Growing up around the bingo halls and arcades of Blackpool, it’s easy to see how that would shape the life of a young boy who went on to become one of the most colourful figures in the Northern Ireland business world.
Michael Futter, who passed away on Tuesday aged 79, was a very well-known face around north Down after moving to Bangor, and was later referred to as the “bingo king of Ireland”.
Bingo was his business, but horse racing was his sport. In 2003, as the lead owner of Monty’s Pass in a syndicate of Donaghadee friends, he landed the big one with a win in the Grand National.
“He told everyone he knew in Northern Ireland to put money on it,” said his daughter Dani.
“Many of them did, but we were worried he was going to cost them all a fortune at the time.”
Futter placed bets across the country, leaving bookies out of pocket to the tune of an estimated £800,000.
“People might say he was flamboyant, but anyone who knew him saw him as a calm family man — someone who took things in his stride,” added Dani.
Following the Grand National victory, he celebrated quietly with a lemonade as his co-owners danced and cheered in the winner’s enclosure.
“I am going to have a house built in Donaghadee and I will have to call it Monty’s something,” Futter said at the time.
He did build a family home, on the Mourne Road in the town, and Dani said that his first thought was always on spoiling his family with whatever came his way.
“He did lead an exciting life, but he led it without being pretentious. He was always a glass half-full kind of man.
“He did love a holiday. The full-on family holiday, and he always treated us all. He always wanted to share it. He always had a round-the-year tan!”
Monty’s Pass on his way to victory at the 2003 Grand National
However, it wasn’t only Futter’s family — wife Janet and his three daughters — who benefitted.
After landing the Grand National, some £75,000 went on gifting free cards to players in his Planet Bingo halls, north and south of the border.
“I told all my customers that Monty’s Pass would win, and as far as I’m concerned, that’s an early Christmas present for them,” he said.
And they were toasting the tip in one village south of the border.
Virtually all of the 1,000-strong community from Conna on the Cork/Waterford border, where Monty’s Pass was trained by Jimmy Mangan, trusted his knowledge.
Local man Michael Sinclair said: “I don’t know a single person in the village who didn’t have a few euro on Monty.
“This will pay for cars, holidays and probably a few home extensions.”
Futter got his first taste of Northern Ireland life when visiting his sister, who had married a Belfast man.
“Having worked as a bingo hall manager in Blackpool, one of the first things he asked when he arrived was ‘where are the bingo halls?’” said Dani.
“He spotted an opportunity and was never one to turn away from them. That was the start of Planet Bingo.”
He’d been grabbing those opportunities all his life.
“When he was young, he played a bit of cards to make a pound or two, and he’d be found hanging about the games machines at Blackpool’s Pleasure Beach,” Dani added.
“He would stand and watch and work out when the machines were about to pay out, take his chance and pick up the winnings.
“But the security guards spotted what he was up to. He told them he’d give them a cut of the winnings if they stayed quiet. That was my dad, every time a wall was in front of him, he found a way to get over it.”
With six bingo halls — four in Northern Ireland and two in the Republic — and a liking for a flutter on the horses, Futter became one of the most recognisable figures in the business and horse racing worlds.
“When they knew he was going along to the races at Down Royal, they even made him a special pavlova for when he got there,” said Dani.
“People loved being around him. His family more than anyone.
“When he and mum were renewing their wedding vows, they decided to do it in the Turks and Caicos.
“But he wanted to share the moment and paid for 26 people to travel out there with them.”
Friends of Michael Futter celebrate the Monty’s Pass win in the Grand National at Pier 36 in Donaghadee
However, Futter suffered a serious stroke 11 years ago.
Dani explained: “It was frustrating for him as he couldn’t get out as much as he wanted to — hardly at all in the last couple of years. He loved being around other people and they loved having him in their company.
“My dad was always good for a few stories.
“He may have looked crazy sometimes, but that scruffy hairstyle was so much part of him — natural, no ego, just someone who wanted to enjoy life the best he could.
“He was the best husband to the love of his life Janet and the best dad to Paula, Joanna, and me. He was also a cherished grandad to Taylor, Natalie, Calvin, and Alex.”
There will be one final toast to the bingo king’s life.
Dani said: “We will be honouring his life with a funeral service at S. Clarke and Son’s Funeral Church in Bangor on Wednesday, January 22, at 2pm, then proceeding to Clandeboye Cemetery for the burial.
“We would like to invite all those who may wish to pay their respects and say farewell.”