What is thought to be the biggest jackpot in the history of bingo, has been won by Soraya Lowell, aged 38, at the National Bingo game and its Platinum Jackpot last Sunday night, receiving £1,167,795. The moment Mrs. Lowell realized that she had won; she decided to split her winnings with her next-door neighbor.

“I must be on a lucky run just now but I still can’t get my head around that amount of money. It just won’t sink in at all”, says Soraya. The proud mother of four children has decided to share half of her earnings with her neighbor.

A woman from Chester, who has requested not to be named, took home a £23,000 bingo jackpot from a Mecca Bingo Club in Brook Dale Place. The 43-year-old mom won the National Bingo Game prize of £20,000, plus the regional prize of £3,301 and the house prize of £169.

“I couldn't believe it when I found out how much I had won. I thought I might be in with a chance for the regional prize but never thought I'd scoop the national,” the lucky winner commented. “Everyone in the club was congratulating me and there was a great atmosphere.”

Thirty-six years ago, Gill Barton started working as a bingo caller in Solihull, West Midlands. The job suited her since it gave her time to raise her five children while contributing to the economy of her house. Gill was a dedicated worker and in a few years she was promoted to staff training.

However, Gill wanted more and when she turned 50 she told her husband about her new project: opening her own training and recruitment company. “My husband Frank thought I was starting the menopause and being irrational when I said I wanted to start my own business at the age of 50,” she recalls.

A woman from the city of Weymouth in the south coast of England is still in shock after scooping £15,000 (approximately 30.000 dollars) playing at her local Gala Bingo club.

The prize corresponds to the National Bingo Game prize. The jackpot for that night was exactly £45.000 but two other players completed full house in 41 balls so the top prize had to be shared. The woman’s luck didn’t end there, as she was also the winner of the £30 house prize.

After several months of campaign and petition letters, bingo giants Rank and Gala Coral finally obtained the necessary backup for a tax reform. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport of the UK has informed that it will start to pressure chancellor Alistair Darling for a bingo tax reduction.

Currently, bingo companies have to pay two different taxes: VAT, 17.5 percent, and Gaming Duty, 15 percent. This heavy taxation plus the falling in admissions due to the smoking ban and the Gambling Act, has caused several bingo venues to close and many are experiencing financial problems.

The laws that regulate gambling in Australia are experimenting controversial times this days after the issuing of new licenses that allow gaming companies to sell keno and lottery tickets in outlets such as supermarkets, pharmacies and through vending machines and mobile phone messages.

The Government has been accused of turning a blind eye to problem gambling after approving two 10-year licenses to the companies Intralot and Tattersall. Intralot will be allowed to offer instant "scratchies" that will be spent through vending machines for a prize of $20 with the possibility to scoop a top prize of 1.5 million.

A year ago, Veronica Baena was playing bingo at the Lomas del Mirador gaming hall, when she hit a €7.6 million jackpot. Twelve months later, she and her husband continue fighting in court with Codere, the company that owns the hall, whose latest offer of €110,000 was rejected by Veronica.

“Up until now, Codere only gave us €8,000, which we had to accept because of our daily expenses,” Veronica’s husband Angel Lopez, said. “We took the money and signed a receipt, but only as an advance of the court’s judgment.”

A lucky 37-year-old mom from Paisley won a £55,000 bingo prize while playing at the Mecca Club in Lonend on Sunday night. The woman, who requested not to be named, said she had only spent £2 on a bingo card when her numbers came up and she was able to shout Bingo!

“It was absolutely fantastic when she won. She jumped out of her seat and screamed the house down,” Alistair Steele, general manager of the club, said. “She is a regular at our club and has been playing here since we opened. Everybody knows her.”

“The Bingo Association estimates that one in three bingo clubs will close.” The alarming statement was pronounced by Dan Waugh, director of investor relations for the UK’s Rank Group. Following the smoking ban, a lot of bingo halls have seen their revenues decrease.

The main problem is heavy taxation. “Bingo is the most heavily taxed form of gambling,” Waugh said. A spokesman from the Treasury argued the taxation rate faced by the bingo industry is the same one that applies to lottery, gaming and machines.

The Glasgow Forge Bingo Hall has been named the luckiest bingo hall in Britain after it awarded two big prizes in only three weeks. A few days ago, a 69-year-old pensioner won £1 million during her second visit to the club while only fifteen days before 45-year-old Margaret Shearer hit a similar jackpot.

Joe Marshall, operations manager for the Glasgow Forge Bingo Hall said the company expects to make a millionaire every 45 days but they have done it twice in only 21 days. “We always knew it was the luckiest bingo hall and this has just proved it,” he added.