Dad-of-four John Orchard, 60, said in Long Sutton, Lincs: “I couldn’t believe it. I was going to get my daughter an iPad for Christmas. Now I can buy her a new house.”
Lucky John even plans to join the jet set by buying a Jaguar supercar — after scooping £5,883,044.43 in the biggest online bingo win ever.
The amazing record-breaking punt allows him to swap his tiny Renault Clio for a swish £40,000 Jag XF and live the millionaire lifestyle.
But although he learned of the win four days ago, gobsmacked John has been waiting until today to resign from his job — because he just could not believe his good fortune.
He placed the 30p bet on Sunday morning on a wheel of fortune-style game, in which the jackpot increased progressively as gamblers from around the world placed their stakes. Then he realised he had landed the jackpot — but did not tell his wife Linda until later that day.
Jobcentre worker John said yesterday: “I just couldn’t believe I’d won it. This will change my life completely and Christmas is going to be a blinder this year.
“I was looking at working for another five years at the Jobcentre — but not any longer.”
John and Linda, who have three grandchildren, went to tell their daughter of the win on Sunday night, but still did not crack open a bottle to celebrate because it had not sunk in. And when the internet gambling firm rang to confirm John’s win, he insisted they speak to Linda — because she thought it was a “wind-up”.
She was assured: “You’re wealthy people now.” Even then, John admitted: “It didn’t seem real until the man came around with the big cheque yesterday.”
Ian O’Farrell, head of promotions at ButlersBingo.com, said last night: “We are thrilled to be a record-breaker and pay out the biggest online bingo win ever.
“We cannot wait to deposit the £5,883,044.43 into John’s bank account.”
So far the Jag is John’s only big purchase. He and his family are visiting Centerparcs this weekend to celebrate the big win and discuss what to do with the rest of the money.
Next year is his and Linda’s 25th wedding anniversary and they are determined to celebrate it in style.
They also plan to visit their great-granddaughter in Canada.
The family moved to Long Sutton ten years ago, after the factory that John ran was closed and production moved to China. He said: “We wanted to cut our big mortgage — so we stuck a pin in the map and ended up here.”
This year a US Marine won £1.7million on a fruit machine in Las Vegas.
Previous biggest bingo wins both happened in 2008. Soraya Lowell, 38, won £1.2million in Lanarkshire, Scotland, and Christine Bradfield, 53, won £1.1million in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales.
13/12/2012, 8:00 pm