UK Veteran Strikes it Big With Record-Setting Mega Moolah Jackpot Win
This month lady luck smiled upon a 26 year old UK man, who ended up winning the Microgaming Mega Moolah progressive jackpot for a record-setting £13,213,838.68 (which translates to €17,879,645.12), the largestprogressive jackpot ever won online. The huge prize was won by Jon Heywood, who is currently serving as a soldier in the UK military and struck the huge win while spinning the reels at Betway Casino. Heywood scored the jackpot on just a 25p wager, and was amazingly able to compose himself to report to duty a short time later.
Speaking out about his big win the Afghanistan War veteran said, "It's all so surreal, and I can't come to terms with it just yet, I just kept staring at my screen and seeing this huge number in my Betway account."
With the big win also comes some sobering news from Mr. Heywood, who noted that his father is currently very ill and awaiting multiple organ transplants. The jackpot winner said he plans to use some of his money to help make sure his dad gets the treatment done. "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,” Heywood said.
The jackpot win was first picked up by gambling website Casino Listings , who independently tracks more than 760 progressive jackpots tied to slot machines, video poker, and table games from several of the world’s top gambling software groups. Since it began tracking progressive jackpots, the Casino Listings has recorded more than 96,600 progressive jackpot wins worth more than $1.4 billion.
Shortly after the win was recorded and reported by the Casino Listings news team, word began to spread across the internet as intrigued readers wanted to know who won the big prize. Eventually it was discovered that Mr. Heywood scored the win at Betway Casino, a betting site powered by Microgaming’s Quickfire platform and licensed through the jurisdictions of Malta and the United Kingdom. Because the win was recorded in UK Sterling Pounds, the jackpot translated to €17,879,645.12, which effectively beats the previous progressive jackpot record that was held by Net Entertainment’s Mega Fortune Mega video slot at €17,860,868, which was won in January 2013 at Paf Casino. The grand difference between the two wins: a mere €18,777.
Commenting on the big win Microgaming CEO Roger Raatgever said, "We have the longest-standing progressive jackpot network, having launched the first internet progressive jackpot in 1998, as well as the biggest, having paid out over half a billion Euros to date. Our progressive jackpot network has set many records since its inception, but I'm absolutely overjoyed to say that our software has generated the world's largest ever online jackpot win. Many congratulations to Jonathon on this life-changing and historic win!"
Betway Spokesman Alan Alger added: "We are delighted for Jonathon and having met him the day after his win we can honestly say that it couldn't happen to a nicer young man. We hope he really enjoys the World Record win."
The Mega Moolah progressive jackpot is one of several offered by Microgaming. The prize is tied to several video slots in Microgaming’s library including Mega Moolah, Mega Moolah 5 Reel Drive, Mega Moolah Isis, Mega Moolah Summertime, and The Dark Knight. In addition to the Mega Jackpot there is also the Mega Moolah Major Jackpot, which is hit roughly every three days and has much smaller prizes.
