Gala Bingo to raise £1million for charity

Gala Bingo has announced a special programme with the aim to raise £1million for their chosen charity over the next 18 months.

Employees at Gala Bingo, part of the Gala Coral Group Limited, voted for the Sue Ryder Care charity to be the one to benefit from the move. The charity works with seriously and terminally ill people, along with their friends and family across Europe. They care for sufferers of cancer, Multiple Sclerosis, strokes, Parkinson's Disease, Motor Neuron Disease, Huntington's Disease, brain injury and dementia.

Business Development Manager for Sue Ryder Care, Bridget Auger, said: “We want to increase the hours of care and support we provide from four million to ten million a year.

“We’re excited about the potential of the link-up with Gala Coral because of the reach of its retail network and the dedication of its employees who voted us as their charity.”

Gala Bingo told how it would be raising the funds through its 157 land-based bingo clubs, along with its online bingo and online casino sites, GalaBingo.co.uk and GalaCasino.co.uk.

Chief Executive Officer for Gala Coral Group, Neil Goulden, commented: “Everyone at Gala Coral is delighted to be associated with our chosen charity, Sue Ryder Care, and the outstanding work that they carry out.

“We have a long history of raising money for a variety of good causes, now we are focusing on a nominated charity that the whole Group can support. We are positive that the Gala Coral teams will get behind the fundraising initiatives and help to raise as much money as possible.'

To get involved in the fund raising, join up at Gala Bingo or Gala Casino now!

William Hill Bingo player scoops £17,000 on his first day!

One lucky William Hill Bingo player has won a huge £17,807.12, just three hours after opening his online bingo account! After deciding to give one of the 17 side games a try, his 20p spin of the Pirates Plunder mini game won him the huge jackpot.

The win meant that he had earned over £5,500 for every hour that he had been a William Hill Bingo customer! Pub landlord Scott Robinson, of South Yorkshire, commented: "I can't believe it really, and it all seemed to happen so fast, I'd sat down and was enjoying trying out the games on the Hills site and now I've won £1 7,000! I'm delighted, I think I'll use some of the money to take my staff for a couple of good nights out, or maybe even take them away for a few days, as in the pub game they all work so hard."

Jennie Prest, spokeswoman for William Hill Bingo, said: "True to the Pirates Plunder game he was playing, Scott turned up suddenly and nicked our treasure! Such a big win for a new customer is terrific for Scott and for us, making over £17,000 in 3 hours is pretty good going."

European Bingo Champion crowned Saturday night

Robert Robinson, a Workshop man, was given the title of European Bingo Champion last Saturday after winning the grand prize against 660 qualifiers. In addition to winning the title, Robinson is also now the new owner of a new car, a Chevrolet Aveo.

“I can’t believe it,” Robinson said. “I’ve never won anything as big as this before. It took me two hours solid to slug it out and qualify for the final but it was well worth it. I’m glad England weren’t in Euro 2008 now or I might not have entered and won the car.”

Thousands of bingo players entered the contest on paddypowerbingo.com, but the field was narrowed down to 50 players who competed in the final. All players who made it to the final walked away with prizes including holiday trips, home makeovers, laptops, cameras and free bingo.

“The response to our European Bingo Championships was phenomenal and definitely something we’ll be looking at doing again in the future,” said David Lyons, paddypokerbingo.com representative. “In the meantime, the fun doesn’t stop there! We’ve a whole host of promotions running in July. We’re giving away diamonds with the launch of our new 75-ball Diamond bingo room, free games to all new players, great regular prizes, and lots, lots more!”

This was the first ever European Bingo Championship hosted by Paddy Power Bingo, but it sounds like it won’t be the last.

New Celebrity Bingo Channel

Greg Scott, Jim Bowen and comedians Cannon and Ball have been named presenters of the forthcoming Celebrity TV Bingo program that will air daily on Sky Channel 847 in the UK. Airing this summer, Celebrity TV Bingo will give players at the home the chance to win instant cash prizes and an opportunity to interact with the celebrity hosts. The program is produced by NetPlay TV Plc, which recently acquired Bingos.com for £6.25 million.

"This new TV show is another milestone in our development of our bingo business," said Netplay TV chairman and CEO Martin Higginson. "Having the likes of Jim Bowen, plus Cannon and Ball will really help us put the www.bingos.com brand on the map. Giving the customer the chance to play bingo from the comfort of their own home with famous celebrities calling out the bingo numbers is yet another first for our business.

 

UK online bingo industry worth £600 million

We all love online bingo and the majority of us play on more then one bingo site but have you ever wondered just how much this industry is really worth? Well this week it was announced in the United Kingdom alone we are spending over £600 million a year on bingo tickets; that is more then the GDP of some countries! Sun Bingo is still holding it’s top spot as the number one online bingo site in the UK with a massive 19% market share which is based on the value of the tickets sold.

There is an unprecedented growth in the online bingo industry here in the UK in the past year. The fact that online bingo players are purchasing bingo tickets in the realm of £600 million annually is truly amazing considering the credit crunch, but not surprising considering the licensing of the online gaming industry in the UK. The top sites based on the value of ticket sales and games prices in the UK at the moment are:

1: The Sun - 19%

2: Gala Bingo - 16%

3: Foxy Bingo - 13%

4: Jackpot Joy - 10%

5: Mecca Bingo - 7%

Sites such as The Sun and Gala have gained market share through their well known branding but it is the promotions that keep players loyal.

 

Winner on Jackpotjoy

Congratulations to Nicola W who’s won £7,596 playing Jackpotjoy’s fantastic Casino game Jacks or Better. Here’s what she had to say when we got on the phone to her.
“It was lovely… and surprising! I logged in and thought I’d have a little play. I wasn’t really concentrating and then the money dropped in!”
It’s not every day that you win such an incredible Jackpot, so what did Nicola do first when the moment hit?
“I didn’t really know what I should do afterward. I guess I just started thinking about what to buy! I need to get a new mobile and new mp3. It’s not very extravagant but this money comes in handy as I spend a lot of time in Spain as well.”
After this win, you’d expect Jacks or Better to remain Nicola’s favourite game, but being such a Jackpotjoy fan, she’s loyal to other games too!
“I’d say my favourite game is the Poker offerings but I also really enjoy Deal or No Deal Slots too!”

Sky Launches 'Interactive Bingo'

Sky Broadcasting in Britain has announced the launch of their new interactive bingo game on Sky TV that allows users to play their favourite bingo games while watching TV at the same time. This new development is said to give bingo a boost in the UK, because it allows players to continue their session even if they don’t feel like sitting at the computer.

“Bingo continues to grow in popularity in the UK and we are thrilled to be the first to bring bingo to TV audiences,” said Edward Moss, Sky’s marketing director. “Sky Bingo is a revolutionary and innovative new format for a traditional and popular game that has fans across the country, and what’s more, selected games are free to play every Monday and Thursday!” Sky Bingo can now be played on the television as well as online at skybingo.com as usual. The process for playing on the TV is actually quite simple: just push the red button on the Sky remote control and select “Play Sky Bingo.

Once the Sky Bingo Interactive has launched on the screen, the interface can be moulded to the user’s preferences, including two minimize options: one that shows only the player’s leading tickets and the ball calls, and another that only shows each tickets remaining numbers. This way, players really can continue watching TV without much of the game covering the screen. Sky Bingo will offer free games every Monday and Thursday, where players can win jackpots starting at £10,000. Also, players at can use other Sky services, such as Sky Poker, Sky Vegas and Sky Bet, with their accounts.

Euro 2008 Widows find a fun at Will Hill

William Hill has reported record numbers of people registering on their bingo site and up to 10 times as many players joining in to play online Bingo, as they would normally expect to see. Jennie Prest, PR Manager at William Hill stated that "Since the start of the tournament(Euro 2008) we've had a sudden rise in the number of players logging on in the evening and we can only deduce that it's down to the football. With the matches dominating the TV schedule, the non-footie fans out there are looking for their own bit of excitement and William Hill Bingo is benefiting.

Even though England have been knocked out of the competition, Will Hill has reported massive betting on Euro 2008 and then to add to that they are doing pretty well from the new surge of 'football widows' playing online bingo. Will Hill Bingo has a number of different 'rooms' where bingo can be played and normally there are up to about 75 games at least per football match. Players can play bingo or also slots and scratch cards. The company has given away a total prize fund of over £75 million in the last 18 months, and players at William hill bingo can win prizes of up to £100,000

Plans for £90m Casino at NEC Birmingham

The NEC Group has just unveiled new plans to develop the NEC venue into one of the UK’s top lesisure and entertainment complexes. The £90 million masterplan will include a Casino, hotel, spa, bars and restaurants on the site, in turn creating over 1000 new jobs and generating millions of pounds for the local economy. The NEC Group announced that it would be partnering with Genting Stanley, a major gaming and leisure company and currently the largest Casino operator in the UK with over 40 separate outlets.

Cheif Executive of the NEC Group, Paul Thandi, said of the partnership with Genting Stanley: "It has always been our first priority to find the best possible partner for the NEC, for Solihull and for the wider West Midlands – a company that shares our vision of creating places where people come to discover the future," he said. "In Genting Stanley we are confident that not only have we found a partner who shares our vision; we have also found an experienced team capable of bringing that vision to life."

Executive deputy chairman of Genting Stanley also recognises the possibilities: The proposed complex will bring quality leisure and entertainment facilities to the region and create valuable new jobs in the local economy. We are confident of being able to bring a wealth of experience and success to this project and we look forward to the opportunity of being a worthy partner to the NEC Group and demonstrating our strengths to the local government in this exciting endeavour.’’

Mecca Bingo Goes Crazy this July

Mecca Bingo one of the oldest UK bingo sites is offering all their bingo members a fantastic price for trying out each room of theirs. There are running a new offer where all UK Bingo players have to win just one house price form 10 rooms to win upto extra £10,000 which is up for grans in their online bingo site. There is even a prize draw for those who don’t win a house, if you play a cash game in all of the 10 rooms this month you will be entered into a prize draw to win a pair of VIP tickets to see Kylie Minogue in concert at the O2 in July. Go to MECCA Bingo

The Ten Commandments Of Bingo

1. Thou shalt not sit in thy neighbours lucky seat.
2. Thou shalt not stare at thy neighbours card.
3. Thou shalt not take the Callers name in vain.
4. Thou shalt not call false "Bingo".
5. Thou shalt not wish bad luck on thy neighbour.
6. Thou shalt not threaten to kill the "Caller".
7. Thou shalt not steal thy husband's money for Bingo.
8. Thou shalt not brag about how much thou hast won. (except in the bingo forum)
9. Thou shalt not whine about how much thou hast lost.(except in the bingo forum)
10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbours winnings.