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The Biggest Bingo Winner – A Tale of Woe

When most people think about huge jackpot wins, they usually think of the lottery. You might be surprised to learn that bingo can pay out some huge prizes as well. OK...not on the scale of the lottery, but never the less big enough to be classed as life altering. One such lucky winner was a certain Soraya Lowell who managed to win a massive £1,167,795 via a game of bingo. By doing so, she became the biggest bingo winner in the history of the game. But her good fortune turned into a tale of woe.

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Introduction: Biggest Bingo Winner

Soraya was a typically normal person. She worked as a cleaner in Hamilton Lanarkshire near Glasgow. An in her spare time in the evening she enjoyed a game of bingo. She often went to the bingo hall with her neighbor, Agnes O’Neill. They were good friends and always had an agreement that if one of them won, they would split the monies between them equally. On an evening in March 2008, while playing bingo “Top of the Shop 90”, Soraya hit the jackpot. At first, she thought she’d won £470…and was delighted. But then it dawned on the pair of friends that she had in fact won the massive jackpot prize of over £1 million.

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An Honorable Person

In the history of gambling, partnerships is littered with broken promises and broken friendships. Often times the winner of a huge jackpot will simply flat out refuse to honor any previous arrangements or promises made. They believe that the broken friendship and eternal damnation is but a small price to pay for being able to hang onto every last penny. But Soraya wasn’t one of those types. Without a moment of hesitation, she was the bingo winner who split the payment right down the middle. Each would receive £583,898.

Let Things Remain The Same

Of course, half a million isn’t enough to buy a yacht and sail off into the sunset. But it’s enough if managed well, to see someone through to retirement and beyond. Soraya was earning minimum wage as a cleaner, though she did say that she enjoyed her job, along with the people she worked with. “I really love my job and said right away I didn’t have any plans to leave,” stated Soraya. While she was thinking about her present job, she wasn’t sure what to do with this sudden windfall.

Biggest Bingo Winner: Money In The Bank

“It’s easy to say what you’re going to do with the money before you win it,” she explained. “But in reality, it’s very tough. I haven’t got the slightest idea what to do with it.” The thing is, she and her husband, though not at all wealthy, had everything they needed. A car, a house where she was happy and both had a steady job they enjoyed. “I had bought a car just before I won, so I don’t need a new one and I love my house and my neighbors so moving is out of the question,” said Soraya. “[…] But for now, the money will be staying in the bank.”

The Slippery Slope

Not a bad plan. Though the eighties were a horrible time for the stock market, bank interest rates for savers were still between 4 – 5% or an extra £25,000 coming in each year. Though Soraya and her husband, Frankie started off with good intentions as far as their spending would go, once they started, they found it difficult to stop. Even though she has said on so many occasions that she was already living in the house of her dreams, they decided to buy another house, all for a whopping £150,000. OK, considering they had won almost half a million, then a house for £150,000 it’s such a bad deal. Is it? Well…

Bad Investments

For reasons unknown, the couple decided to invest in the purchase of….an ice cream truck. They hoped to turn it into a lucrative business. Maybe someone should have pointed out that in the UK, no, in Scotland, there’s not that much sunny weather and it’s certainly not all year round. As you can imagine, the bills began to mount. It finally reached a point whereby they were unable to pay their local taxes. South Lanarkshire Council took them to court over an outstanding £13,214 in unpaid tax in 2012. A couple of weeks later and they lost their four-bedroom house after the mortgage payments became unsustainable. The Bank of Scotland seized the house and it was put up for public auction.

Biggest Bingo Winner: Crippling Debt

Finally, the couple had to go to the local council debt advice service in order to make sense of their huge debts. Because of their financial troubles, they were able to move back into their first home, luckily for them, as it still hadn’t been sold. So, to cut a long story short, they ended up where they began, except this time they were burdened with debt. In spite of such a huge windfall, they never really got to enjoy any fruits from their good fortune. And it was the same for her partner in the prize.

Anges O’Neill who had received the other half a million never lived to enjoy any of it. Just two months after the bingo win, she peacefully passed away in her sleep. She never had the time to touch even a single penny of it.

Biggest Bingo Winner: Lack Of Advice

The whole story of Soraya and her friend and the sheer lack of advice and help they were given after such a life-altering event is the real tragedy. How can anyone know how to handle such a huge amount of cash, instantly falling into your mundane life, and expect to remain calm and with a level head. Though this reads like an Elizabethan morality play, with the story arch bringing us full circle, it’s just a sad indictment of the times.

Tips to Avoid Blowing a Gambling Jackpot

If you ever find yourself in Soraya’s shoes there are a number of steps you should follow to avoid her story.

Hire a Financial Advisor

Your bank will offer to put you in touch with a financial advisor. Having a sum of six or seven figures readily available is beyond the realms of mere mortals. So advice should be sought from institutions that deal with large personal fortunes on a daily basis. They will certainly open your eyes to the possibilities of wealth management. Also, they will help to guide you away from the natural instinct of starting to spend. You may also think about hiring a lawyer as you’ll be bombarded with frivolous lawsuits looking for a piece of your pie.

Pay Off Credit Cards & Other Debts

Now you finally have some serious money, one of the very first things to do, is to pay off any outstanding debts. This might be a car payment, credit card debt, or a mortgage. Many winners of large prizes start spending without thinking of their prior commitments. And then before they know it, they’re sitting in bankruptcy court. Once all your debts are clean, you’ll have a better understanding of exactly where you’re standing from a clear financial perspective.

Don’t Brag About Your Win

Life is hard for many people. The struggle of the daily grind of work coupled with never having quite enough money for all those things that you believe might make you happy. And that’s why, if good fortune smiles in your direction, you really should keep quiet about it. Otherwise, all those distant relatives will crawl out of the woodwork. Through a process of passive/aggression, they will wear you down. With their get rich quick schemes and places where your money will be better put to work. So, don’t post a photo of your new Bentley on social media. Also, stay away from the press. Remember they are not after a happy story as that doesn’t sell newsprint.

Avoid Rash Decisions

Soraya was smart in the beginning. She said she didn’t need a new home. Because they had just bought a new car a few months before the win, they didn’t need to go out and splurge on a new luxury vehicle. But after the first taste of spending, she was unstoppable and before she knew what was happening, she was up to her neck in problems. You’d be surprised at just how quickly a six or seven-figure sum can disappear. Most people stop working, meaning that there are no more incomings, only outgoings. In effect, you have transitioned into a full-time money spender. Thus the pot grows ever smaller as each day passes. So we suggest that you hang on to your job. Take your time to consider your options. There’s no hurry.

Don’t Make Drastic Lifestyle Changes

The life you’re living in the most comfortable life you can have. On the whole, you’re in the environment where you’re happiest. Many winners of large prizes go off to live someone else’s life. A life they’ve seen on the TV or in a movie. They make a drastic change to their lives, and try and become someone else in the course of a couple of weeks. You’ll make a better decision about your own lifestyle if you stay with your feet firmly planted on the ground.

Prepare for an Emotional Struggle

Many people, if suddenly gifted with a huge sum of cash, will become catatonic and unable to function. They can become suddenly afraid that, by doing anything, they might lose it all. They might find themselves becoming paranoid that others around them are scheming to take it away. Having a sudden and stressful change come barging into our lives can alter our mental state. Though for most people, a large win is a dream come true, the reality is very different. You’ll be bombarded by family and friends wanting loans, scammers will be snapping at your heels and there’ll even be lawsuits which make no sense. Charities and absolute strangers will hound you with sob stories. It will get very stressful.

Conclusion: Biggest Bingo Winner

Soraya Lowell is a story that speaks to everyone deep down. Glad that she won, we are also equally happy, in a snide way, to read of her downfall. The fact that in spite of all that money, she still failed at the possibility of a new life. It’s a Victorian tale from Charles Dickens, of a woman trying to rise above her God-given station in life. And falling back down to earth with a bump. But whatever befell her, she was an honorable woman, who split the money as agreed. She received either no advice or bad advice. What became of her wasn’t her fault, but the fault of circumstance.

People who are not used to any sums of money larger than a couple of hundred pounds cannot be expected to remain cool and logical. Especially when faced with the prospect of millions. And we can see that as this story of rags to riches to rags, is on continuous repeat around the world, as the financially ordinary become financially extraordinary in the blink of an eye.