Before winning the national lottery, Neil Jones was a tiler who had just ￡13 ($16.26) in his pocket when he bought the ticket that would make him ￡2.4 million ($3.3 million) richer. The lottery win allowed 59-year-old Jones to retire early, and one of his first purchases as a millionaire was a pool table. He had always had a fascination with pool, having played as a youngster. Not long after winning the lottery, Jones went to the local pool hall and ran into a friend. The pair began a friendly game of pool, after which Jones went home and measured his dining room so he could buy a decent pool table. Not long after, COVID struck and the lockdowns began. With a lot of time on his hands, Jones used his isolation to practice his skills at pool. He got so good, in fact, that he represented England at the European Pool Championships in Malta. His only regret is that his father wasn’t alive to see him play. Jones explained that when his dad was in the hospital, he would tell him about his pool competitions every month, and once his father said, “You really want this don’t you? It will come.” Thanks to the lottery, it did.
