A win of over £1.1 million has helped a bingo player from Bargoed, South Wales, to get her name in the record books. Christine Bradfield, who is 53 years of age, won the first National Bingo Game Platinum Jackpot when playing at the Castle Club in Merthyr Tydfil.

Other National Bingo players had already won the Gold and Silver jackpots on previous occasions, but the Platinum Jackpot is the biggest and the hardest to win. To achieve the feat, Christine had to make a full house within a certain number of balls being called and be the first player in the country to do so. This is because the National Bingo Game network consists of around 470 bingo clubs all over the nation.

Luck was obviously on Christine Bradfield’s side when she won what many believe to be the biggest cash prize in bingo history. Her total prize was worth £1,101,686 , and this consisted of the Club prize of £335, a Zone prize of £3,121, the National Game prize of £80,000 and that all-important Platinum Jackpot prize of £1,018,233.

The win will certainly benefit Christine, but it has also been welcomed by the bingo industry as a whole, which has been struggling to halt falling attendance figures since the introduction of a ban on smoking in public places.

Paul Talboys, who is the National Game’s Chief Executive, commented: “What a wonderful night for bingo. We know it is the biggest bingo win ever in this country but believe it to be the biggest in the world. It is just the boost we needed in these difficult times for the industry.”

The General Manager of the Castle Club where Christine made bingo history said: “The place erupted, everyone went wild. It was amazing.  And word spread quickly so that most people in Merthyr knew before the end of the evening!”

As for the winner herself, once she had started recovering from the shock of winning such a huge sum, she said: “I won’t be giving up work; I couldn’t be at home or I’d be out shopping all the time.” She has also said that she has no intention of breaking her bingo habit. “I just love the game,” she said. “I have been playing since I was old enough at 18 and I won’t stop now.”

13th February 2008