Biggest Ever Scratchcard Wins

Many people view scratchcards as a way to win a few pounds here or there, knowing that the jackpot is unlikely to be won. Obviously, the purchasers of these cards are attracted to the potential big win. But they think it won’t happen and that in all likelihood, they will only ever make a few quid. Or maybe their money back at best. Well, that would be a mistake. Many players have walked away with huge sums of money from scratchcards.

For a lot of people, a scratchcard win usually means your money back but for some people, life-changing amounts have been won. You can try your own luck by playing either physical or online scratchcards, which are routinely available at most internet casinos. The online scratchcards use a similar random number generator (RNG) to the ever popular online slots, ensuring fairness for players.

In honour of the scratchers of the UK, we’ve drawn up a list of the biggest scratchcard winners in UK history.

Scratching A Living

In the summer of 2016, Amadou Gillen, a Gambian immigrant to the United Kingdom, while on his break from a shift working as a pub kitchen manager in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, purchased two £10 scratchcards from nearby newsagents. At a cost of £20, he scratched the first ticket to reveal that he had won back £10, to halve his potential loss.

However, the second card revealed he had become a millionaire four times over. In that moment, Gillen had unearthed the UK’s biggest ever scratchcard jackpot of £4 MILLION. Then, during Christmas 2017, Melissa Ede also won £4 MILLION thanks to a scratchcard to equal the record.

In Lanarkshire, Scotland housewife Grace Walker scooped a cool £1 MILLION after she chose the card based purely on its colour! Walker lists her favourite colour as pink and on this occasion, it changed her life, not that she plans on moving anytime soon. Grace and her husband decided to stay in the same council house that has been their home for over 30 years. While Grace has also pledged to keep on buying those scratchcards.

Then there was the case of the 66-year-old grandmother and retired cleaner whose impulse purchase resulted in a £1 MILLION pay day.

Elsewhere, bride-to-be, Jackie Murphy made the wise decision to buy a scratchcard after a long day at work. After scratching it for £1 MILLION, Murphy and her groom were in the more than comfortable position to be able to offer their wedding guests a free bar after the service.

Speaking of bars, bartender Lewis Rider is another to have collected £1 MILLION. Rider is not a regular scratcher and only bought one at the spur of the moment while shopping for dog food. As well as investing in properties at home and in Spain, he also pledged to make a meeting happen between himself and his idol Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Arnie fan Rider even spent £20,000 on Schwarzenegger memorabilia but never managed to meet his hero after the star’s bodyguards told him he was too drunk to meet Arnold and terminated discussions.

A Very Happy New Year

Then there is the case of Susan Richards who went two better when she scooped £3 MILLION courtesy of a scratcher, she bought at the end of a 12-hour shift. Then employed as a carer, she stopped at the supermarket on her way home and only bought the ticket because she had the exact change needed in her pocket which she turned into a life-changing amount. This, she claimed, would be put towards a once in a lifetime holiday to the United States in memory of her late father.

In 2016, Ross Hearst saw the new year in the most special way possible after he bagged a £4 Million from a scratcher he picked up as part of a casual purchase. Inspired by some early modest wins, Hearst picked up the winning ticket on New Year’s Day and after receiving confirmation of his prize from the officials he tried 22 times to contact his pregnant wife and tell her the timely good news.

So, you see there are lots of people who have won life-changing amounts with scratchcards and these are just the ones we know about as some choose to remain anonymous. Now, these cards are available online too, available at different stakes so even if you can’t make it to the corner shop or local supermarket, you still have the chance to win big prizes with scratchcards.