Bingo News

Bingo.com has just released their results for the second quarter in 2010, up to 30th June 2010, and posted a loss of $27,977. However, this is still a huge improvement on the same period last year and also the previous three months. There was also a 76% decrease of revenue compared to the same period last year.

The loss of $29,977 is far better than the $266,702 loss that Bingo.com posted in the second quarter of 2009, and is a huge improvement on the $344,806 loss that they had in the first 3 months of this year. The massive fall in revenue, from $1.5 million last year to just less than $370,000 in the past 3 months, has been largely blamed on the loss of gaming activity caused when the company changed their software provider. They are now on the Unibet platform after negotiating a deal whereby Unibet acquired a 26% stake in Bingo.com for $2.25 million.

The CEO of Bingo.com, Tarrnie Williams, said; ” The second quarter of 2010 was an eventful quarter for Bingo We secured an equity investment of $2,250,000 from Unibet thereby significantly strengthening the balance sheet and ensuring sufficient capital to meet our revised business plan for the next few years. In addition, Bingo.com sold two subsidiaries, no longer required for the revised business plan, for $250,000, recording a profit of $177,832 on their sale. We are pleased that our loss is considerably reduced but we will continue to suffer losses for the next few quarters until our revised business plan is fully operational.”

Thanks to the deal with Unibet Bingo.com is now able to offer itself worldwide, and as it is not just restricted to the UK market future results are expected to improve.

Brought to you by London Bingo News

Mecca Bingo has pleased a lot of people with its announcement that it is going to invest £1.5 million in it’s already popular Southend bingo club. The plans for the club in Greyhound Way include a new outside seated area, an upgrade for the restaurant and bar and better toilet facilities. The upgrade will also mean 16 new jobs will be created.

Ian Robertson, the Southend Councillor for Enterprise was very pleased to hear the news, especially with the fact that both full-time and part-time jobs will be created. He said; “Any increase in employment for Southend is always welcome. Particularly the kind of jobs they are creating that provide all year round employment. They are much more valuable than summer jobs. It is good for Southend and good for unemployed people too. We are always desperately trying to get more and more people to come into Southend and this is a good start.”

Bingo players at the Mecca Bingo club, some of whom have been playing for several years at this old and online bingo sites, were also pleased to hear of the plans. 84 year old Margaret Murphy has been a regular at the club since 1992, when it first opened, and commented; “At the moment it is all up in the air. But they reckon we are going to have super loos and this outside area with tables. The restaurant is going to be upgraded and we are going to have a nice bar. It is social, I have got quite a few friends there. On your birthday they send you a card and I get my main session free, I get a drink at the bar and I can bring home a bottle of bubbly.”

At the moment she visits the Mecca Bingo club twice a week, but may go more depending on how the new improvements turn out.

It’s always good to hear about a club that does look after its players, and the new improvements are eagerly awaited by the regulars as they can only improve the club. In these times where many bingo companies seem to be cutting back on things it’s good to hear of one that believes in the old saying – you have to speculate to accumulate.

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A Maidstone postwoman is about to celebrate her first wedding anniversary in style after winning a dream holiday to Egypt worth more than £1,000 on popular interactive bingo channel Gala TV.

36 year old Samantha Pickard tuned into Gala TV which is web-streamed on galabingo.com and broadcast on Sky and Freesat channel 861. Soon after who won £200, but better news was to come a week later when she found out that thanks to Gala TV’s special summer holiday giveaway she had also won a fabulous 5-star holiday to Sharm el Sheikh.

Samantha said: “I didn’t even know that I had won the holiday until Ben Hull, one of the presenters from Gala Bingo TV and the former Hollyoaks actor, popped into work to tell me the good news. I couldn’t believe it, it made my week! My husband and I saved for years for our dream wedding and honeymoon. It was wonderful, but this year we have had the holiday blues as we couldn’t afford to go away. I wanted to make our first anniversary really special and winning on Gala TV has made it perfect! We were ecstatic when we found out we’d won the trip to Egypt. I had been struggling to think of traditional, paper gift ideas to mark our first anniversary. Now thanks to Gala TV my problem is solved as I can give him a plane ticket!”

Kevin Loman, Gala TV manager, said; “We are thrilled that Samantha and her husband can celebrate their first anniversary in style. We have over 200,000 winners every year and its always fantastic to hear how they celebrate. We hope they have a lovely holiday.”

Bringing you the lastest bingo news

All gaming sites urge their players to gamble responsibly, and many often have details of organisations that can help if people are worried about their playing habits, but one person who let their urges overcome them has has just been jailed for a year.

45 year old Catherine Duff from Steeles Avenue, Hyde stole from her partner of 15 years, Carolyn Wilson. Duff started her crime spree in 2003 when she stole Abbey National, Halifax, MBNA and RMT credit cards and also an Argos store card from Miss Wilson. If that wasn’t bad enough she also arranged for a Sainsbury’s credit card in her partners name. All this took place whilst she was living at her house in Sale Road, Northern Moor, Wythenshawe. Miss Wilson was a shift worker, so whilst she slept Duff intercepted the mail to conceal her fraudulent activities. Four years later though a bill was sent to Miss Wilson’s daughter by mistake. She then persuaded her mother to get a credit report, which revealed the thefts.

Despite this Miss Wilson allowed Duff to stay at her home for another 18 months as she promised to back back the stolen money. This good deed though was not repaid as Duff then took out a £30,000 loan, posing as Miss Wilson. £17,000 of this she did use to pay back some of her debts, but the rest she spent on herself, with some going on her bingo online addiction. When this was discovered Miss Wilson threw Duff out and called the police.

At Manchester Crown Court Duff was jailed for a year after admitting to eight charges of theft and fraud. Miss Wilson has been left with debts of £53,286 and said; “I thought our relationship was built on trust and love. If Catherine was in trouble with gambling she should have told me instead of going behind my back and using my property to feed her habit. I feel sick to the stomach that someone I loved and brought into my family should do this. It’s caused me and my family enormous stress and I have got to sort this mess out.”

Rebecca Tanner, defending, stated; “The debts spiral out of control. While they have spiralled the defendant is continually trying to rectify the situation by betting small amounts of money in the hope she will be able to pay the monies back.”

Judge Robert Atherton summed up the case by saying; “Even with your previously good character and the plea of guilty, these circumstances are so serious only a prison sentence can be imposed.”

Miss Wilson will be trying to claim some money back from the various credit card companies, and it has been rumoured she may try to get some back from the Internet bingo sites that Catherine Duff gambled with.

Brought to you by London Bingo News

Bingo companies are used to competing against each other but not usually on the sports field. However on Monday 30th August Mecca Bingo and Gala Bingo in Plymouth will be facing each other across a football field in order to raise money for their chosen charities.

There will be a 5-aside match, starting at 1pm, as well as a fete in the Plymouth Stonehouse Recreation Ground where there will be book stalls, raffles and other family favourites. The bingo clubs are hoping that they will attract many people as well as their bingo regulars as it’s all in a good cause, or two in fact – Marie Curie Cancer Care and Sue Ryder Care.

Mecca Bingo is supporting Marie Curie Cancer Care this year, which is one of the UK’s biggest charities. They employ over 2,700 doctors, nurses and other health care professionals and care for approximately 29,000 terminally ill patients, both in their hospices and in people’s homes. After the NHS they are the largest provider of hospice beds in the UK. Mecca Bingo is hoping to fund 10,000 hours of home nursing care with various fund raising efforts this year.

Gala Bingo is fund raising for Sue Ryder Care, which provides long term and end of life care for people living with various conditions, such as strokes, multiple sclerosis, cancer and Huntington’s disease. The group has pledged to raise £1.5million for the charity by the end of 2010.

David Gregory-Clements, the organiser and the Manager of Gala Bingo Derry Cross, said; “It’s really gaining some momentum now and we’re all looking forward to the day. This five-a-side tournament not only allows us to generate a bit of friendly rivalry between the local bingo clubs but also to do something really positive for both of our charities. We are all hoping the day will be well supported. May the best team win!”

Nigel Green, the General Manager for Mecca Devonport commented; “The team has been training hard and we are all really pleased to be taking on a rival local bingo club to raise money for both charities! It should certainly be a lot of fun on the day and we hope our customers and team members will come along to show their support and help us raise a lot of money.”

We think it’s great that so many bingo clubs are doing their bit to raise money for charities, and if any of you are in the Plymouth area on Monday 30th then please go down and support them.

This is Truely a battle of the online bingo giants!!

he Rank Group are already one of the biggest land based bingo online, bingo halls and casino operators in Europe but they are certainly not resting on their laurels. They have just released their financial results for the first half of the year, and 2010 has proved to be better than the first half of 2009. They made £25.1 million profit before tax, compared to the £24.7 which they made last year.

The group has more than 100 bingo clubs in the UK, as well as 35 casinos. They have seen an increase in the number of visitors and players – their Mecca Bingo clubs and Grosvenor Casinos attract both general visitors as well as the all-important regular players.

The figures show that customer numbers for the first half of 2010 increased by almost 12% to over 2.5 million, and the average spend per visit also increased by 1.5% to £22.50.

said;, “All of our businesses have achieved growth in revenue as a result of increased numbers of customers and customer visits.”

He has also suggested that they may investigate the possibility of opening a casino in Newham, which was the very first borough to win a government casino licence as part of the 2005 Gambling Act. This ties in with the news that they are planning to spend £500 million over the next 2 years on the purchase of 5 new casinos and 5 other gambling venues.

Brought to you by London Bingo News

Many people in the bingo industry have been fighting for some time in a bid to get the tax on bingo halls changed. The tax has been up and down over the last couple of years, but at the moment is set higher than tax for other forms of gambling which many people feel is unfair, especially in the current economic climate where every penny counts.

It’s always good to get high profile people to support any campaign, and in this case Brian Binley, the MP for Northampton South has joined in. He is opposing the high tax, which he believes is not fair as bingo is commonly seen as being one of the least dangerous types of gambling, and has referred to it as a ‘granny tax,’ referring to the fact that bingo players are often seen as being in the more mature age group, even though the average age has dropped over recent years.

Mr Binley told the Northampton Chronicle, “Bingo is one of the least damaging forms of gambling and yet it pays one of the highest rates of taxes. Most of the people who play bingo use it as an opportunity for social interaction. The previous Government created 24 hour casinos and wanted to place more of them in many of our large cities and towns, even though all the evidence suggested they were one of the most damaging forms of gambling. Yet they placed a granny tax on bingo enthusiasts.”

The Conservative MP recently paid a visit to a Beacon Bingo club in his local constituency to give him a taste of the whole bingo experience, and to see first hand how bingo halls are being affected by high taxation. To put things into perspective, bingo clubs currently pay a higher rate of tax than high street bookmakers. Whether he succeeds in his bid or not is another matter, but the fact that he has pledged his support is a positive factor. However, as the recent budget left this matter alone and made no tax changes hopes are not too high. It is a fight that will go on though in the hope that one day it will succeed.