Belgian bingo magnate Willy Michiels has passed away, and Eduardo Antoja dedicates these extraordinary words to him (Video)

Willy Michiels, a pioneer and Belgian gaming tycoon in the 1980s, died in Brussels at the age of 82 as a result of a stroke.

He was called "king of bingo", as he was the inventor, or perhaps introducer, of the machine known as "Belgian bingo" or ball bingo. Founder and perpetual president of the UBA, Belgian Automatic Union, he was also president of Euromat for many years, in various terms. I succeeded him in office in 1999.

Every two years he invited us to dinner, on the occasion of the general assembly, in his beautiful castle of Moorsel, about 30 km from Brussels. Built in 1546, Willy completely restored it and turned it into an almost palatial residence.

Willy owned, they said, the second largest private wine collection in Europe. His castle had three wineries: one for Bordeaux wines, one for Burgundy and a third, smaller one, with wines from other origins. The only Spanish wine he collected was Vega Sicilia Único, he knew no other.

The dinner, which only organized the years in which there were no elections for the presidency of Euromat "so as not to influence", was quite a ritual. A light aperitif with champagne was followed by a first course of goose foie gras with Sauternes, and bushmeat with Burgundy red. Then, dessert, coffee, and liquor, enlivened by a musical trio for a long half hour. But he always warned us that whoever drank any high-grade liquor would not accompany him to the wine tasting.

Because, almost at midnight, he invited us to follow him to one of the wineries, to taste a Petrus, a Château Lafite Rotschild or any other great vintage red wine ... and at a very high price. The tasting was done with new glasses that, once used, were broken by throwing them into a container. "You can't taste great wine in a washed glass, there are always residues of detergent or rinse aid", Willy used to say.

In 1998, while Michiels was still President of Euromat, we invited him to the COFAR congress in Madrid. The night before we dined at the Señorío de Alcocer; the wine served was a Luis Cañas crianza, a red that was bought in supermarkets for less than 10 euros a bottle. Willy found it extraordinary, without knowing it. And he asked the waiter to give him the label for one of the emptied bottles. Watching him, I said to the maitre d “No, don't give him the label, bring him two bottles as a gift from me”. Since that discovery he had a different appreciation for Spanish wines.

In 2019, he made his castle available to Fernand Huts, patron and philanthropist, creator of the Phoebus Foundation, who will turn it into a multidisciplinary museum that will include a permanent exhibition on the history of Belgian lace. Michiels gave him the condition that some of his old memories should be displayed in the basement. For example, the license plates from his vintage and modern car collection, all personalized with his initials "WM". And also, some lace doilies that he placed on the armrests of his cars.

This was Willy Michiels, genius and figure -controverted- until his last days.


Eduardo Antoja, Honorary President of Euromat


We share the video in memoriam published by his family