Why it’s better to bet with friends

Winnie the Pooh and Piglet.

“We’ll be Friends forever, won’t we, Pooh?’ asked Piglet.

Even longer,’ Pooh answered.”

― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

In the past week, Two Little Fleas has carried two stories of friends sharing their winnings. In one instance, a pair of middle-aged bingo players split their winnings between themselves, each working away with a tidy £25,000. While a decorator from Edinburgh split his lottery winnings with his best pal and fellow work colleague.

It is difficult not to be touched by this act of kindness. Indeed, when most people think of winning the lottery or winning big at bingo, cutting half the amount immediately to fund a friend is perhaps not quite what many of us have in mind. I ask you, reader, whether this is the case for you – would you halve your winnings for a friend? Or, would you, like most, immediately think of a new car, a new house, and a luxurious holiday?

Willie Sibbald, 48, from Edinburgh (right) with his best friend Rab Layden, who he is sharing his £7 million lottery win with.

At the end of the day, you are only human, so the immediate lust for material goods will most likely be top of your list, particularly in this day and age when it can feel like you never have enough. Believe me, I know.

It is undoubtedly a pretty big ask to share half you winnings with a pal. I did a quick Google to see if this week’s splitting of winning tickets was a one-off, or whether there are countless other examples. I was pleasantly surprised to find a few cases pretty quickly. One of these was a sweet story about three old friends in America who had long held a pact that if one of them won the lottery, they would all split the winnings. Commenting on his $1 million winning ticket, the generous friend said on sharing his jackpot: “I was just as tickled for them as I was for myself. We just had a verbal agreement and I felt like that had to be honoured.” What an honourable chap, I thought to myself reading this.

Friends Beverley Tinkler and Debora Sturnam shared a £50,000 jackpot from the Halifax Mecca Bingo Hall.

The painter and decorator who won £7 million this week said that he and his friend have played the lottery every week for years, both buying their own two tickets, on the promise that if one of them was ever to win, the two men would always make sure that the other never needed to work again. Upon hearing the news that his friend had won the lottery and that he would be splitting it as agreed, his pal said that “The trust and the loyalty is there, there was never any doubt about it. Truth and honesty always comes to the fore.” They celebrated their win together with a pint.

What a lovely sentiment! I can’t help but be tickled by the idea of two chums sharing a huge jackpot and chuckling about it in a pub over the usual! (The only downside of this story – as an avid England supporter – is that the two men are avid followers of the Scottish national football team, and are going to start travelling for away matches!).

Also this week, in a Mecca Bingo Hall in Halifax, two women who have been friends for 35 years, shared a £50,000 jackpot prize, each walking away with £25,000. The best friends said that they always share their winnings, and that this huge money was no exception.

I don’t know about you, but I find these stories inspirational, and I can’t help but think just how important friends really are in life: they are there for you in times of need, in times of trouble, and in times of happiness. You can be silly with them, you can laugh with them and you can cry with them.  Appreciate them.