londonbingo.net Blog » Tom

Bingo club closes in Wellingborough

Tom — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 17:15:18 +0000

It’s always sad to report the closure of a bingo club, although not too unusual in these difficult times. The latest casualty is the Lyric Bingo club in Wellingborough, which has been forced to close it’s doors after a combination of high overheads and low trading figures. We hope to see a new bingo sites come up from the ashes.

The club was in the town centre and was both owned and managed by Tony Wood, a former Gala bingo manager. Despite all his best efforts the overheads were just too much, especially the rent, business rates and the service charge. The closure will mean that the 12 staff members will now be looking for new jobs and many bingo players will be looking for a new club.

Tony Wood has been in charge of the club for 3 years, before that the Lyric was owned and operated by John Wiley and Brent Harding. It is unlikely that the club will re-open, as small clubs like this only have a slim potential profit margin so are not sought after by the large operators. There are not many owner operators around, and anyone thinking about entering the market will probably be put off once they realise that a new licence is quite expensive.

Tony Wood wrote on the Lyric website; “Sad to say, the days of Bingo in Wellingborough have come to an end. I would like to say thank you to all the staff who have kept the club together over the last three years. Barbi has been there 22 years, so for her this has come as shock, but not unexpected”.

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Dragonfish expands in poker field

Tom — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 11:59:24 +0000

In a move that will surely be watched by many parties it has been announced that ARJEL, the Regulatory Authority for online games in France, has awarded 888 a licence to operate poker sites, which has led to Dragonfish, it’s business to business division, signing agreements with Full Fun and ad Astra.

This new agreement will see Dragonfish who are networks for online bingo sites joining the newly established joint liquidity poker network with Microgaming in France. This joint venture is available to licencees of Microgaming and Dragonfish in France, as well as 888s own customers, and will mean there is a shared pool of players on a single platform.

Full Fun and Ad Astra are both well established in the French poker market; Full Fun will operate pokerXtrem whilst ad Astra will operate pokerSubito.

The CEO of 888 Holdings and the acting managing director of Dragonfish, Gigi Levy, said; “In newly regulated markets it is important for partners to create a shared pool of liquidity, benefiting customers and assisting in rapidly generating large poker networks. These agreements will pave the way for others in the pipeline to follow, helping us to build this liquidity and benefit from the opportunities available in the French market.”

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Bingo hall becomes church

Tom — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 13:47:54 +0000

We have reported many times on how the decline in land based bingo has led to bingo clubs closing down and the buildings being used for new purposes, and in America, the bingo situation is no different.

Alabama has had a huge crackdown on gambling, leading to many empty bingo halls scattered around the state. One hall though is having a makeover at the moment and has become a church.

James Gardner is the pastor of the Jasper Christian Center and was in the same building for more than 20 years. In this time his congregation grew and so he and his wife started to look for a new building. He said; “Most people in the community think it’s about bingo. But for us, it’s about revival. We started driving up and down the road. We saw a for rent sign on this one, so we leased it for a few years so we can grow.”

The church have been holding services for a few months and began whilst they were still painting and cleaning the building. “It’s a funny irony,” Gardner said. “We have people who say they’re no longer going to shout ‘Amen’ they’re just going to shout ‘bingo.’ We have people doing that. We’re glad bingo’s gone. We’re against it as a congregation. But this wasn’t about us defeating bingo, legislation and prayer did that before. We’re just here because it was an available building and we needed space.”

From the sounds of things, the congregation objects to the community spending money to play bingo. Opposing views to this line of thinking clearly believe that it is our right to spend money on playing bingo games as we see fit.

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Austrian betting giants sponsor football league

Tom — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 11:49:10 +0000

The Austrian betting giant, bwin, have now agreed to sponsor the Italian second tier Serie B for two years. The league will now be known as Serie bwin, and the deal is expected to bring vital revenue to the struggling league, who only recently separted from the two division professional league, leaving Serie A to run itself.

The deal, which will run until 30th June 2012, was announced between the Chairman of Lega Nazionale Professionisti Serie B, Luca Ferrari and the CEO of bwin Italy, Paolo Di Feo, at the Serie B offices in Milan.

Paolo Di Feo said; “We are delighted to be working alongside the new Lega Serie B in this exciting new adventure. bwin is continually active in high-end sports sponsorship and this will continue at the international level. Today, with the advent of Serie bwin, we are facing a very exciting new challenge, giving us real contact with local situations.”

Bwin is a giant in the online gambling realm, as they put forth a terrific offering of casino games, arcade games, lottery games, and scratch card games, as well as poker, sports betting backgammon, and other skill games for money.

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iPad enters the bingo world

Tom — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 18:32:21 +0000

Bingo was very much a simple game when it started out but it has definitely evolved over the years. Starting from land based bingo clubs it eventually moved onto the internet, where now there are a large number of online bingo sites. Since then though it has continued to adapt to new technology; it can now be found on social media sites such as Facebook, on game consoles such as the wii, and the latest news is that iPad have now decided to bring out a children’s version of the game.

One thinking behind this development is that it will be a great tool to help ease the boredom of long car journeys, particularly now as more and more people are choosing to holiday in the UK. Several applications can be downloaded from the iTunes store which can be played on the iPad, the iPad Touch and the iPhone, making it an ideal travel companion.

The iPad is considered to be particularly suited for kids as it has a large, high-definition touch screen, making it very child-friendly. You can download the Road-Trip-Bingo onto the iPad which two children can play at the same time. Instead of numbers the bingo boards have things on them which might be seen on a car journey, including different coloured cars and road signs. When they see an image they simply tap it on their card, and the first one to get bingo wins.

Anything that might stop the timeless wail of ‘are we there yet’ has to be a good thing in our eyes!

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Islington Mecca Bingo Site at Risk

Tom — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 13:45:25 +0000

A former bingo club in Islington has been put on the ‘at risk’ register by English Heritage as, despite several promises, no work has been carried out in it during the last 3 years where it has stood empty.

The building is Grade II listed and used to be a Mecca Bingo club until it was closed in March 2007. It is currently owned by Evangelical Church Resurrection Manifestations who had promised to restore the historic building to its former glory. They blame Islington Council for the lack of work, saying they are dragging their heels over granting planning permission.

English Heritage grew concerned over the building and took the decision to place it on the register. Nigel Barker, the acting regional director for London said; ‘Something has got to happen. This is a very important building and certainly one of the greatest assets in the area. The building has been empty for some years and it’s deteriorating – particularly the interior. When the church first came up with their approach we were reasonably comfortable because they said they would let the community in and because the building wasn’t going to require many alterations. But we have had no clarity yet as to when they are going to do something and what the delay is. All we know is that there is no clear way forward.’ It has been suggested by English Heritage that if no work takes place the council may force the church to sell the building.

The building started life in September 1930 as Carlton Cinema. In 1972 it closed as a cinema and then re-opened as a bingo club. Mecca decided to close the club just before the smoking ban took place and the Christian group bought the building 6 months later, in September 2007, reportedly for $5million.

The company had big plans for the building – as well as returning it to it’s former glory they were going to include a conference centre, church and community venue. Behind the building they would erect a seven storey block of 44 flats. The total cost of the project was said to be approximately £18 million.

Islington Council granted permission regarding the conversion of the bingo club to a community venue and church but was still debating the block of flats, which the owner said was needed to fund the other works. However, there was an almost 2 year gap before the application was filed, so blame for the delay is down to both groups.

A spokesperson for the company commented: “We could go in tomorrow and convert it into a church. We have got enough funds for that. But we need the flats to fund the community project. By the council’s own rules, there is a time limit by which they have to give us a response. It’s gone way over that. It’s now going to an appeal hearing. The building has been lying derelict all this time. We are eager to put it to use.”

Owned by the Rank Group, Mecca Bingo is one of the largest UK bingo clubs. There are over 100 Mecca Bingo Clubs in the UK, which collectively has nearly 1 million club members on the books. Mecca Bingo’s owners additionally own and operate Rank Interactive, the Internet bingo site for Mecca Bingo, Grosvenor Casinos – a popular casino chain in Great Britain, and Spanish Casino chain Top Rank España.

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Ireland man killed on way home from bingo

Tom — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 15:54:44 +0000

A 66 year old man on his way home from playing bingo in Buncrana was killed in a horrific car crash on Sunday night, along with 7 young men. The two car collision took place on the Drumfree to Clonmany road, which has been the scene of other accidents in the past.

The late night accident occurred in County Donegal, approximately 15 miles from the Northern Ireland border, and involved men from 3 different parishes. 7 of the dead, all in their late teens and early twenties, were travelling in a Volkswagen Passat which is believed to have hit a Renault before crashing into the Toyota Corolla being driven by Hugh Friel from Clonmany. The driver of the Passat is in a critical condition in Letterkenny General Hospital.

Donegal senator Cecelia Keaveney said it was “an ordeal” for all of the families involved. “Because of the close-knit community it affects very, very many people in Inishowen particularly,” she said. “We have had so many fatalities on the roads over the past decades, for many families, this will reawaken the difficulties they faced. The immediate concern is for the families, but it will reawaken histories for many people as well.”

Brian Cowen, the Irish Prime Minister and Martin McGuinness, the Northern Ireland Deputy First Minister, were amongst those sending condolence messages.

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Manchester City footballer arrested for casino fight

Tom — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 21:04:48 +0000

Kelven Etuhu, the Manchester City midfielder, was arrested after a fight in a casino in Manchester which led to 3 people being injured. The 22 year old will answer bail next week after being held on suspicion of wounding.

The incident took place at the 235 casino in Manchester City Centre, where police were called to after receiving reports of a disturbance. Mr Etuhu and 27 year old Leonard Rico Richards from Longsight were arrested after a 23 year old woman and two men, aged 24 and 26, were taken to Manchester Royal Infirmary for treatment to injuries. Crown lawyers now have to decide if the men should be charged or not.

Mr Etuhu rose through the City’s Academy ranks, making his senior debut in September 2007. Towards the end of the 2007/08 season though he was loaned out to Leicester City following tough competition for places in the squad. He was unlucky enough to suffer a hamstring injury at the beginning of the 2008/09 season which took him out of the squad into after the New Year. He has been on loan to Cardiff since August, though he did return to Manchester City for treatment after suffering an ankle injury in December.

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Scottish grandmother mugged after bingo

Tom — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 08:44:46 +0000

We all know that times are hard, but a thief in Scotland stooped very low this week when he mugged a 63 year old grandmother on her way home after a night at the bingo.

Margaret Craig from Tillydrone, Aberdeen had won £140 playing bingo, and had an additional £60 in her handbag. The pensioner said; “I was at the bingo and decided to walk home because it was such a nice night. I was going on to Portal Terrace when I heard someone running behind me. When I turned round, this guy started pulling my bag and said, ‘Give me it.’ I swore at him and said no but he kept pulling and pulling and we struggled.” The gran of four said the man then pointed a silver sharp object against her hand, which caused her to stumble. She added; ”I landed on the grass verge. That’s when he kicked me in the face. When he kicked me a second time, the strap broke and he ran away. I screamed and screamed. A guy came down and helped me.”

Mrs Craig was taken to hospital where she was treated for minor injuries, including a large bruise on her eye, before being released. Police are investigating the crime, Constable Duncan MacKintosh said; “This was a terrible attack on a lone woman. We are determined to find the person who was responsible.”

This just go to shows its some times safer playing online bingo in the comft of your own home.

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Two online bingo sites to close

Tom — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 09:09:11 +0000

The online bingo market in the UK is seen as a tough market, and with the constant addition of
new bingo sites combined with the present economic climate it is not really surprising that some sites will disappear.

It has been said that two sites, Bingo Fantasy and Bingo 777, will be closing at the end of the month and so are entering into their final week of operating. Neither site has sufficient funds to start an advertising campaign, which is not a cheap undertaking, nor are they supported by other sites on the same network.

The online bingo industry is constantly changing, and some of the largest players in the industry have had to join forces in order to maintain their position and success. Even software providers such as Virtue Fusion and Playtech are amalgamating, and if leading players like those are having to adapt to survive just think what it must be like for players at the other end of the scale.

It is believed that the company behind Bingo 777 and Bingo Fantasy is closing these sites down to concentrate on their online casino sites which are more profitable for them.

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Online bingo not legalised in Australia

Tom — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 09:01:36 +0000

Despite speculation that a change was in the air, and recommendations from a policy advisory board, legislators in Australia have decided not to legalise online bingo.

The panel had recommended that online bingo, as well as casino and poker games should be legal for Australians to play, but this advice was ignored by the Communications Minister, who believed that any potential benefits of allowing online gambling would be outweighed by the likely rise in problem gambling. This will surely effect the people who play bingo online.

Australia has one of the highest rates of problem gambling in the world, but experts believe this is related to the mixing of gambling and alcohol in Australian bars and the high number of slot machines, otherwise known as ‘pokies’. It is estimated that there are 160,000 problem gamblers in Australia.

Online gambling on bingo, casino and poker was banned by the 2001 Interactive Gambling Act, but as many Australians didn’t know that sites were illegal they continued to play on unlicensed sites.

The Communications Minister, Stephen Conroy, and the Families Minister, Jenny Macklin, both gave interviews where they said that the government had decided to ignore the advice of the Gambling Policy Board, an independent body who suggested that the tax and player protection benefits which could be gained from allowing online gambling would be beneficial.

Conroy said that the government would do their best to crack down on online operators who target Australians from overseas, and would talk to American legislators about how they passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, and how they tried to enforce what is widely seen as a badly drafted piece of legislation.

Recently there has been speculation that a few British companies were planning to acquire Australian gambling licences in advance of the hoped for change in legislation. William Hill were.

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Gala Bingo restructure finalised

Tom — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 08:49:07 +0000

Its always good when a deal comes together, and when the deal in question has been going on for over a year the conclusion is definitely sweeter. The deal we’re referring to is the Gala Bingo restructure although some of their major investors have lost out financially. The largest ones are Cinven, Candover and Permira, Permira are the largest losers but between the 3 of them they have lost approximately £600 million.

Before they entered negotiations the gaming and bingo giant were believed to have around £2.7 billion of debt, but now it is believed to be roughly £1.9 billion – still a considerable sum in our eyes! The new owners, headed by Apollo Management have not only restructured the company’s debt but have also steered them away from administration.

The Chairman of the Gala Coral Group, Mr Goulden, believes it is a positive move and said; “Everyone believes it is the best offer on the table and everyone agrees it is the best thing for the company.”

He also said that Gala bingo will be unveilling a new board this week. It will have 4 new industry experts, to be nominated by the new shareholders, as well as Mr Goulden, Dominic Harrison, Gala’s existing Chief Executive and Gary Hughes, the Chief Financial Officer.

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Free bingo money to disappear?

Tom — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 15:53:41 +0000

The last couple of weeks have seen several awards ceremonies, notably the Online Bingo Summit and eGaming Awards. As well as being a time when companies and sites were rewarded for their work it was also a time when leading people in the bingo industry aired their views, and an interesting one was the discussion on whether free bingo is a good or bad thing for the industry.

Leigh Nissim of GTech chaired a debate on the subject of sites offering free bingo. There are a large number of operators who believe that there is a place in the industry for free bingo, but they also believe that some websites have gone too far with this. This in turn has spoilt the game for players who like to spend money.

In 2009 many sites offered ‘play for free’ and ‘win for free’ promotions, but although this approach is great in the short term it is not sustainable in the long term, and could in fact cause the industry to go into decline by giving players the expectation of free bingo, rather than a loyalty ot trial bonus.

Simon Hannah, a well respected bingo operator who has seen the problems caused by free bingo in land based clubs can see the online bingo sector facing the same difficulties. He believes that now is the time to think seriously about how free bingo is controlled, and to act on this before everyone jumps on the bandwagon.

Another panellist, Wayne Howe, expressed his belief that free bingo was a great tool in introducing players to a site and allowing them to have a taste of the games. It was agreed that bingo sites should make a larger distinction between free and pay to play bingo, thereby making the games more attractive to players that do want to make a deposit after their initial free trial.

Tombola recently offered free bingo to their players, but only to those who have previously made a deposit. This is seen as a good tactic, as otherwise loyal paying players could end up subsidising those who just hunt for bonuses and free money. This in turn may lead to depositing players either doing the same themselves and stop making deposits, or getting so disillusioned that they stop playing bingo altogether.

Operators such as Tombola give out free money wisely and have a large number of loyal players who believe they get great value for money. They have several years experience in the bingo industry and seem to have developed a successful long term strategy.

Last year Cheeky Bingo was introduced onto the scene, with their emphasis on free bingo, but after an introductory push Cashcade soon decided to concentrate their efforts on Foxy Bingo instead.

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Norway acts against unlicenced gambling operators

Tom — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 09:55:03 +0000

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It seems a few countries are trying to put their foot down regarding gambling, both on-line and off-line, and Norway has made it’s feelings clear as it will now block financial transactions in a move to prevent it’s citizens from using unlicensed foreign gambling operators.

The new law will prohibit banks from allowing transactions between Norwegian consumers and gambling operators, irregardless of whether the consumers are located in Norway or elsewhere.

What has upset many people though is the fact that if you a foreign betting operator you cannot obtain a Norwegian gambling licence, so therefore you are classified as an unlicenced operator and there is nothing you can do about this.

Norway isn’t part of the EU but is a member of the EC, and so has to subscribe to EU principles and trade laws. One of these is the freedom to offer services, though in this case Norway has decided to ignore the same rules they are signed up to protect. They have stated they are acting to prevent crime, fraud and gambling addiction, although there is no firm evidence that blocking licenced EU operators achieves this.

The opposite view is that, by reducing the legal options available to Norwegian players, some will be pushed towards unlicenced and illegal gambling operators, especially as the legal options are quite limited in terms of value and quality. There are currently 2 state-operators in Norway, Rikstoto and Norsk Tipping, which are exempt from the transaction ban, though many consider them to be inferior to outside operators.

Many people in the industry believe that this move is a poorly veiled attempt to boost the profits and status of the national monopolies, rather than looking after the consumer. This is a potential blow to players who will now be deprived of a free choice, but it will be interesting to see how effective this new law actually is.

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Bingo operator announces increased profits

Tom — Thu, 20 May 2010 08:50:36 +0000

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One of the largest operators of bingo clubs in the UK, Carlton Bingo, has just announced a very welcome leap in profits – which must have made for unhappy reading for the operators who have announced losses recently. Despite the problems faced by the industry; the recession, the effects of the smoking ban, the increase in bingo tax and changes in legislation, the management owned operator announced a £6.2 million profit last year, up from a £650,000 profit the year before. With 14 halls across Scotland and the north of England Carlton are the 4th largest operator. An increase in profits was expected as they had reclaimed £3.6 million in overpaid VAT, but even without this their profits have increased 4 times. They partly attribute their good news to lower debt repayments, the sale of property and reduced costs.

Regarding the current bingo tax system Peter Perrin, the Managing Director, said; “What most businesses want is certainty, fairness and consistency in fiscal treatment and at the present time we do not have this in our sector.”

Bingo tax was increased last year from 15% to 22% last year, though in October it was slightly reduced to 20%. However, as many other gaming sectors pay 15% tax the bingo industry is still lobbying the government for a level playing ground. Most online bingo sites don’t pay the UK bingo tax as they’re not based in the UK. Bingo hall operators just hope that one day the system is reviewed and everyone will pay 15% tax, regardless of where they are based. Casinos would especially appreciate this as they pay even more than bingo halls at the moment. Due to the economic situation and the recent election any lobbying at the moment will probably fall on deaf ears, and it looks like the new government will increase VAT – though luckily bingo fees are tax exempt

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888ladies Bingo get knuckles rapped

Tom — Thu, 20 May 2010 08:02:08 +0000

One of the larger names in the world of online bingo is 888ladies Bingo. They were also one of the first people to advertise bingo on television, but it seems no-one is safe from the beady eye of the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), who have upheld a compliant about a pair of TV adverts that were broadcast at the beginning of the year. They were promoting an 888ladies bingo game where they said the top prize was £5 million but the ASA stepped in after receiving one complaint.

One advert was just 10 seconds long, and referred to a ‘massive £5 million game’. The other was 30 seconds long and showed a woman screaming with excitement, as she’d won a bingo game which gave her an entry into another game with a top prize of £5 million, which was stated both on the screen graphics and in a voiceover.

In their defence Cassava Enterprises, who operate 888ladies internet Bingo, argued that consumers were familiar with the fact that although games were promoted as having high possible payouts, the actual amount won was often less, and they even quoted the National Lottery as an example. They also said that the adverts were mainly promoting the Golden Ticket games to qualify for the main game and not the £5m game itself.

The ASA decided to uphold the complaint on the basis that the ad breached CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Code rules 5.1.1, 5.1.2 5.1.3 (Misleading advertising) and 5.2.3 (Misleading advertising – qualification), and that it should not be shown again in its current form.

The decision was based on the fact that, although £5 million was available to be won by one 888ladies.com golden ticket holder, if they were able to match the 24 numbers on their card with the first 24 balls drawn in the game, the total prize fund actually dropped each time a new ball was drawn until 40 balls were drawn. Only at this point did the prize fund remain constant at £50,000 regardless of the number of additional balls drawn, and that this was the amount that would definitely be awarded to the bingo player who then completed their card first. They found that the downward sliding scale of the prize fund was significant, and therefore highlighting the possible £5million prize was ultimately misleading.

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Huge Internet Bingo Bonus from Wink Bingo

Tom — Sun, 16 May 2010 10:19:59 +0000

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Controversy over Kingston Bingo development

Tom — Thu, 13 May 2010 14:01:21 +0000

Local businesses and residents are up-in-arms following the alleged sale of a former Gala Bingo hall in Richmond Road, Kingston. The site had been on the market with various agents since late 2009, at an asking price in the region of £2,250,000. Although some agents have still got the old hall on their books it has been reportedly sold by one of them, and with the economic climate still in recession we’re sure that the price was a lot more favourable than when it was first listed.

The new owners are apparently looking into converting the bingo hall into a nightclub much to the dismay of local residents, who have joined with businesses in the Canbury Ward area to show their opposition by creating and signing up to an online petition on the council’s website. They believe that there will be problems with excessive noise and potential trouble, particularly in the early hours when the club would be closing, leading to a large number of night clubbers hitting the streets at the same time.

A local resident in the area commented: I think that everyone should support this as it’s not just Canbury residents that will suffer. Kingston has been lucky so far in that the very large chain pubs haven’t yet taken over the town centre, other than the Kings Tunn. We already have two very large clubs and a third would change the nature of the town centre for the worse.

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Manchester’s Buckingham Bingo shuts down

Tom — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 11:10:05 +0000

London bingo players are safe, but any players from the north of England may be a bit upset as the closure of a Buckingham Bingo site in Didsbury, Manchester has been announced. Buckingham Bingo have been operating since 1970 and are the largest independent bingo chain in the north of the country. With 1.7 million attendances a year you would have thought they would have been safe, but circumstances have gone against them, proving that nowhere is 100% secure these days.

The smoking ban, the introduction of the gross profit tax to replace bingo duty and the present recession have led to the closure of the Parrs Wood Centre bingo hall, although the chain still has 11 sites, 3 of which are in the Greater Manchester area – Middleton, Old Trafford and Walkden if you’d like to pay them a visit. 27 members of staff are unfortunately affected, although 3 will be moving to positions at other bingo halls within the group. The chain are now left with 350 staff, which is still a fairly considerable number.

A spokesman for the company said; ‘Buckingham Bingo is responding to this by consolidating and restructuring the company to secure a longer-term future for the rest of our clubs and better equip us to
move forward from what has been a difficult economic period for most businesses’. Venture capital firm Alchemy Partners bought the business in 2005 and were the ones to make this difficult decision, which in
the current climate is not the first hall closure and will probably not be the last. Andy Cunningham, Group Chief Executive, has said that the group are undertaking reviews of under-performing clubs and are re-negotiating certain leases in order to put the group into a more stable position. He admitted that 2009 figures were down, which is to be expected, but he also stated they the group did have several large,
profitable clubs and their online bingo was performing very well.

In this day and age we are accustomed to hearing about businesses in various sectors being forced to close down, but we hope that wherever you are there will always be a bingo club close at hand for you to play at. Of course if you do get stuck there’s always plenty of online bingo clubs who will be more than happy to help you out!

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Bingo Tip – Wink Bingo Vouchers Make Great Gifts

Tom — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 09:35:33 +0000

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Costa Bingo 200% welcome bonus, 50% bonus to stay

Tom — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 09:30:10 +0000

Costa Bingo offers brand new players from London Bingo a 200% welcome bonus to come through the doors and play bingo at the Costa Bingo hall online. In addition, Costa Bingo will give London Bingo players a regular 50% reload bonus to stay and play bingo! This offer doesn’t last forever – so get it while its hot!

Costa Bingo Welcome Deposit Bonus

Costa bingo is matching 200% on all first time deposit bonus as a way to welcome London Bingo players to their new and exciting online bingo hall. The 200% first time deposit bonus is good on all deposits giving you up to £150 in free money to play bingo on the web at Costa Bingo!

Costa Bingo Regular Bonus

As if the initial deposit bonus isn’t enough – Costa Bingo is willing to pay you to stay and play bingo with them. Costa offers London Bingo players a regular deposit bonus of 50% on all bingo reloads, allowing you to claim up to £150 in reload bonus money at Costa Bingo.

Play Costa Bingo Now

Don’t miss the free bingo money at the newest and brightest bingo site on the web. Play Costa Bingo now!

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Dancing Domino @ prime scratch cards

Tom — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 07:43:16 +0000

Prime Scratchcards will knock you out with their special offers this week! With a new game which you can play for free, Dancing Domino, what are you waiting for!

From now until 7am Sunday 12th July not only can you play the new game, but you can do so for free! Yes, if you’re not lucky and you lose then they’ll give you all of your losses back, up to the amount of deposits you’ve made, to a maximum of £400. To qualify for this great promotion you just need to make a deposit of £150 within these times, and any losses you make you’ll get back on Sunday. This is a great offer on which you can only win!

On Sunday you’ll also get a fabulous 30% deposit on your 1st deposit of the day, so make sure it’s a good one!

Monday might be the 13th, but it can be lucky for you this month! On every 2nd deposit you make today you’ll get a generous 40% deposit bonus.

Scratch Surprise Tuesday is always a popular day, and this week it’s said there’s some huge bonuses on offer. We’ll be checking it out, so make sure you do too!

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wink reload bonus

Tom — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 23:06:55 +0000

Time is running out for funded players to take advantage of the 100% wink bingo reload bonus.

Every day from NOW until 00:59 on Tuesday 7th July players can get a special 100% deposit bonus. You can get this bonus only once by entering WINK100 in the cashier when making a £10 minimum deposit.

To take advantage of this 100% reload offer, head over to Wink Bingo now. Bingo players who are unfamilliar with the features and benefits Wink Bingo has to offer would be well served by taking a look at the London Bingo Review of Wink Bingo.

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Bingo Tips – Think Progressive

Tom — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 21:01:53 +0000

Bingo tip of the day: When it comes to playing bingo, London Bingo players think progressive. Costa Bingo is always thinking progressive, specifically with the 75 and 90 ball progressive bingo jackpots.

90 Ball Progressive Jackpot

The Costa Bingo 90 ball progressive jackpot runs in each 90 ball bingo room. 44 calls or less to cover the card is all it takes, and Bingo! You win the progressive jackpot!

75 Ball Progressive Bingo Jackpot

Be the first to bingo on Costa Sun pattern in 40 calls or less to claim the cash prize. The Costa Sun pattern is 16 squares in total and will keep growing until some lucky winner covers the pattern. The progressive 75 ball pattern will play 3 times every hour in the Costa Cocktails room and 4 times every hour in the Costa Cuties room from 7pm to 12pm every night at Costa Bingo.

Start thinking progressive, head over to Costa Bingo now for some fun in the sun!

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Free Posh Bingo Bonus

Tom — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 16:09:08 +0000

Plenty of free bingo bonus offers to be had and promotions to take advantage of this weekend at Posh Bingo.

Free bonus money at Posh Bingo

Daily Dosh

Posh Bingo is giving out FREE dosh every day of the week in the FREE Daily Dosh games at 8.30am and 8:30pm, for funded players. It’s FREE, it’s TWICE a day, EVERY day and there’s a Guaranteed £30 Real cash up for grabs in each game – did we mention it was free?

Posh Bingo Grand Slam

Posh are inviting you to get into the swing of things and celebrate the finals of Wimbledon! So for a SMASHing time this weekend, be sure to join in with a Posh Tennis Tournament – The Posh Grand Slam!

Posh are certainly putting a spin on things, but its easy to score! Simply, accumulate as many points as possible and top of the Posh Bingo Grand Slam Tournament leaderboard!

Grand Slam Prizes

First prize in the Posh Bingo Grand Slam Tournament includes Tickets to the FINAL of The Masters Tennis at the Royal Albert Hall in December! Confirmed players are Pat Rafter, Goran Ivanisevic and Stefan Edberg and there will be a chance to meet a tournament player at the Posh Reception! Winners can enjoy a hospitality pass, courtside VIP seats, Official Souvenir Programme and champagne & canapés!

Can’t Miss Posh Bingo Prizes and Bonuses

As a bingo enthusiast, you simply cannot miss out on the great Posh Bingo prizes, promotions, and bonuses. Get to Posh Bingo now to compete for great prizes and to take advantage of some seriously posh bingo bonuses.

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Amazing Bonus @ Prime Scratch Cards in July

Tom — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 09:47:15 +0000

July is here, and so are some amazing bonuses from Prime Scratchcards, as the weather gets hotter so do their offers!

Thursday 2^nd – Friday 3^rd – deposit £50 or more and they’ll give you a 30% deposit bonus, but if you deposit £100 or more they’ll give you an amazing 40% bonus.

Saturday and Sunday – the weekend is here, and they’ve got more bonuses to celebrate with. Get 10% bonus on your 1^st deposit, 20% on your 2^nd deposit and 30% on your 3^rd deposit, and this pattern repeats itself over and over again!

Monday – the weekend may be over, but the bonuses just keep on rolling. On every deposit you make today you’ll get a 20% bonus – that’s a nice way to start the week!

Scratch Surprise Tuesday – you just have to take a look to see for yourself what’s on offer.

This month’s challenge is to email Prime Scratchcards and tell them what your dream holiday would be. 5 lucky winners from June’s challenge have already received their cash prize, so email care@primescratchcards.com now and see if you can also be a winner!

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Posh Bingo 90 Ball Progressive tops £1700

Tom — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:23:49 +0000

The stretch limo 90 ball progressive jackpot has topped the £1700 mark at Posh Bingo. Currently sitting at £1736 and counting, this 90 ball progressive jackpot can be claimed by covering your full bingo card in 38 calls or less at Posh Bingo.

Should you trigger this jackpot by covering in the 38 calls, you will win the progressive jackpot in addition to the prize for the specific bingo game you are playing at Posh Bingo!

Posh Bingo is currently offering a free £20 sign on bonus, and an additional 200% bingo deposit bonus. To play bingo and compete for the progressive 90 Ball jackpot, simply head over to Posh Bingo and register for any of the 90 ball bingo games offered throughout the day. For more information on Posh Bingo, be sure to read our official London Bingo review of Posh Bingo.

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Wink Bingo – Get 10% Cash Back Weekly

Tom — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:12:57 +0000

Wink Bingo takes pride in rewarding their players. Each Friday, Wink Bingo give back 10% of any losses you have booked from bingo account deposits you have made during the week.

Whether playing Bingo, or Wink Bingo’s Instant Games, if you have booked a loss, Wink Bingo helps to offset that. Wink Bingo Cashback will be credited to your Bingo player account and can be used on all regular Bingo Games on Wink Bingo. Get playing now, and take advantage of this bingo bonus offer from Wink Bingo!

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Special London Bingo Bonus

Tom — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:45:11 +0000

Bingo players in London will be happy to know that Wink Bingo is offering a special 250% bingo deposit bonus to all London Bingo players through June 30th.

Players who have accessed Wink Bingo through the London Bingo website that are first time depositing players at Wink Bingo are eligible for 250% bonus on their first deposit. This great bingo promo runs from NOW until 23:59 on Tuesday 30th June on deposits between £5 and £100.

Bingo Bonus Code

To take advantage of this limited offer through Wink Bingo, enter the bingo bonus code: WINK250 in the cashier making your deposit.

Wink Bingo Review

Need more convincing? Have a glance at the London Bingo Wink Bingo review.

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Bonus Bingo Reload at Posh Bingo

Tom — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 12:47:31 +0000

Posh Bingo is offering a 75% Deposit Bonus between now and 29 June. When depositing £10 – £100 at Posh Bingo, you can claim a 75% bonus on your Posh Bingo deposit once daily! To claim this Posh Bingo bonus, you must enter one of the following corresponding bonus codes:

Posh Bingo Bonus code for Friday: POSHFRI,
Posh Bingo deposit code for Saturday: POSHSAT,
Posh Bingo reload code for Sunday: POSHSUN,
Posh Bingo incentive code for Monday: POSHMON

Get with the game and begin taking advantage of the great reload bonuses at Posh Bingo today!

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£6,000 Guaranteed Daily at Virgin Bingo

Tom — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 11:29:14 +0000

For as little as 50p, you can take a shot at £6,000 in daliy guaranteed bingo prizes at Virgin Bingo.

Each day at 6pm, Virgin Bingo hosts a £2,000 guaranteed prize money bingo game, and again at 10:30pm, where a £4,000 Full House is up for grabs! That makes for £6,000 in guaranteed money each day at Virgin’s Bingo!

The bingo games take place at the Necker Island and Marrakesh rooms on the Virgin Bingo gaming platform. Tickets cost 50p each and you can purchase a maximum of 36 tickets for each game!

No sense waiting on this guaranteed prize money, get started playing at Virgin Bingo now! Still need more convincing? Take a look at the official London Bingo review of Virgin Bingo.

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Big Money Fridays

Tom — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:47:51 +0000

Fridays at Virgin Bingo are known as Big Money Fridays! Thie Friday night Virgin Bingo are guaranteeing a prize of £1,500 Guaranteed!

If you’re in need of a bingo break at the end of the week, why not head down to Necker Island this Friday for a chance to win over £1,500 worth of guaranteed prize money.

As the evening progresses, the bingo games get hotter. The Full House prize money jumps up by an extra £100 every hour.

To get in on the guaranteed prize bingo action, head over to Virgin Bingo’s Necker Island today!

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Thursday Bingo Prizes

Tom — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:10:56 +0000

Thursday is payday at Bingo Fabulous! As the official place to be on Thursdays for London Bingo visitors, Bingo Fabulous has some great bingo prizes up for grabs – just for you!

Every second Thursday at 9.45pm, you will have the opportunity to win a flatscreen television from Bingo Fabulous. For a mere £1, Bingo Fabulous gives you the opportunity to take down the fabulous flatscreen TV.

With the cash match bonus us to £100, Bingo Fabulous is the place to be to play bingo online on Thursdays! Not convinced yet, check out our London Bingo official review of Bingo Fabulous to learn more.

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London Bingo News 6-25-09

Tom — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:00:13 +0000

In the spirit of Wimbledon, Virgin Bingo is offering a variety of prizes revolving around tennis, valued at over £1,000 this week.

At Virgin Bingo, you can win the tennis rackets used by Andy Murray and Maria Sharapova, as well as Nadal and Ivanovic’s Trainers. Additionally, you have a shot at winning a tour for two around Wimbledon, along with hampers full of Strawberries and Cream and Pimms up for grabs too. Furthermore, Virgin Bingo are throwing in a Nintendo Wii, complete with EA Sports Tennis and an Xbox 360 with Virtua Tennis 2009.

To win these prizes, battle it out amongst your fellow bingo players, by playing in the Virgin Bingo Tennis Tournament. For every £1 you spend on bingo tickets between Monday 22nd and Sunday 28th, you’ll earn yourself 1 point. And by the end of the week, the top 10 players win themselves the corresponding prizes! Serve up an ace now by competing for Wimbledon tennis prize packages at Virgin Bingo.

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£100 cash match at Virgin Bingo

Tom — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 14:56:04 +0000

We here at London Bingo are big on Virgin Bingo for our online bingo play. In case you did not know, Virgin Bingo is offering an attractive cash match bonus, where they will give new bingo players from London Bingo a 100% cash match bonus on their initial deposit of 100% up to £100!

In addition to this attractive welcome bonus offer by Virgin Bingo, Virgin also offers several programs aimed at rewarding and retaining the London Bingo community. For example, you can play bingo and accumulate Virgin Bingo reward points to fly from London to Vegas for the gambling vacation of a lifetime. Additionally, Virgin Bingo offers their players a free scratch card every day!

Take a look at our London Bingo review of Virgin Bingo, and get the bingo winnings rolling in today!

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Win a trip from London to Vegas at Virgin Bingo

Tom — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 13:36:27 +0000

Earn yourself a round trip from London to Las Vegas by playing bingo at Virgin Bingo. As part of the Virgin Bingo player loyalty program, you will accumulate V-Points as you play the cash bingo games. Each Virgin Bingo V-point equates to 1 frequent flyer mile at Virgin Flying Club. Amass 50,000 of these V-points, and you can redeem them for a round trip from London, England to Las Vegas, Nevada USA – all while playing bingo online at Virgin Bingo.

Virgin Bingo additionally offers a welcome cash match bonus of £10 for newly depositing bingo players. Take advantage of the bingo cash match bonus, and begin winning your way to Vegas via Virgin Bingo today!

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Summer Fun, Prime Scracth cards!!

Tom — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 15:00:31 +0000

Prime Scratchcards are going bonus crazy this week, they must have been out in the sun too much, so make sure you join them for some summer fun!

Thursday 18^th and Friday 19^th you’ll receive a 20% deposit bonus on every single deposit you make today.

Saturday 20^th and Sunday 21^st – you’ll get a huge 50% deposit bonus on the first deposit you make, so make sure it’s a good one!

Monday 22^nd there’s a fantastic promotion going, with €10,000 up for grabs! From 10am Monday until 10am Tuesday the 20 players who play the most will each win €500. To qualify you need to make a deposit of £30 in this time period, and all winners will receive their bonus money on Tuesday. Sounds like the best reason ever to play!

Tuesday is Scratch Surprise day, so don’t forget to pay them a visit and see what’s on offer.

There’s still a few weeks left to win a cash prize in the Monthly Challenge. If you haven’t entered yet just email care@primescratchcards.com and tell them what you would spend your winnings on if you won a million playing their new game 3 WOW.

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Champagne Scratch Cards

Tom — Thu, 21 May 2009 09:47:39 +0000

Prime Scratchcards are celebrating in style this week as they launch Champagne, their latest scratch game. You can play Champagne for free from now until 8am Sunday 24th May to make it even better! That’s right, any losses you have will be returned in the form of bonus money, up to the total of deposits you’ve made. You need to make a minimum deposit of £100 in these times to qualify, but it’s a great way to try before you buy!

On Sunday there are lots of bonuses on offer, so take advantage! You’ll get a 10% deposit bonus on your 1st deposit, a 20% bonus on your 2nd deposit and a 30% deposit on your 3rd bonus – what a great deal!

Prime Scratchcards have got a great way to chase away the Monday blues with some more fabulous bonuses for you. Deposit £10 or more and get a 20% bonus, deposit £100 or more and get a 30% bonus, and if you deposit £200 or more they’ll give you a massive 40% deposit bonus.

Tuesday is always Scratch Surprise day, so make sure you pay them a visit to see what’s on offer.

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Prime Scratch Cards – £5 FREE Scratch

Tom — Thu, 14 May 2009 10:03:07 +0000

We all love a celebration, and this week Prime Scratchcards are giving away a lot of reasons to celebrate as they’ve got some fantastic bonuses for you!Between Thursday 14^th – Saturday 16^th May they’ll give you a lovely 40% deposit bonus on every 3^rd deposit you make – what a nice way to start the weekend!

On Sunday the deal is even better, as they’re giving an amazing 50% deposit bonus on every 3^rd deposit you make.

Monday may mean back to work for some, but Prime Scratchcards are still celebrating. You’ll get a 20% deposit bonus on every 2^nd deposit and a 40% deposit bonus on every 4^th deposit you make – what a nice way to start the week!

Tuesday as usual is Surprise Scratch Tuesday – always a good time to visit and see what the latest surprise is!There’s still time to enter this month’s challenge – just send a photo of your favourite flower to care@primescratchcards.com and you could be a cash winner!

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Posh Bingo “Make A Mint” Event

Tom — Fri, 08 May 2009 08:40:01 +0000

Posh Bingo “Make A Mint” Event

Posh Bingo has been tearing up the online bingo world and with there ongoing promotions it’s no wonder so many players have been joining the bingo room. One of the featured promotions being run in the Posh Bingo room is the “Make A Mint” tournament which takes place once a month. The event is always on the very last Friday of the month and starts at 9PM.

In order to participate in the “Make A Mint” tournament on Posh Bingo you need to have an account with them. To join the event you simply need to sign into your account and go to the jackpots tab and then the make a mint room. The prize payout in the game is pretty incredible and offers a good shot at making a nice amount of money.

One Line – 500 Euros
Two Lines – 1000 Euros
Full House – 1500 Euros

The bingo cards for this featured tournament every month is only 10 pence each and players are allowed to buy anywhere from 1-24 cards for the game. If there is more then one player who wins on any of the prizes listed above then the players who won split the prize listed above. If you aren’t already a Posh Bingo player then make sure you join soon so you can play with all of us in this months “Make A Mint” tournament. Don’t forget all new players to Posh Bingo receive a 50% match bonus of there first

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Prime scratch cards

Tom — Thu, 07 May 2009 09:13:21 +0000

Prime Scratchcards are being generous this week, and are offering a 200% welcome bonus, instead of the usual 100%. Visit the site now to take advantage.

Thursday 7^th 8am – Sunday 10^th 8am you can play Royal Slots for free! All you need to do is make a deposit between those times, play Royal Slots, and you’ll get back any losses on Sunday in the form of bonus money up to the amount you deposited. What a great deal!

Sunday 10^th May – deposit a minimum of £10 and you’ll get a 30% deposit bonus on your first deposit of the day!

Monday 11^th May – this is a great day for bonuses! Deposit £30 or more and get a 20% bonus, deposit £60 or more and get a 35% bonus, and deposit £100 or more and get an amazing 50% deposit bonus. What a great way to start the week!

Tuesday 12^th May – yet another Scratch Surprise Tuesday. Don’t forget to visit Prime Scratchcards to see what’s on offer.

Monthly challenge – the challenge for May is to take a photo of your favourite flower. The best 5 will receive cash prizes, so click away and send your picture tocare@primescratchcards.com

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