How much money does anyone actually expect to win online? Whether it’s cards, bingo or online slots, I reckon that the answer is ‘not very much’. Unless you’re a professional Hold ‘Em player, or particularly adept at the game, you probably play for the pure fun of it. Throw a couple of pounds in, buy your time at the tables, then retire. Let’s say you gambled 25p. A measly sum. Would £100 be considered a lot to win from that? How about £500? £5,000? £500,000? How about £13.2 million? The stuff that dreams are made of surely! Well, not quite. Not if you happen to Jon Heywood, a British soldier who won £13.2 million overnight after betting just 25p online.
Heywood won the insane amount in a simple online slot machine, and it could be a world record for largest jackpot payout ever won on such a site. The previous record was set in Finland in 2013, for a sum of €17,861,813, but the current sterling to euro exchange rate suggests Jon has beaten this staggering amount with his net total of €17,879,645 (and twelve cent). Online slots are fast becoming one of the most popular games in the world of online gambling and with payouts like that it’s easy to see why. They’re also becoming more safe and secure by the month (check out this 888 casino review to see how and why), with more and more themed sites cropping up.
In fact, the whole online gambling industry is literally booming in 2015. Online poker, always a firm favourite with players, take in and hand out thousands upon thousands per month. Then there’s online bingo, another big hitter; it’s not just for your Nan these days, there’s gold in them there hills. With increased competition come increased incentives, and again, the bingo tables come in all shapes and sizes. Many sites now offer a sign up bonus if you decide to play with them, such as this moon bingo bonus, offering a whole lot of lunar bang for your buck.
All in all, it’s a great time to be an online gambler. But it’s also a great time to be Jon Heywood. Amazingly, the 26-year-old soldier, who’s served tours in Afghanistan, kept the big win quiet for three days. Obviously in some sort of dream-like shock, he even went to work the next day. And like the hero he no doubt is, the first place the money’s going to be spent is on the best possible treatment for his father, who’s currently waiting on a heart and lung transplant. But there’s bound to be some left over for a Bentley Continental GT (or five).