{"id":295671,"date":"2023-10-25T17:01:18","date_gmt":"2023-10-25T22:01:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=295671"},"modified":"2023-10-26T12:42:49","modified_gmt":"2023-10-26T17:42:49","slug":"uk-lottery-winner-bought-pool-table-now-plays-for-england","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-lottery-winner-bought-pool-table-now-plays-for-england\/","title":{"rendered":"UK Lottery Winner Becomes Pool Champ, Now Plays for England"},"content":{"rendered":"

The first thing UK lottery winner<\/a> Neil Jones bought after collecting a \u00a32.5 million jackpot in 2010 was a good pool table. Thirteen years later, he\u2019s representing his country in the sport. Jones, a former tiler, will play for England this November at the European Pool Championships in Malta.<\/p>\n

\"Neil
Neil Jones, pictured, was broke when he won the lottery in 2010. Now he\u2019s representing England in pool. (Image: Sky News<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After winning the money, Jones quit tiling, and he credits his early retirement as the reason he could hone his pool skills to international standards. Jones said he put in “thousands of hours” of training because his retirement and the COVID lockdown left him with little to do.<\/p>\n

The 59-year-old from Stoke-on-Trent had just \u00a313 in his pocket when he won the \u00a32.5 million. Work had dried up, and Christmas was approaching.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“We\u2019ve just been scraping along,\u201d he told The Daily Mirror<\/em> then. \u201cWe borrowed some money so we could get through Christmas, knowing that in the New Year, there were a couple of jobs possibly in the pipeline.\u201d<\/p>\n

Surprise Win<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Jones and his partner, Julie Kirkham, who worked in a caf\u00e9 at the time, initially thought they\u2019d won just \u00a310. But they soon noticed they\u2019d matched all six numbers in the National Lottery\u2019s Lucky Dip draw.<\/p>\n

I called to Julie to come and check the ticket, too, as my hands were shaking so much. She thought I was pulling her leg,\u201d <\/strong>he said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Jones will now be swapping six balls for an eight ball as he captains the England B1 team in Malta next month. He said he was \u201csobbing\u201d after getting the call.<\/p>\n

Winning History\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Having played snooker as a junior, he rose through the ranks after the lottery win to become a regular pool player for his county, Staffordshire.<\/p>\n

He had his first England trial in 2021, but narrowly missed out. He got another shot in 2023, and this time, he made the grade. It was like winning the lottery. He just wishes his dad was still here to share in the moment.<\/p>\n

My dad was so supportive of me. He was so proud,\u201d<\/strong> Jones said. \u201cWhen he was in hospital, I used to tell him the county results every month and he\u2019d say: \u2018You really want this, don\u2019t you? It will come.\u2019 And it did \u2013 it was really emotional.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Jones said his wealth hasn’t changed the way he\u2019s seen by friends at his local pool club. They respect him for his talents, not his money.<\/p>\n

‘It’s about what you can achieve because money can’t buy you an England place,\u201d he said. “Winning the lottery allowed me to put those hours in. If I didn’t win, I wouldn’t have been able to buy the table, I wouldn’t have had the time. I’d still be on my hands and knees, tiling.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The first thing UK lottery winner Neil Jones bought after collecting a \u00a32.5 million jackpot in 2010 was a good pool table. Thirteen years later, he\u2019s representing his country in the sport. Jones, a former tiler, will play for England this November at the European Pool Championships in Malta. After winning the money, Jones quit […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":295672,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13699,82968,16],"tags":[88538,13701,88537],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nUK Lottery Winner Bought Pool Table, Now Plays for England<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Lottery winner Neil Jones from Stoke, UK, will represent England at the European Pool Championships in Malta.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-lottery-winner-bought-pool-table-now-plays-for-england\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UK Lottery Winner Bought Pool Table, Now Plays for England\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Lottery winner Neil Jones from Stoke, UK, will represent England at the European Pool Championships in Malta.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-lottery-winner-bought-pool-table-now-plays-for-england\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-10-25T22:01:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-10-26T17:42:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Neil-Jones.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"666\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-lottery-winner-bought-pool-table-now-plays-for-england\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-lottery-winner-bought-pool-table-now-plays-for-england\/\",\"name\":\"UK Lottery Winner Bought Pool Table, Now Plays for England\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-lottery-winner-bought-pool-table-now-plays-for-england\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-lottery-winner-bought-pool-table-now-plays-for-england\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Neil-Jones.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-10-25T22:01:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-26T17:42:49+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Lottery winner Neil Jones from Stoke, UK, will represent England at the European Pool Championships in Malta.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-lottery-winner-bought-pool-table-now-plays-for-england\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-lottery-winner-bought-pool-table-now-plays-for-england\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-lottery-winner-bought-pool-table-now-plays-for-england\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Neil-Jones.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Neil-Jones.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":666,\"caption\":\"Neil Jones, pictured, was broke when he won the lottery in 2010. 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