Stephen Jago will have a Merry Christmas, after all. So will his friend, Barb MacDonald.

Tuesday evening, Jago and MacDonald went to play Bingo in Maple Ridge. He´d been working six or seven days a week, dispatching taxis, and needed a break.

"I was taking a day off work," said Jago, 52. "A friend invited me to play Bingo, because the carry-over was on that night."

The two friends played the Must-Go Link game at 8:30 p.m., a province-wide game that holds a once-monthly jackpot grab bag. Money that has not been won over the month goes into the pot.
MacDonald, who plays Bingo frequently, bought a couple of cards when they arrived at Haney Bingoplex on 224th Street. "We played it out till we won," Jago said. He won $125,726.66.
Jago will only take home half of the money, though. He gave the other half to MacDonald.

"We went there with an agreement to split it," she said.
Jago only plays Bingo, on average, once or twice a year. Of the eight or so times he´s played, he said he has won about five times, $400 being the most until Tuesday.

He was calm at first. "I knew that I won, but didn´t know the full amount," Jago said. "She was more excited than I was, tears and make up running down her face," he said of MacDonald. "Steve´s like the Perry Como of Bingo," she said, "and I was Riverdancing. Everyone thought I´d won it."

Winning was a stroke of luck for the two of them, as both have cars that need repairs. "We needed it, we were treading water all the time," she said.

Aside from taking care of themselves with their winnings, they´ll also help out close relatives. "We both have large families," Jago said, "so we´ll be helping them out." Jago said he´s also going to invest a fair chunk of his half and save the rest. "It´s nice to win this time of year," he said.