At 888 we have a lot of jackpots. As a courtesy, we like to call our players to congratulate them and answer any queries they might have.
While every jackpot winner is a delight to speak to, this one was particularly heartening.
Our winner lives in Kent, but is originally from East Africa. Rather down on his luck, E.Y was sleeping on his friend’s couch at the time that he hit the jackpot.
So what happened?
E.Y opens a new account at 888, makes a £20 deposit to get an additional £50 bonus, and starts playing the slot-game, Millionaire Genie.
Pretty quickly he finds himself up £80, but it’s a rollercoaster ride and he’s soon down again. At one stage he’s up £200, but Lady Luck is a fickle one. At £70, E.Y decides it’s time to cash-in.
But while walking the dog, he decides to give it just one more spin at £1.5 for good luck and… DING! DING! DING!
JAAAACCKKKPOOTTTT!!!
At first the coin doesn’t drop. He merely receives a notification and clicks “OK”. But after checking his account balance, he sees he’s been credited with a jaw-dropping 2.9 MILLION POUNDS!
It all sinks in when seconds later he receives our call to confirm his win and to quickly guide him through the next steps.
How will he spend it?
Overcome with relief and euphoria, E.Y tells us that he’s been volunteering at his local church’s homeless shelter. Inspired by its impact, he plans to open a similar charity, first in Kent and then in his hometown in East Africa. He also wants to invest in expanding opportunity in his local community back home, by opening a school and library there.
A few days later we gave him a follow-up call to confirm that the funds had hit his bank account. E.Y told us that he was surprised by how quickly the funds had gone through and thanked us for the support. “The follow up call and everything you do is superb…you make someone feel valued”.
Before thanking him for his time, we asked the player if he had any other plans for that day. He said he had to go somewhere, as he’d invited someone out for lunch. When we asked, he said it was a homeless chap he was treating to lunch.
