UK punter wins record €17.9m jackpot playing Microgaming slot on Betway

betway-online-slot-jackpot-recordOnline gambling software provider Microgaming and UK-licensed operator Betway will likely show slight dips in their next quarterly profit reports after a UK player set a new record for biggest online progressive slots jackpot.

On Saturday, Microgaming confirmed that Jon Heywood, a British solider from Cheshire who has done stints in Afghanistan, had earned €17,879,645.12 playing Microgaming’s Mega Moolah progressive slot at Betway. Heywood’s win is almost €18k higher than the previous record set by a Finnish player on NetEnt’s Mega Fortune progressive in 2013.

Heywood, whose lucky spin cost him a mere 25p, made his score just before midnight on Tuesday. Heywood says he spent a long time “staring at my screen and seeing this huge number in my Betway account” but showed up for work in the morning as usual and didn’t tell anyone about his good fortune for a full three days.

Betway spokesman Alan Alger said his firm was “delighted” to have one of its customers set the record and “having met him the day after his win, we can honestly say that it couldn’t happen to a nicer young man.”

Microgaming CEO Roger Raatgever said his firm had paid out “over half a billion Euros” via its online progressive slots since 1998 and congratulated Heywood on his “life-changing and historic win.”

Heywood says his first priority will be to ensure that his father, who is awaiting a heart and lung transplant, gets the “best possible medical treatment.” After that, Heywood plans to take his relatives on a Mediterranean cruise and treat himself to a yellow Bentley Continental GT to replace his aging Fiat Punto.