Last month it was reported that a 26 year old single mother won herself an incredible £60,000 from a national newspaper bingo competition.

Very obviously thrilled with her amazing good fortune the mother is full of plans for her little daughter’s future. Money makes a difference to everyone’s lives and she is very happy to have won this huge amount. She plans to set aside £20,000 in a trust fund for her 18 month old daughter Phoebe who will be able to access that money when she is 18 years old. The rest of the money is going towards some improvements and a holiday for the mother and daughter right away. Nice one! Bingo brings happiness and on occasions, life-changing wins!

Another woman, from Morecambe has made it through to the finals of the Ultimate Bingo Championships held in Gibraltar. She has the chance to scoop a massive £100,000 prize.

She said: “I had a great time at the semi-finals in Leeds and if I perform just as well at the finals then I’ll be very happy. I’m taking my best friend with me to Gibraltar although I haven’t even thought about what I’ll do with the money if I do win!”

Members of the North of England clubs involved include Barnsley, Blackburn, Bradford, Burnley, Chorley, Doncaster, Grimsby, Keighley, Preston, Rotherham, Scunthorpe, Wakefield, Sheffield Parkway and Sheffield Wadsley will all be jetting off to Gibraltar for the chance to become “The Ultimate” winner of 2011 including prize money worth £100,000 and a luxurious holiday for two to Las Vegas.

But a medium size win (say, £250-1000) can also be tasty- in fact I know a few Bingo players who have told me that they wouldn’t want “Life-changing” wins. They are happy with something nice to supplement their existing lifestyle rather than change it. One person, who shall be nameless, also says that if ever she had the big win, it would worry her, and she’d probably end up frittering it away, or even ignoring it, rather than allow it to change her life!  Well, each to his or her own I guess, but I do think that I could cope with a big win. Hope I can put it to the test sometime! You could always view a big win as a series of smaller wins, and draw out the smaller amount each month?

And that’s what I love about the people who play Bingo- we are all different and have our own views, favourites and plans. Good luck to all of us!