Glasgow Librarian Big Win
On January 25, 2016, a unnamed female Glasgow librarian staked just £4 on ‘Jackpot Giant’ – a 5×3-reel, 50-payline progressive jackpot slot machine – on the Gala Bingo platform and won a massive £4.5 million. Indeed, in so doing, the anoymous curator set a record for the largest jackpot ever won on a mobile device, for real money, in the United Kingdom.
The astonished winner said, ‘I was simply blown away and couldn’t believe I’d won. It’s still sinking in and my family and I are still in a complete state of shock.’ A loyal Gala Bingo customer, on- and offline, she was reportedly uncertain about how she would spend her winnings. Nevertheless, despite her windfall – which, based on the average annual earnings of a full-time employee in the United Kingdom in 2016, was the equivalent of over 159 years’ salary – she still went to work as usual the following day. Alison Digges, Managing Director of Gaming Brands at Ladbrokes Coral, was thrilled with the result. She said, ‘This is our biggest ever jackpot win on Gala Bingo by far and we’re delighted one of our many loyal players has claimed the prize.’
Shimon Akad, Chief Operating Officer of Playtech, who supplied both the gaming platform and software, said, ‘To claim the UK mobile slot jackpot record is fantastic and proves we lead the industry when it comes to progressive jackpot games. I’d like to also congratulate Gala Bingo and their winning player.’ At that time, the largest jackpot reported for a Playtech progressive jackpot slot was £6.2 million, albeit not on a mobile device, on the aging ‘Beach Life’, back in 2012.