn’t paying all that much attention. Failing to recognize how quickly she had won the game, Mrs. Murdoch naturally assumed the prize would be the standard £100. But that was not the case at all.
Jean Murdoch was soon informed by the staff that only 40 balls had been called, and that alone is worthy of releasing the local jackpot prize. But it turned out that the newly-dubbed Golden Granny also had a “lucky star”. That, combined with the lightning-fast House win, triggered the release of a much larger, national bingo jackpot that was linked across Mecca Bingo Halls throughout the United Kingdom.
The eventual bingo and slot winner said that she was stunned when officials came back with a check for a massive £221,000 written out in her name. “When I was eventually told I’d won the jackpot, I was a wee bit shocked, to say the least,” said Mrs. Murdoch. “It didn’t sink in and it still hasn’t.”
But let’s back up for a minute, because that’s not the whole story. While Mrs. Murdoch was awaiting the return of staff members to find out just how much she had won, she decided to pass the time by taking a seat in front of one of the hall’s slot machines. The next thing she knew, the bells and whistles were ringing to the tune of an additional £300 win.
That 300 may not sound like much compared to £221,000, but let’s not forget that Mrs. Murdoch’s original expectations for the bingo win were just £100. Suffice to say, being a £300 slots winner was a big deal in her mind up to that point. And even after she found out about the colossal bingo prize, the 73 year old grandmother was giddy with excitement to be a bingo and slots winner all at the same time.
“It must have been my lucky day,” she exclaimed. Jean went on to say that she visits the bingo hall regularly twice a week, and that she is usually there with her friends, but “the day I won, I was on my own.” Not only that, she said she had never won more than “about £500” over the years, and that, “all my pals at the bingo are delighted for me.”