A British soldier has won £13.2 million (€17.8 million) from a 23p bet. 26-year-old John Heywood from Chesire won his millions after placing a bet online. His jackpot totals to £13,213,838.68 which he won on Betway.com playing Microgaming’s Mega Moolah game late on October 6.
John plans to spend the money on getting his father, who is waiting on a heart and lung transplant, the best possible medical care. He said: “I couldn’t believe that I’d won all this money at the time – and it still hasn’t sunk in. It’s amazing. The first thing I will spend it on is the best possible medical treatment for my dad. That’s more important than anything. Family comes first and I’d give all this money back for him to be healthy again.”
Mr Heywood also plans to pay for his relatives to go on a Mediterranean cruise, but the Formula 1 fan is also going to spend some of his winnings on a flashy car. He said: “I’m trying not to get carried away and I really don’t know what else I’m going to buy with the money, apart from a yellow Bentley Continental GT. I never even dreamed of driving a Bentley, let alone owning one. I’ve got a Fiat Punto at the moment.”
Alan Alger, a Betway spokesman, said: “We couldn’t be happier for Jon – he’s an incredibly nice guy and his family will benefit immensely from his huge win.”
The winnings also set a world record for the largest jackpot payout in an online slot machine game, beating the previous landmark of 17,861,813 euros, set in Finland in 2013.