Bingo and slots are hugely popular casino games and have been for hundreds of years. They’re easy, thrilling and, ultimately, tend to have a solid fan base. A few of these fans have taken their love for the game to the next level by breaking some astounding world records. Here are some of the most famous examples:

The biggest slot machine tournament

Gaming is often seen as a social activity with some casino games offering more opportunities than others for interaction. What could be more social than sharing an incredible world-record-breaking experience with thousands of other slots fans? This is exactly what happened at the world’s largest slot machine tournament which took place in Washington on 30 April 2016. Organised by Muckleshoot Casino and Everi Games Inc, in America, the event involved a whopping 3 173 participants, making it the biggest tournament of its kind to date. Payouts were made to the top 20 players with one player taking home nearly £40 000.

The world’s largest bingo card

Occasionally, people do some pretty extreme and amusing things to ensure they nab a world record title. In 2014, a brand decided to set a world record, during their yearly ball. Along with a group of television stars, they created the biggest bingo card – almost 5m in height and close to 2m in width. They played a hugely entertaining game with it. Not only did they help to raise money for a charity (around £6 000 for the Royal Voluntary Service), they succeeded in breaking a record for the game’s largest card. 

A competitor attempted to take this title from them in 2017 when they created a card that measured 4m x 4m. Unfortunately, while the card was definitely bigger, it was used in a 75-ball game where the former was for a 90-ball game. Therefore, the original 5m x 2m card still wins for that category. In 2019, Gila River Hotels and Casinos claimed the record for a 75-ball game with a ridiculously big 6m x 6m card.

The highest game of bingo ever played

People tend to play bingo in parlours, church halls and, of course, online (from the comfort of their couch). One place where you wouldn’t expect to find people in the throes of a game is at Mount Everest’s base camp. That’s exactly what a group of 24 Gala Coral employees did in 2009 — they made their way up to the base camp and at an altitude of over 5 000m above sea level, decided to play bingo, securing them the world record for the highest game ever played. 

The highest number of slot machines playing the same game at the same time

Today, there is a wealth of incredible slot machine types and variations (both online and on land). Have you ever wondered how many people have played the same slots game at exactly the same time? On 27 April 2013, at Mohegan Sun Montville in Connecticut, Bally Technologies were able to break this record when they organised a group of 1 610 players who then enjoyed the same game simultaneously. 

The largest online bingo game

This amazing record was broken in Tokyo, in 2010, when Coca-Cola Japan organised a special online game. A staggering 493 824 Coca-Cola Park members played a single game of online bingo, which, unsurprisingly, led to it being the largest online game of its type to this day.

The world’s biggest bingo balls

The three casinos that competed for the title of world’s biggest card also challenged each other for the title of world’s biggest bingo balls. Sun Bingo overtook the original record by Gala Bingo and earned themselves the UK title with game balls that measured 75cm x 70cm (far bigger than their competitor’s 60.1cm balls). In 2019, the world title was given to the Gila River Hotels and Casinos when they played a game using massive inflatable balls which each stood over a metre tall.

The biggest on-land slot machine win

While the biggest online slot machine payout was substantial, the biggest on-land slots payout, awarded to an incredibly lucky 25-year-old software engineer from Los Angeles, was truly massive. After putting $100 (around £77) in a machine at the Excalibur Hotel in Las Vegas, he won a staggering $39 713 982 (approximately £30 072 315). It just goes to show, you don’t necessarily need to spend an inordinate amount of money to win when you play slots.

The largest hall jackpot win

In 2008, in Scotland, Soraya Lowell made history by winning a jackpot prize of £1 167 795 when she was playing the National Bingo Game Platinum Jackpot. Not only is that an incredible amount of money, but it’s also unbelievably rare to win such an enormous amount on-land in a game hall — talk about good luck. 

The quickest online bingo jackpot win

One fortunate player, Darryl Howe, set up his first-ever online player profile and 40 minutes later, found himself £18 000 richer after landing a sizeable jackpot. It goes to show that you don’t have to play bingo often to stand the chance of winning. 

The largest bingo game ever

Online bingo has led to a slight decrease in players heading to land-based parlours to play their much-loved game. This wasn’t the case, however, for a game in 2006 which took place in Columbia. A staggering 70 080 people came out to play simultaneously with £250 000 worth of prizes up for grabs. This event won the title of the largest on-land game and is definitely going to be a tough one to beat. 

The largest online slot machine jackpot payout

Lady Luck was certainly on Jon Heywood’s side when he won the largest jackpot payout to date, on 6 October 2015, while playing slots. Any day could be your lucky day when you play slots online and this was certainly his. Jon walked away with an incredible £13 209 300 that day.

Largest bingo drum

Big game balls, massive cards and now, the biggest drum—there’s no stopping people from “thinking big” when it comes to breaking world records. The largest drum measuring just over 3m in diameter and slightly more than 3m in width was created in Japan, in 2017. This insanely large drum was determined to be over 22 times the size of the normal-sized version and was created for an event on New Year’s Eve called MONST Bingo, after a popular mobile game (Monster Strike).

The record for balancing a basket of balls the longest

There are few gaming fans as quirky and dedicated to the game (or, perhaps, to breaking random records) as Canada’s Doug McManaman. This fascinating chap decided to set a new, albeit bizarre, record by placing a full basket of the game’s balls on a pole and then balancing said pole on his chin back in 2010. He managed to sustain this balancing act for 79.4 seconds, earning him this unusual title. 

The largest jackpot payout in a non-pooled online slot machine game

In 2012, a 40-year-old player in Finland, enjoying an online Arabian Nights slot game, found himself propelled to record-breaking stardom when he won the largest jackpot payout in a non-pooled online slot game. During the game, he won a casual £7 321 810. Amazingly, he only bet just over £4 for his win.

The largest game of office bingo

The company to set the Business World Record for the biggest game of office bingo was none other than Mecca Bingo. At the company’s Maidenhead headquarters, some 235 employees gathered (members from the parent company the Rank Group joined as well) to play a massive game that smashed the previous record (which had 97 employees playing). While this was a fabulous company activity and a fun achievement, they also managed to raise over £400 for the Carers Trust charity. 

Will you be at the centre of a gaming world record in the future? Find out by heading to Mecca Bingo where you can play slots or a game of online bingo at any time. This brand is known as one of the oldest and most esteemed gaming operators in the UK, and their online platform allows you to play anything from online bingo and slots to online scratchcards and more. Who knows, today might just be your lucky day.