Gala Bingo player scoops massive £874,208 jackpot to be shared with club members

Press Release Summary: First bingo player to become a heroine sharing her Gala High 5 £874,208 jackpot with 369 bingo players

Press Release Body: Margaret Ann Venables, a Gala Bingo member in Fenton, recently became a local heroine as a result of the brand new Gala High 5 game. Margaret Ann, who has four children, shared her massive £874,208 jackpot with all of the club’s members playing the game that night, making Gala Fenton the luckiest bingo club in the country.

Margaret Ann, 52, who plays at Gala Bingo every Wednesday said: “My mother died two months ago and I was sitting in her seat, playing with my youngest sister – I really felt her presence with me all night. I’m delighted to win such a huge amount which I’ll be sharing with my sister. I feel like my mum who supported me when she was alive has made sure I’ll be ok without her. It’s amazing. This win has not only changed my life but has made a difference to the lives of all of my friends at the club. Everyone was coming up to me thanking me. I felt like Christmas had come early”

The single mum’s great win came on when she was playing bingo with all of Gala’s other members across the UK in the Gala Bingo High 5 game. When calling house on the number 5, Margaret Ann scooped 50 per cent of the jackpot, (£437,104), and shared the other half with her fellow club members – meaning everyone else walked away with £1,185 just for playing their bingo games at that club.

The Gala High 5 win came as a huge surprise to Margaret Ann who initially thought she’d only won the full house prize of £7,362 but because she called house on the number 5, her win rocketed (by a factor of 59) to £437,104 and caused other club members to reach for the champagne when they realized that they’d won too.

The Gala High 5 game was launched as a direct result of the new Gambling Act which now allows bingo clubs to run cumulative jackpots. Margaret Ann’s win is the first full jackpot payout for the game and a fantastic bonus for the club and local players. Over the last two months, an extra £1,631,698 has been paid out as a result of the Gala High 5 game, which creates more winners more often. It follows on from Gala Bingo’s million pound jackpot game, KerChingo, which was won three months ago.

Chris Quigley, Club manager, Fenton comments: “We’re delighted to have the first full jackpot winner of Gala High 5 in our club. The way the game works is very simple; if ‘house’ is called on number five, players can claim 50 per cent of the rollover jackpot, whilst the remaining 50 per cent is shared by all the other players at the club. There’s another chance to win if members call ‘house’ on a number ending with a five. For example, number 85, where 10 per cent of the total cash is awarded to that player, the rest of the jackpot rolls over to the next game.”

-ends-

About The Gala Coral Group
The Gala Coral Group is Europe's leading integrated gaming company and one of Britain’s largest private companies, with over 1800 retail trading outlets in the UK and an E-Commerce division, which offers customers online bingo, casino, poker and sports betting. The Group employs over 19,000 people in the UK, and is the first in the industry to achieve full GamCare accreditation, covering all of the Group’s divisions - Coral/Gala Bingo/Gala Casino/E Commerce.

Web Site: http://www.galabingo.co.uk/

Contact Details: For more information/interview please contact:

Katharine Saunders
Porter Novelli
31 St Petersburgh Place
London
W2 4LA
T: 0207 853 2366
F: 0207 853 2244