She didn’t realise she had triggered the jackpot at first
A Hull woman has won over £50,000(Image: Mecca Bingo)
A Hull bingo player has won £50,500 at Mecca Bingo last Sunday. The winner, who wished to remain anonymous, was enjoying an evening out with her best friend at the Clough Road site when she scooped up the prize playing on the National Bingo Game.
The jackpot is triggered when a player matches all the numbers on their ticket and claims a ‘full house’ within the first 16 numbers being called. Mecca Hull’s Josie Douthwaite was the caller on the game.
She described the moment she announced the win: “It was a usual busy Sunday, and I knew that when the customer shouted to claim, it was on the 16th number, and I thought ‘oh my god!’. I was so excited, I was jumping up and down!”
Assistant manager, Bea Houghton, confirmed the win. She said: “I heard Josie announce that a claim had been made on the 16th number and because the customer was playing on a paper bingo ticket, I needed to verify the win.
“Everyone was so excited, but because the winner isn’t a regular player, she didn’t realise that she’d triggered the jackpot and couldn’t understand why Josie was hopping about! She was very happy with the £500 club prize, but when she realised that she’d won another £50,000 on top of that, she was so shocked, she was shaking.”
When the win was confirmed over the mic, the whole club burst into applause. “Everyone was smiling and so happy,” Josie added.
“I’ve been working here since 2024 – last year the club paid out £2.7m in prize money, but this is the first time that I’ve announced a jackpot win of that size to a single player. I think I was even more excited than the winner! I took a minute to calm down and collect myself before I could start calling the next game!”
She continued: “I love seeing the younger players come in. You see them join for a laugh, because they think bingo is kitsch, and then they realise what a great and affordable night out it is and keep coming back.”
Did you know you can make Hull Live a preferred source of Hull news in Google, which will mean you get more of our breaking news, exclusives, and must-read stories straight away? Here’s more information about what this means and how to do it – you can also do it straight away by clicking here.