February 2008 Archives
A survey conducted through 734 online bingo players by market research company Kadence Business Research and Market Analysis has concluded online bingo hall Foxy Bingo is the UK's favourite online bingo games site.
The survey included categories such as trustworthiness, security, friendliness, fun and community with Foxy Bingo scoring tops in all sections.
Foxy Bingo recently parted ways with long-time front person Katie Price to pursue a new marketing strategy. The Kadence survey was conducted in August 2007 and targeted people who play online bingo across a number of UK online bingo sites.
Written by John Witherspoonwww.bingostreet.com
A preliminary court ruling Thursday has left standing a Sacramento County ordinance allowing some types of electronic bingo.
A company producing a brand of the machines, New Vision Entertainment, is seeking to invalidate the county ordinance.
Both sides have asked for a hearing to clarify the court's position. The hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. today.
If the ruling stands, it would be a big win for local groups with charitable bingo operations. The groups have become increasingly dependent on revenue from the large slot-style electronic bingo machines.
"E-bingo is the new paradigm," said Doug Pringle, who runs a local bingo operation. "The old paper bingo was our grandma's game and isn't relevant to today's society."
The key issue before the court is whether paper cards are needed for games to be called bingo.
Last summer, the Attorney General's Division on Gambling Control reiterated a long-standing attorney general's position that bingo involves paper games, ink daubers and live callers.
The county's position has been that games in which players electronically compete against one another - and not against the machine - are legal.
Because the bingo machines allowed by the county mandate that the players be able to request a card printout, Judge Patrick Marlette's preliminary ruling was that they are permissible as bingo machines.
But with Indian gambling interests - who see the machines as infringing on their exclusive right to operate slot machines - pressuring the governor to step in, the issue is far from settled.
Disabled Sports USA, headed by Pringle, has a large bingo operation on Watt Avenue.
Dozens of touch-screen bingo machines fill part of the facility. Pringle, said losing electronic bingo, e-bingo as he calls it, would be monumental.
"So many of us have become dependent on e-bingo. It would be devastating," he said. "A lot of great charities would be adversely affected."
His charity uses athletics to improve the lives of the physically challenged. Pringle said he regained his confidence by learning to ski on one leg after he lost a limb in Vietnam.
Since charitable bingo fundraising was authorized by Sacramento County in 1977, it has sustained high school extracurricular programs - sports, band and other organizations - helped feed seniors and support the disabled.
But in recent years, revenue has declined. In fiscal 1995-96, the six county-sanctioned bingo parlors saw 866,274 players spend $44.3 million.
By fiscal 2005-06, two halls had gone out of business and attendance had dropped to 407,098, with gross receipts of $36.6 million.
Marty Manges, manager of Casa Roble High School's bingo operation, said electronic bingo machines, with more "bells and whistles," are needed to compete with casinos.
Pringle said the vast majority of their profits come from electronic bingo machines, rather than traditional called bingo games.
"Paper bingo is archaic," Pringle said. "It doesn't reflect society."
Written by Ed Fletcher
Casper Police obtained and executed search warrants Tuesday for Hilltop Bingo, 2655 E. Third St., and Anytime Bingo, 845 E. Second St., 7th District Attorney Mike Blonigen said Thursday.
The police department is investigating the machines, and it will give him a report.
"Nobody's been charged," Blonigen said. "It's all under investigation."
Hilltop Bingo manager Roxie Taylor could not be reached for comment.
On the other hand, Anytime Bingo no longer exists, said the manager of the new establishment called Bingo Blast at the same address.
Anytime Bingo, which operated under the auspices of a local Veterans of Foreign Wars post, shut down recently and its equipment was removed, Preston Pilant said.
"Anytime Bingo" was the defendant listed on the affidavit and warrant for the search, according to copies of those documents supplied by Pilant. The search warrant, signed by Detective Robin Tuma, had not been filed as of Thursday afternoon in the clerk's office of Natrona County Circuit Court. Tuma could not be reached for comment.
Officers didn't heed protests, Pilant said. "The staff here tried to tell (the police) they were not Anytime Bingo."
Blonigen said the name of the business didn't matter.
"Warrants are for places, not people," Blonigen said. "The premises is what's important."
On Friday, Bingo Blast received its equipment -- 36 computers with touch screens loaded with software for electronic bingo, he said.
Pilant didn't want electronic bingo because the Wyoming Supreme Court had declared e-bingo illegal in rulings in 2005 and 2006, he said. The game of pull tabs, however, remains a gray area as far as electronic versions of it are concerned, he added.
A technician from the manufacturer arrived Saturday to begin replacing the e-bingo with a game that allowed customers to play with pull tabs using the same touch screen machines, Pilant said.
Tuesday, police seized the technician's personal computer, the 36 machines worth $2,000 each, two cash registers for the pull tab game, and other equipment, he said.
"They took it knowing we were not Anytime Bingo," Pilant said.
Four employees -- some single mothers -- lost their jobs, and he has a rent payment due, he said.
Pilant doesn't know how much he may lose, but the $76,000 worth of computer hardware is only the beginning, he said.
The police department hasn't returned his calls, he said.
He wanted someone from the district attorney's office to visit Bingo Blast to determine whether the equipment with the pull tab software was legal, but those calls weren't returned, either, he said.
Blonigen responded his office generally doesn't give advisory opinions because it may not have all the facts, he said. Giving advice could backfire if his office later learned something was illegal, he said.
Tuesday's seizures occurred two years after the Wyoming Supreme Court unanimously upheld a lower court finding that electronic versions of bingo are illegal, and another ruling in 2005 that e-bingo games are illegal gambling devices and that their profits were illegally shared with for-profit entities. The ruling resulted in the shutdown of numerous e-bingo sites across Wyoming.
"The Wyoming Supreme Court took all that electric (gambling) equipment off the table," Blonigen said.
"We've got to look at enforcing the statute the Legislature passed."
www.casperstartribune.net
HAMMOND -- Mayor Mayson Foster told the Hammond Chamber of Commerce on Thursday that he is opposed to video bingo because it takes money from those who can least afford it.
Foster's remarks came the day before the City Council is poised to decide whether to override his veto of a zoning change for a bowling alley that could open the way for the city's third video bingo parlor to open for business.
At issue before the council today is a zoning change that would move Tangi Lanes Bowling on Thomas Street to a less restrictive zoning classification that would permit video bingo games on its premises.
The council approved the change 4-1 on Feb. 6, but Foster vetoed the measure on Feb. 15. It takes at least four votes to override the mayor's veto.
The City Council is expected to vote on the issue during a special meeting set for 10 a.m. today at City Hall on Charles Street in Hammond.
Since the City Council first adopted an ordinance in 2005 authorizing video bingo inside the city limits, the issue has been a source of controversy periodically.
This time, the dispute involves questions on whether Councilman Jason Hood may vote on the zoning change because he was employed by one of the owners of a video bingo distributor that may or may not have a contract to supply machines to the bowling alley's proposed video bingo hall.
Hood has since resigned that job, citing constituent concerns, although he said that he does not think his votes on the zoning change were improper.
Foster spoke to the Chamber of Commerce on Thursday to discuss the city's goals for the year. His comments on video bingo came when questioned by members after his speech.
Foster also said he plans to put forth a new and separate zoning classification for video bingo. Currently, any business in a C-3 zone may offer the games.
Foster said the change he suggests would prevent City Council members from saying that their vote is about a zoning change and not about gambling. Some of the council members who voted for the Tangi Lanes zoning proposition said they did so not to support gambling, but to give the bowling alley its proper zoning classification.
The city also has a separate zoning category for so-called sexually oriented businesses. A person planning to open one of them, such as an adult toy store or a strip club, must seek this specific zoning category.
Video bingo is similar to video poker in that players put money in machines in the hopes of winning more. However, it is governed under different laws than video poker, enabling sponsoring charities to receive part of the profits.
Written by Debra Lemoine
Advocate Florida parishes bureauwww.2theadvocate.com
Steve Cook, European MD at Parlay Entertainment who will be speaking at
the upcoming 3rd Annual Online Bingo Summit taking place on June 17th -
18th in London says "Online Bingo is the fastest growing sector in
iGaming and continues to expand at an impressive pace."
Phil Fraser, Founder of Which Bingo who will be chairing the summit
highlights the need for the online gaming community to come together in
order to maintain the levels of growth online bingo is experiencing
today "As online bingo continues its meteoric growth and development,
so does the need for informative discussion, debate and interaction
within the industry."
Commenting on the excitement that the online bingo industry is
experiencing, Dominic Mansour, CEO at Bingos.com tells us "The Online
Bingo space is gearing up to corner a large slice of the online gaming
sector... things are very exciting right now."
"One thing is for sure, Online Bingo is set to grow significantly this
year" says Ravi Virpal, Director at Bullet Business and continues "the
Online Bingo Summit this year is completely focused on the bingo
operators and their need to attract big spending online bingo players,
how to secure customer loyalty and of course the push into new
profitable European landscapes such as Scandinavia... The response has
been overwhelming with over 50 companies already signed up to attend."
Written by www.igamingbusiness.com
UK online bingo games operators and online bingo halls might be interested in the latest list of banned gambling web pages issued by the Australian government in their efforts to crack down on sites 'unsuitable for public consumption'.
With many UK online bingo sites open to Australian customers, it is possible some sites may have been targeted by the Australian list which has caught a fair number of industry people by surprise.
Reports say the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has issued a blacklist of approximately 800 hundred web pages to Australian ISPs as well as to certain content filtering companies. The new list comes about three months after a similar list was given to service providers.
"We asked ACMA what was going on and were told that these were illegal gambling websites that had been identified by the federal Government as inappropriate," an industry source was quoted as saying. "We had never received two lists before, so that caused some confusion."
ACMA clarified that the extra list was related to a large amount of complaints about illegal gambling sites last October and that these were only resolved later.
Australians that play online bingo games account for a small amount of the UK online bingo customer base with many Australian players choosing to play at Australian operated sites instead.
Written by John Witherspoonwww.bingostreet.com
Ms. Erlewine plays all of the games at Table Mountain, saying "I love Bingo and knew that someday I would hit the Crystal Ball and I did it. I screamed and was so excited when my dream came true."
The Crystal Ball is a Bingo game in which players pick 8 numbers from 1 to 75. If a player's 8 numbers are called within 20 numbers, the guest wins the total jackpot, which has reached as high as $100,750!
"We are thrilled to have a large Bingo jackpot hit by one of our valued Loyal Guests and Players. What a terrific way to celebrate the Twentieth Anniversary of Table Mountain Casino," said John Mayewski, President & CEO of Table Mountain Casino.
Whether it's the newest and hottest slot machines, thrilling table games or Bingo, Table Mountain Casino is the place for non-stop excitement and life-altering jackpots. Bingo games are offered Wednesdays through Sundays in the Bingo Hall at Table Mountain Casino, featuring Matinee Madness sessions on Thursdays.
For the bingo industry in the UK, the last few years have been difficult. The introduction of the smoking ban and a harsh taxing regime has led to financial troubles for the industry, leading to the closure of a large number of clubs. Neil Goulden, chief of the UK's biggest bingo chain Gala Bingo predicts that as many as 200 halls could close around the UK as a result of the current trading climate.
Bingo halls have been closing down for a long time, since well before the current problems. Sometimes to relocate to a newer and more modern premises, and other times because a new purpose built hall has opened near by, making it difficult for the smaller halls to compete. Either way, the loss of a local bingo club is always a big blow for the regular members in the community.
Once a club has shut its doors, the unique atmosphere that made it special and the very culture of the club is gone for good. Often the halls that close are the smaller older halls, rich in history and design, many cinemas or theaters prior to their life as bingo halls. When these halls close, some are demolished, some are redeveloped as flats or shops and some are returned to their original purpose or find a new one. Whatever happens, in the process a lot of the fabric of what made the place special is lost, and cannot ever be replaced or recreated.
In response to the acceleration in recent closures, the UK Bingo site Playing Bingo has opened a new section as a place to mark the passing of these halls. The Lost Bingo Halls section is a growing collection of pages on clubs that are now shut. As clubs shut and people submit information to the site, new pages will be added with the aim of creating the definitive online archive of lost UK bingo halls.
Bingo fans can help Playing Bingo by submitting photographs, stories and information on their own lost halls. Members of closed, or soon to close halls are being encouraged to share their information and photographs. If they contact Playing Bingo, then the site will add the best content to its Lost Bingo Halls section.
"These halls are going, and no one seems to care about making a record of them, the wonderful architecture and community in the clubs. I hope with my Lost Bingo Halls section I'm able to at least give people a glimpse into what's been lost at these clubs." Commented the Playing Bingo creator David Lloyd.
"Unfortunately it's always the small clubs that suffer the worst, the ones with real character, soon there will be none of these small halls left, it will be all modern and bland, large scale purpose built bingo halls and that's a real shame. It's always saddens me to see one of these old style bingo halls close." Said David about the current situation.
Playing Bingo has for the last couple of years been one of the few online sites about bingo that's engaged in carrying information about both high street bingo and the popular online version of the game. The site encourages creative bingo players to submit their own stories and content to the site, to share with Playing Bingo's growing readership. With the introduction of the Lost Bingo Halls section, David hopes that many more will add their own stories to the growing archive of bingo information and personal opinions.
"I'm crazy about getting this information online about one of the UK's favourite games, there's so little out there online about bingo halls and their history, it's maddening." David went on to say.
As well as the history of lost halls, the site also showcases a growing collection of illustrated articles on existing bingo halls, the latest of which is an in depth look at the history of the Southport Mecca Garrick by architecture photographer and writer Ian Grundy. The wonderful photos of the club's lavish interior illustrate with great clarity the ambience and bingo hall style that's set to be lost when these style of older clubs close.
If you'd like to help Playing Bingo with your photos and stories of your closed or closing hall, they can be contacted via the site.
Written by www.prleap.com
Mecca Bingo is asking for everyone's help to save our bingo. The game of bingo has now been around for generations and it goes way back to the 16th century, it is believed to have culminated in Italy in the form of a Lottery and it rapidly spread throughout Europe in many different forms, which eventually led to the game of bingo that millions of players know and love to play today.
Our bingo halls are now under serious threat of closure; we have seen many bingo halls already closed down in the past year. Mecca Bingo is asking for your help before it is too late and we see yet more bingo halls closing down. Most bingo players are probably aware by now that it is the double taxation law that is placed on the bingo industry that is causing real concern for everyone involved in bingo.
The Bingo Industry are the only industry that have the double taxation law, this unfair taxation is placing a huge burden on them. Mecca Bingo says that it is this law that is ultimately causing the bingo hall closures and I have to agree. The smoking ban has not helped either, but the bingo clubs are coming up with ways to fight back against this by providing smoking shelters outside their clubs, ect, but unless the government sit up and listen now to what the bingo industry are saying about the taxation law, yet more closures could be on the way. It is estimated that the government will lose over £700,000 per annum for every bingo club that has to close, so you would think that is was also in their interest to take note of what is happening to the bingo industry now!
Mecca Bingo has now set up a petition on 10 Downing Streets website and they need your help to bring it to the attention of the government. Once the petition reaches over 200 signatures the Prime Minister is obliged to have to read it and if Mecca Bingo can get over 21,000 signatures their petition will be up there with the most popular petitions that are currently going on at the moment. It is Mecca Bingo's aim to show the Prime Minister how important bingo is to millions of people in the UK, including the people that work in the bingo industry.
To help save our bingo and join Mecca Bingo in their plight, then click on this link below to sign the petition.
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/SaveOurBingo/
To more people that sign, then the more hope Mecca Bingo will have
of getting their views and us the people views heard. The deadline to
add your signature is 11th April, so you must sign before this date.
Written by Hollie
Despite playing the game for less than two years, a bingo winner in Wombwell is looking to share her wealth with her loved ones.
The win saw Lisa Mitchell, a 19-year-old sales consultant, secure £238,000 on the National Bingo Game's platinum jackpot play-off at Gala Bingo's Pontefract Road club.
However, the money will go three-ways with her regular UK bingo players, her boyfriend's sister Gemma and mother, set to receive an equal share of her takings.
She told National Bingo: "We play regularly at least once a week and always share whatever any of us wins."
Although Lisa and Gemma celebrated the bingo win with a McDonalds breakfast, they both have grander designs for how to spend their cash.
Lisa is set to by a house with her takings, with Gemma looking to renovate her home.
Earlier this month, a bingo winner in Greenford was in a state of shock after winning a share of a £33,895 jackpot.
Written by Ashley King.
www.onlinebingo.co.uk
The big news sweeping the UK gaming industry is the UK government's decision to veto plans for the construction of a large-scale land-based casino in Manchester. The decision has resulted in a threatened lawsuit by Manchester City authorities aimed at protecting its plan for improving the city.
For online bingo industry observers, the news of the decision will prompt speculation of a larger shift in the UK gaming market away from land-based gaming to online gaming. Online bingo halls and online bingo games operators have already been gaining from the slowing down in the crisis-ridden land-based bingo sector.
The government's decision on the Manchester project has sent shockwaves through the Manchester community where it is believed the casino could have brought in 265 million pounds of investment and up to 2,700 extra jobs.
Written by John Witherspoonwww.bingostreet.com
Bingo Hall.com is celebrating its 7 year anniversary in the gaming industry, more specific, the bingo industry. The festivities will begin coincidentally on March 7th with weekly contests that will go straight thru April 1st.
The title of the event is called very accordingly the "Anniversary Tournament" and will consist of a series of weekly events that will serve as qualifying tournaments all thru March, each event will give away $2500 in cash prizes free of play, to end the month long celebration they plan to have a big "movie ending" giving away $10.000 in cash prizes on April 1st.
To all the interested bingo players that would like to be a part of the 7 year anniversary of this bingo site, can simply visit Bingo Hall's website (www.bingohall.com) any time to review all the details.
The popularity that bingo has nowadays is unbelievable, and sites like Bingo Hall.com are showing signs that their tenure ship will be continue, because catering to players requests and always looking to add new and improved contests, games and rewards is not an easy task to accomplish which this site is well known for doing so as well as for it's fair game policy, timely and easy payouts which is an absolute must to remain competitive in this industry, but this site manages to accomplish that and more, with seven years under it's belt this company is proof that the input of the players has great influence on changes that many bingo sites apply to their usual formula in order to remain as household names.
www.openpr.com
Most prospective parents might object to their child being regarded as an "omen", after the film exploits of a certain Damien.
But for one bingo fan, the word proved slightly more positive recently, as she attempted to shock her daughter into labour.
While the trick failed, National Bingo reveals that 44-year-old Tracey Firth instead landed in the money.
Following a win at the Buckingham Bingo hall in Bradford, Tracey says of her daughter: "She was definitely my lucky omen."
She adds that the £18,000 UK bingo jackpot is to be shared between herself and four others.
"We're splitting the winnings between the five of us so we're all very happy," she tells National Bingo.
More reason to celebrate came five days later as Tracey's daughter finally gave birth to a baby boy - called Alfie, not Damien.
Players in Bradford have scooped more than £1 million in UK bingo jackpots across the city's Buckingham, Mecca and Gala Bingo venues.
Written by Bob Bardsley.
www.onlinebingo.co.uk
The UK's Independent newspaper recently reported rumours that Austrian online gaming giant Bwin is making another potential acquisition play for Sportingbet. Bwin, which also operates online bingo games in the European market, attempted a failed bid for Sportingbet last year.
The rumours reflect a growing belief in the online gaming industry that consolidation in the sector is a growing trend. Online bingo operators have seen a number of mergers and acquisitions between companies in the bingo online industry, particularly in the growing Swedish online bingo market.
Online bingo industry observers will be interested to see how the Bwin/Sportingbet deal proceeds as it may indicate future movements in the industry which has been hampered by legal and regulatory issues.
Written by John Witherspoonwww.bingostreet.com
Houston County Commissions are expected to act on a bingo resolution this morning which could pave the way for a large-scale destination development with live entertainment , a hotel, restaurants, and a theater.
Under Amendment 569 of the Alabama Code, bingo is already legal in Houston County. The resolution to be taken up at 10 a.m. would do primarily do two things: It would restrict video and electronic bingo machines to keep them from popping up at convenience stores and other business across the county, but mostly, it would put into law the special permit clause of the bingo laws.
In enacting the special permit aspect, the county would allow three types of bingo permits -- for nonprofits and private clubs only. These would include:
Class A: Temporary Qualified Location -- Bingo can be conducted no more than five days per calendar year.
Class B: Qualified Location -- Bingo can be conducted no more than one five-hour session per week.
Class C: Qualified Location -- Bingo can be conducted 24-hours a day seven days a week, with a Sunday morning black-out time from 4 a.m. to 1 p.m. The bingo location must be part of a mixed- or multi-use development that incorporates a branded, franchise hotel, restaurants, dinner theaters, other entertainment and amusement related retail space, and an entertainment venue with the capacity for at least 3,144 persons to view live entertainment such as music.
The Class C permit requires at least 70 percent of the develpment be complete and operational prior to playing bingo. The permit holder must also agree to providing on-site security, adequate parking, first aid, $2 million in liability insurance; $500,000 in liquor liability insurance and the establishment of accounting regulations and controls to preserve the integrity of the operation.
While Houston County officials have said they are under a gag order
not to talk about a large-scale economic development project until 10
today, it is believed the project is part of a Class C bingo
development.
Written by Debbie Ingram
Most prospective parents might object to their child being regarded as an "omen", after the film exploits of a certain Damien.
But for one bingo fan, the word proved slightly more positive recently, as she attempted to shock her daughter into labour.
While the trick failed, National Bingo reveals that 44-year-old Tracey Firth instead landed in the money.
Following a win at the Buckingham Bingo hall in Bradford, Tracey says of her daughter: "She was definitely my lucky omen."
She adds that the £18,000 UK bingo jackpot is to be shared between herself and four others.
"We're splitting the winnings between the five of us so we're all very happy," she tells National Bingo.
More reason to celebrate came five days later as Tracey's daughter finally gave birth to a baby boy - called Alfie, not Damien.
Players in Bradford have scooped more than £1 million in UK bingo jackpots across the city's Buckingham, Mecca and Gala Bingo venues.
Written by Bob Bardsley.
An art deco bingo hall could be knocked down and replaced with a GPs' surgery and 38 flats.
Neighbours of the Gala bingo building in Portland Road, Hove, have branded the planning proposal "madness" and are raising concerns about the development's impact on parking.
Downland Housing Association has said the project would be car free and residents had been fully consulted.
Brighton and Hove City Teaching Primary Care Trust (PCT) plans to close one practice and move services away from another if the project, which includes a surgery for ten doctors, is approved.
The Sackville Road surgery will shut because of problems converting the building for wheelchair access.
The Central Hove Surgery in Ventnor Villas will lose some services to the new centre because the building "is cramped and lacks space for expansion".
These plans represent the second attempt to demolish the building, which has been empty for more than three years.
In 2005 Brighton and Hove City Council planners rejected the move to replace the bingo hall with flats because it would have resulted in a loss of leisure space.
Derek Rist, chairman of the Marmion Road Residents' Association, said members were resigned to the building being knocked down but wanted to see accommodation for the elderly instead of a large GP surgery and flats.
He said: "This is planning madness. It will do nothing for business and we will not be able to park all day.
"We have always suggested a development for older people.
There is a shortage of affordable housing for elderly people in Hove."
Brighton-based CJ Planning lodged the planning application this week.
The consultants wrote: "The application is the result of more than two years of pre-application discussion involving council officers, local residents and local politicians.
"An early version involved the conversion and extension of the existing building which proved to be too problematic and would not have satisfactorily addressed all of the planning policy requirements.
"A new building on the site can respond to all of the constraints such as the need to create a neighbourly relationship with Marmion Road and to form a pleasing visual link with the adjoining terrace fronting Portland Road."
The consultants have said a deal will be signed with City Car Club.
Currently there are 29 car parking bays, which will fall to 19 spaces and six disabled spots.
Some 40 per cent of the homes will be "affordable".
Council leader Brian Oxley, who is a ward councillor, said: "I am asking residents to let me know their opinion on moving the GP surgery.
"I hope that people will get involved and make their views known."
Written by Lawrence Marzouk
The UK land-based bingo industry continues to be hit by worrying news signaling a downturn in the sector with the latest reports a Gala Bingo hall being put up for sale for £1.5 million.
Gala Bingo left its Nuneaton hall as part of its plan to concentrate on its Coventry halls. The decision means Nuneaton bingo players will have to consider either switching to online bingo games and online bingo halls or face making the commute to the Coventry halls.
Gala Bingo already runs a well established online bingo venue so confirmed.
Written by John Witherspoonwww.bingostreet.com
Sunday night, in the pale wash of fluorescent lights, tangled in the scent of nacho cheese, luck and fortune hold out their shiny promises. It's bingo night, where old and young alike sit quietly along the long rows of tables, watching the bingo ball flick onto the television screen, daubing slick circles of ink onto their cards.
They give many reasons for coming. For some, it's the company, the weekly ritual. Others simply say it's the money.
It's also a ritual of hope -- with daubers in canvas bags and cards lined out like a fortune teller's deck. Anyone might be the one to shout out "bingo," be the winner, claim the prize. Everyone has potential.
The numbers are called out like an incantation: B-12, I-24. Along the rows, heads bow, ink drying in bright patterns. Everybody wants to win. The balls dance and leap, one jumping up and into the waiting fingers of the caller.
This could be the one.
* Go to yakimaheraldphotos.com for previous photo columns, portfolios, blogs and multimedia presentations.
Written by Sara Gettys
Selby MP John Grogan and Labour's prospective parliamentary candidate for the Selby and Ainsty seat Coun Wendy Nichols visited Walkers Bingo Hall in town on Friday to campaign for a fairer deal.
Mr Grogan said betting shops and casinos didn't have to pay double taxation, unlike bingo halls, which had to pay gross profits tax and VAT.
He added: "Bingo is a popular pastime among people of all ages. Walker's Bingo is a social centre for many people as well as a business.
"In recent years, it has been harshly treated compared with betting shops and casinos.
"I think the bingo industry has a strong case, and I will be making representations to the chancellor, Alistair Darling, prior to this year's budget, calling for a fairer system to be adopted."
Coun Nichols, who's a regular player at Walkers along with her mother Alderman Rachel Cunliffe, said: "I think the current system is grossly unfair. All we're asking for is a level playing field for taxation."
John Nellist, marketing manager for Walker Bingo's mother company Top Ten, said the crippling tax rules had seen the closure of five of its outlets in the past 14 months.
Selby Walkers manager Peter Sandford added: "All we want is a fair system. Give us the same rules as everyone else."
A petition has been started on the Prime Minister's website to try and put pressure on the government to scrap the current system. Log-on to http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/SaveOurBingo/ to have your say.
Written by Staff
www.selbytimes.co.uk
With the online gambling industry always looking for ways to draw people to their sites, Bingo appears headed back to the height of its popularity.
Over the past few months, several industry insiders have suggested that Bingo will once again be king among gamblers. Several major companies have moved towards offering Bingo games, while others have simply bought the existing Bingo gambling websites that already existed.
Ladbrokes is currently the UK's biggest bookmaker. The company has recently shown major interest in acquiring Parlay Entertainment, which just happens to be a Bingo specialist.
Parlay is an innovator when it comes to online Bingo games. It offers various different variations of the game. Its current clients that are currently running their games are Yahoo, Ann Summers, and Butlins.
Several other companies are also looking into purchasing Parlay. The fact that all of these big companies are battling to get to the top of the online Bingo industry, is a sure sign of the direction that Internet Bingo is heading.
Posted by Tom Jones
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
Isaac repaid expenditures related to travel, food, boots and other purchases, as well as certain disbursements from the county bingo fund, according to the report from the Department of Examiners of Public Accounts.
Isaac could not be reached for comment late Friday.
The audit covered the period beginning Nov. 1, 2005, and ending Jan. 15, 2007, when Isaac was succeeded as sheriff by Ison Thomas, who won the November 2006 election.
Auditors said Isaac repaid $4,688 in travel expenses that were undocumented, $1,013 for disbursements from the county bingo fund, $434 for registration and lodging to a law enforcement conference, $432 for food items purchased from the bingo fund, $260 in sales tax for tax-exempt purchases, $720 for two pairs of boots purchased after losing the election and $1,261 for a self-approved bonus from the bingo fund.
Isaac also returned 15 seized and forfeited firearms on April 12, 2007, three months after leaving office, and returned two sheriff's office firearms in July and October, the audit said.
In addition, $74,000 in disbursements from the bingo fund authorized by Isaac were refunded by recipients.
The local lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police refunded $20,000, the Central State Troopers Coalition refunded $36,000 and the Alabama Peace Officers Association refunded $18,000.
"There was no documentation present to support the reasons for the disbursements, nor could it be determined that the disbursements were allowable expenditures for the office of sheriff," the audit said.
Another $59,500 Isaac transferred to the Greene County Commission from restricted funds were refunded to the sheriff's office.
A 2003 state constitutional amendment passed by Greene County voters authorizes bingo games in the county and sets the sheriff as the sole regulator of bingo operations. Part of the money generated by bingo must go to certain charities, which pay an annual $2,200 license fee to be eligible for bingo money. The license fees go into the bingo fund, which the sheriff uses to pay for costs incurred regulating bingo.
In a previous audit of the sheriff's office, which covered the period from Nov. 1, 2002-Oct. 31, 2005, examiners found that Isaac owed the county nearly $17,000 that he paid to himself from the bingo fund. Isaac agreed to repay an $1,100 bonus included in that amount, but said he was entitled to the rest, which he said was reimbursement for expenses he incurred as the regulator of bingo in the county.
The audit released Friday did not address the findings from the previous audit, and it was unclear how that matter was resolved.
Written by Dana Beyerle
www.tuscaloosanews.com
The case against Homer Page was dismissed Feb. 5 in Arapahoe District Court. He pleaded not guilty to the charge in September 2007 and was scheduled to go to trial next week. The Colorado Attorney General's Office announced the indictment in 2006.
Multiple calls to the office requesting comment Friday were not returned.
Page, 66, who now lives in Columbia, Mo., told a Columbia Daily Tribune reporter Friday that the indictment and the process that followed were expensive and frustrating.
"The charges were totally bogus, and I think this indicates that," Page said. "I think the court process itself is slow, and I think the prosecutors were slow in being willing to acknowledge that they were wrong, so they made it drag out."
Page served as a Boulder County commissioner from 1988 to 1995 and on the Boulder City Council from 1982 to 1988. Blind from birth, Page was a well-known advocate for the blind and disabled. He has continued his work in Columbia and is executive director of Disability Media Inc.
He told
the Tribune on Friday that defending himself against the conspiracy
charge cost an estimated $50,000. He traveled to Colorado from Columbia
to make court appearances.
According to the 2006 indictment, prosecutors believed Page and
others worked through an Aurora-based nonprofit called Winners Bingo
and lined their pockets with millions of dollars illegally. The
nonprofit allowed legitimate nonprofits to get state licenses for the
games and skim from the ticket sales, or allowed them to obtain
licenses for "sham" nonprofits that they founded to profit personally
from the bingo games, investigators said.
Under Colorado law, a charitable organization may get a license
to operate games of chance to raise money for itself. However, no one
may profit personally.
According to the indictment, the illegal games held at Winners
Bingo were for Handicapped Media; the Christian Center for the
Performing Arts; Helping Hands for the Homeless; Challenges, Choices
and Images; and Project Return to Work.
Page founded Handicapped Media Inc. in 1979 but didn't obtain a
bingo license for the nonprofit until August 1998. His partners in the
organization were Angie Wood and her parents, Max and Mary Ann Brooks.
Indicted with Page were Wood, the Brookses, Andrea and Sean
McGrath, Curtis Liggett, Maria Lloyd, Christopher Rick and James Ryan.
Cases brought against Max Brooks and Wood are still pending.
Court records do not show charges against Rick or Mary Ann Brooks.
Charges against the McGraths and Ryan were dismissed, according to court records.
Liggett accepted a deal and pleaded guilty to attempting to
influence a public official and was given a four-year deferred
sentence. Lloyd pleaded guilty to forgery of a public record and was
sentenced to three years of probation. Written by
Pierrette J. Shields
However, some of their legal tactics were so far-fetched that taxpayers are now being asked to pay millions in damages to bingo halls, Local 6's Tony Pipitone said.Pipitone reported that officers claimed bingo operators were racketeers and they raised the stakes in a legal gamble that the prosecutors have lost and so have the taxpayers."What is it going it going to cost them?" Pipitone said."It could be anywhere from $8 to $12 million at the end of the day," Bingo hall owners' attorney Steve Mason said.
The total is how much the bingo operators claim they could have made had MBI, the Orange County state attorney and the attorney general not improperly gone after them.Attorney General Bill McCullom warned that the "tremendous adverse impact" of the damages could prevent his prosecuting real crimes.
The people who were improperly prosecuted are saying tough luck, Pipitone said."They took it upon themselves to try and shut them down and at the end of the line they hoped to get a pot of gold," Mason said. "They ended up with a big fat nothing.
They are going to have to write the check."Appellate courts have repeatedly ruled that bingo is not racketeering and judges criticized prosecutors "zealousness," advising they re-read ethical rules that say a prosecutor's job is to "seek justice, not merely to convict," Pipitone reported.People involved in bingo said the state just saw dollar signs."I think it was like pigs at the trough," Mason said. "They all thought they were going to get forfeiture money. They turned into gangster RICO activity and the only reason they did that was that that's the only basis to forfeit money and property. And it is hard (and) it probably had something to do with greed."
The courts have determined prosecutors were wrong and the attorney general has said he shouldn't be held liable for the actions of the state attorney, Pipitone reported.The state attorney's office said it was the attorney general who came up with the bingo cases in the first place.If damages are awarded, taxpayers will pay the bill for what courts call an overzealous and improper prosecution.
The state is asking the Florida Supreme Court to step in and prevent damages from being paid. However, if that fails, the case will go back to Orange County so a judge can determine how much it will actually cost taxpayers.Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.
Written by www.local6.com
We have all been reading about how the Bingo Industry is in a state of crisis and how it seems like every month there are more land based bingo club closures.
Bingo giants like, Gala Bingo and Mecca Bingo have already been lobbing the government and politicians about the unfair taxes placed on the Bingo Industry already and why they are the only industry out there that has to pay unfair double taxation as well as a number of other policies. This double taxation, coupled with the smoking ban, is continuously affecting Land Based Bingo Halls and we have seen a lot of Bingo Hall closures since the smoking ban came into effect.
The smoking ban in all public places, has had a huge effect on player numbers in bingo halls across the UK, so with this and the double taxation law on the bingo industry, it is not wonder that we are seeing this kind of action from the bingo industry taking place. Senior ministers and the Prime Minister himself have been presented with evidence relating to this matter.
A Champion Scottish Bingo Caller called, James Cook, has decided to sit up and try and do something about it too, before it is too late, and we see even more Bingo Club closures.
James Cook, has started a petition that really does reflect the real concerns of the Bingo Industry and if the government do not sit up a take note now and do something about it in the spring budget, the bingo industry on a whole could move swiftly into further decline.
You too can help and to support what James Cook is doing and to support Bingo, you can now put your name on the petition that he has started here -
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/SaveOurBingo/
This is what is said on the petition and what you will be singing - We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to save British bingo by ending 'Double Taxation' in next month's Budget. More details - Submitted by James Cook of Mecca Fountain Park - Deadline to sign up by: 11 April 2008.
If you would like to help, then simply click the link above and sign the petition, it is very quick and easy to do, but don't forget you have only got to the 11th April to do this!Written by Hollie
www.unluckyforsome.co.uk
Before the special Valentine's night launch we ran a competition to find Thanet's most romantic couple.
Donella and Michael Palmer, who have been married for eight years and celebrated their wedding anniversary on Valentine's Day, were picked, and after being whisked from their home in Ramsgate to the bingo hall in a horse-drawn carriage, they celebrated with champagne, a night of cabaret entertainment and, of course, bingo.
To the surprise of the 800 bingo fans who turned up for the opening, Anthony Cotton, who plays Sean in Coronation Street, called the numbers for the first game and signed autographs.
Rank Leisure has spent £6 million on the 40,000 sq ft complex, which includes a G Casino which is due to open on Thursday, February 28.
Written by www.kentonline.co.uk
Online bingo games operators and UK online bingo halls who use software developed by former Canadian company CryptoLogic Inc may be interested in the recently revealed plans by the company to revamp its business model with even more emphasis on the European market and away from the legal issues plaguing the US market.
The continuing fallout from the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) has plagued CryptoLogic enough for it to concentrate on acquiring new licensees in Europe. The company moved from Canada to set up its headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, so as to be closer to the European market.
In comments reported by EGR, CryptoLogic's Vice President of Product Management and Business Development Justin Thouin explained that the move has been prompted by a need to increase share values. "Cryptologic sees its share price as undervalued, and consequently it views an expansion strategy as vital in going forward," he told EGR. "Essentially, Cryptologic is undergoing a very big change."
A number of online bingo software providers and operators have had to withdraw from the US market due to UIGEA. The US law prohibits US bingo online players from engaging in financial transactions with non-US gaming operators.
"If we want to grow, we need to change the business model," Thouin added. "We are going to go after new licensees in a way we have not done for years. We are going to look at acquisions; we already made some acquisitions in the past year with Parbet."
Written by John Witherspoonwww.bingostreet.com
Worrying news this week suggests the US Department of Justice is possibly targeting online gaming powerhouse PartyGaming for investigation into market actions carried out by the company prior to the passing of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA).
A report on the website OCN has quoted unnamed sources that the investigation come after talks between PartyGaming and the US officials related to the company's pre-UIGEA activities.
PartyGaming, along with many online bingo games operators and online bingo halls, suffered badly with the implementation of UIGEA in late 2006 and subsequently withdrew from the US market. The company responded by successfully diversifying into other markets and broadening its range of products, including its online bingo product.
"Passage of UIGEA was a blow to our business for sure but....our group has absorbed and now recovered from this incident," said PartyGaming CEO Mitch Garber last December. "PartyGaming.com is no longer a poker-led, US-dependent and one language gaming operator. We are rapidly becoming a multi-lingual and multi-currency non-US company."
Written by John Witherspoonwww.bingostreet.com
The ITV Play shows, which charged viewers a fee to enter games by phone, were axed last year along with the dedicated digital channel of the same name.
Both were closed down amid criticism of the way quizzes were run and scandals in premium rate phone-ins. ITV said Play revenues suffered from "negative publicity" around the sector.
Bingo Night Live is expected to air at midnight on weekdays for an hour.
It will be free to enter after viewers have registered and downloaded cards on the internet. ITV hopes it will direct people to its website and then other paid-for games and services.
ITV Productions is developing the show, which will offer prizes up to about £1,000.
A source told Broadcast: "ITV Play was a good idea and it did well. It's just a shame there were compliance problems. However, this is a clear sign ITV still wants to be a player in gaming."
Written by Dave West
www.digitalspy.co.uk
One Lucky Lady from Greenford, is ecstatic after winning more than £19,000 on the National Bingo game on Valentines night, and she needed someone to "Pinch" her, because she could not believe that she had actually won it!
The 46 year old woman, has been a regular bingo player for years and she goes to her local Beacon Bingo Club, that is in Cricklewood Broadway, at least a couple of times a week. Recently she had not been having much luck playing bingo and was considering giving up playing altogether before she had her big win, but I am sure she will not stop playing bingo now thanks to the National Bingo Jackpot game.
Calling house on the National Bingo game in 46 numbers is what won the 46 year old lady over £19,000, maybe (46) is her Lucky number, as by coincidence this is the exact number she won this Jackpot Prize on. This is how her winners were made up - The National Bingo Jackpot Prize for the evening was £33,895, which was shared by two players as they both called up on the same amount of numbers and half of this prize went to another lucky winner in Cumbria, so this gave the Lady a National Jackpot prize of £16,947, plus she also took the Regional prize, which was a very nice £2,122 and the house prize of £404, giving her total winnings of over £19,000.
This is what the Lady had to say about her fantastic win - "I needed someone to pinch me when I found out how much I had won," she said. "I was about to give up playing bingo because I hadn't won anything for ages. I can't believe good luck finally came my way. This win is really going to help with my finances. I'm definitely not giving up bingo now" she added!
If you do go through a long spell playing bingo and not winning, it can be quite disheartening, but it is the gamble all bingo players take when they play bingo. This is the great thing about bingo, because you just never know when your luck might change, or if the next bingo game you play will give you that big win you have been waiting for. This just adds to the excitement of playing bingo for all the bingo players out there, whether they play online bingo or at a land based club, the buzz of wining is just the same!
Written by Hollie
The PTA of Manchester's Waddell Elementary School had, until recently, held occasional bingo nights for parents, teachers and students. Participants got a chance to win a basket of treats, and no child left without at least a pencil.
Organizers at Waddell understandably never realized that state law required them to submit a complicated pile of paperwork to register the games and subject their volunteers to background checks. A crackdown last fall on a fund-raiser at East Catholic High School led Manchester's public school officials to cancel the PTA's "turkey bingo" and has hamstrung a pre-Easter "hambone bingo" event. What a way to ruin a just-for-fun evening.
State Rep. Ryan Barry has proposed a measure that would distinguish school bingo events from the strictly regulated big-money games that are held each week in churches and VFW halls. Under Mr. Ryan's plan, PTAs could, for a modest annual registration fee of perhaps $50, skip the background checks and have their paperwork simplified.
The legislature needs to lighten up on the formidable rules pertaining to such innocent occasions.
Written by www.courant.com
The £33,895 UK bingo jackpot was recently shared by two fans of the game, including a 46-year-old Greenford woman.
And she was so surprised she thought she must be dreaming, reports National Bingo.
"I needed someone to pinch me when I found out how much I had won," the lucky punter tells the operating body.
"This win is really going to help with my finances - I'm definitely not giving up bingo now," she adds.
With the regional and club prizes added to her share of the UK bingo jackpot, her total earnings reached more than £19,000.
It might be only fitting that her love for the game was renewed on Valentine's Day, February 14th.
National Bingo previously revealed that it was a "happy new year" for a mother-of-three from Cosham as she claimed £100,000 at the bingo.
Written by Bob Bardsley.
The operator, who wishes to remain anonymous, is to benefit from Net
Entertainment's vast knowledge and experience in the field of online
games software. Net Entertainment develops digitally distributed
systems for Internet gaming. This includes its core product,
CasinoModule, which is a complete gaming platform comprising a large
number of browser-based games as well as a powerful administration
tool. CasinoModule is licensed on a royalty format based on the
revenues the product generates with customers offered a system solution
that is adapted to each user and easily integrated with their existing
websites.
"Operators are more careful and thorough when choosing software
suppliers nowadays and the fact that we managed to sign this agreement
in fierce competition is a proof of the high quality of our product,"
said Johan Ohman, Chief Executive Officer for Net Entertainment.
The mystery company is described as having a significant number of
registered players and currently in the process of applying for a
gaming license in Malta with a planned launch for the new operation
early next quarter.
Although the popularity of online bingo in Sweden is growing, the nation's gambling laws are drawing flack from the European Commission amid concerns they do not comply with European Union principles on the freedom to provide cross-border services.
Written by www.onlinecasinonews.com
A new bingo game has hit the bar scene -- and the pots are about to explode.
"Linked" progressive MegaBingo, which debuted Tuesday night, pits players throughout Minnesota against one another with a shared jackpot that can carry over.
The new game has charitable gambling organizations and hardcore bingo players buzzing. They are counting on it to create more interest and profits.
A change in state law last year allows vendors such as Multimedia Games, of Austin, Texas, to link participating charitable bingo outlets to create one big ongoing game broadcast on closed-circuit televisions.
"This is not your grandma's bingo game, where you used corn to cover your numbers," said Karen Wirkus, sales manager at MegaBingo, a South St. Paul-based subsidiary of Multimedia Games.
Mary Perren, manager of the Cottage Grove Bingo Hall, which raises money for the local athletic association, said linked MegaBingo has attracted more patrons to the hall, and she expects more of the same with the new game.
"The exciting thing is that we could have jackpots of $10,000 or $15,000 or $20,000," she said. "Who wouldn't want to win that kind of money?"
On Tuesday, Adam Ford, 31, of Minneapolis, was one of about 80 people who played MegaBingo at Rascals Bar & Grill in Apple Valley. Ford was excited about the progressive pot.
"It's always good any time you have a huge payout," Ford said. "It's better than pull-tabs."
About 3,000 cards were sold across the state for a jackpot totaling $1,651, but no one claimed
the progressive on Tuesday. That means half the pot will carry over to
today. The other half was won by a player in Little Canada through a
consolation game.
The MegaBingo game should help curb competition among bingo halls and bars, Perren said.
"This game should help us keep players in our own geographic
area, so they won't have to travel to different parts of the Twin
Cities for the bigger progressive pots," she said.
Despite interest from other private vendors, MegaBingo is the
lone provider of "linked" bingo games in the state, said Tom Barrett,
director of the state's gambling control board.
Minnesota is the only state in the U.S. with linked bingo that
benefits charities, he said. The MegaBingo game is just part of the
nightly bar-bingo scene, which has seen a boon in the past year as
state regulations have eased.
The game begins at 8:30 p.m. and is held Tuesday through
Saturday. A jackpot gets bigger until it's won. It builds daily if it's
not won in a specific number of balls. The ball count begins at 50 and
increases by one each week if the pot isn't won.
There's no limit to the pot -- the more people play, the bigger
it is. Wirkus sees it maxing out around $25,000 or $30,000, though. By
comparison, traditional progressive bingo games are capped at $2,000 at
each site.
Wirkus equates progressive players to those who play the
state's Powerball lottery only when the pot reaches enormous
proportions.
"We're hoping to attract those people who like the big pots," she said.
Almost half a million dollars in prizes has been awarded to
players since October 2006, when MegaBingo launched a nonprogressive
linked game in Minnesota, Wirkus said. Nonprofit organizations that
conduct charitable gambling have received about $900,000 from the game
so far.
A single sealed card goes for $2. Twenty-five percent of card
sales goes to the jackpot winner, 30 percent goes to MegaBingo, and 45
percent is directed to the charity hosting the game where the pot is
won.
MegaBingo will be in about 130 sites statewide this year.
Sales dipped last year. Wirkus and other bingo advocates say
several factors are to blame for charitable bingo's downturn -- the
state's smoking ban, tough economic times and increased gambling
competition.
"If receipts are down, the communities suffer," said Wirkus, a former bingo hall manager and nonprofit charity gambling manager.
Gambling receipts dropped the first three months after the
smoking ban went into effect, Barrett said. Gross receipts dropped 7
percent in October, 11 percent in November and 17 percent in December.
"We haven't seen those drops in numbers ever," Barrett said.
On a brighter note, Barrett said, Minneapolis and St. Paul late
last year amended their city ordinances so bingo can be played in bars
and restaurants that serve liquor.
And Minnesota is still at the forefront of charitable gambling
in the U.S., with $1.3 billion in gross receipts in 2007, Barrett said.
Charitable gambling bingo accounted for $65 million of that total.
Although the creaky, hand-spun "squirrel" cage and bouncing
bingo balls are not needed in MegaBingo, one mainstay remains: The
winner still has to shout "Bingo!"
"I don't think that will ever go away," Barrett said. "It's the enthusiasm of bingo." Written by Nick Ferraro
A new bingo game has hit the bar scene -- and the pots are about to explode.
"Linked" progressive MegaBingo, which debuted Tuesday night, pits players throughout Minnesota against one another with a shared jackpot that can carry over.
The new game has charitable gambling organizations and hardcore bingo players buzzing. They are counting on it to create more interest and profits.
A change in state law last year allows vendors such as Multimedia Games, of Austin, Texas, to link participating charitable bingo outlets to create one big ongoing game broadcast on closed-circuit televisions.
"This is not your grandma's bingo game, where you used corn to cover your numbers," said Karen Wirkus, sales manager at MegaBingo, a South St. Paul-based subsidiary of Multimedia Games.
Mary Perren, manager of the Cottage Grove Bingo Hall, which raises money for the local athletic association, said linked MegaBingo has attracted more patrons to the hall, and she expects more of the same with the new game.
"The exciting thing is that we could have jackpots of $10,000 or $15,000 or $20,000," she said. "Who wouldn't want to win that kind of money?"
On Tuesday, Adam Ford, 31, of Minneapolis, was one of about 80 people who played MegaBingo at Rascals Bar & Grill in Apple Valley. Ford was excited about the progressive pot.
"It's always good any time you have a huge payout," Ford said. "It's better than pull-tabs."
About 3,000 cards were sold across the state for a jackpot totaling $1,651, but no one claimed
the progressive on Tuesday. That means half the pot will carry over to
today. The other half was won by a player in Little Canada through a
consolation game.
The MegaBingo game should help curb competition among bingo halls and bars, Perren said.
"This game should help us keep players in our own geographic
area, so they won't have to travel to different parts of the Twin
Cities for the bigger progressive pots," she said.
Despite interest from other private vendors, MegaBingo is the
lone provider of "linked" bingo games in the state, said Tom Barrett,
director of the state's gambling control board.
Minnesota is the only state in the U.S. with linked bingo that
benefits charities, he said. The MegaBingo game is just part of the
nightly bar-bingo scene, which has seen a boon in the past year as
state regulations have eased.
The game begins at 8:30 p.m. and is held Tuesday through
Saturday. A jackpot gets bigger until it's won. It builds daily if it's
not won in a specific number of balls. The ball count begins at 50 and
increases by one each week if the pot isn't won.
There's no limit to the pot -- the more people play, the bigger
it is. Wirkus sees it maxing out around $25,000 or $30,000, though. By
comparison, traditional progressive bingo games are capped at $2,000 at
each site.
Wirkus equates progressive players to those who play the
state's Powerball lottery only when the pot reaches enormous
proportions.
"We're hoping to attract those people who like the big pots," she said.
Almost half a million dollars in prizes has been awarded to
players since October 2006, when MegaBingo launched a nonprogressive
linked game in Minnesota, Wirkus said. Nonprofit organizations that
conduct charitable gambling have received about $900,000 from the game
so far.
A single sealed card goes for $2. Twenty-five percent of card
sales goes to the jackpot winner, 30 percent goes to MegaBingo, and 45
percent is directed to the charity hosting the game where the pot is
won.
MegaBingo will be in about 130 sites statewide this year.
Sales dipped last year. Wirkus and other bingo advocates say
several factors are to blame for charitable bingo's downturn -- the
state's smoking ban, tough economic times and increased gambling
competition.
"If receipts are down, the communities suffer," said Wirkus, a former bingo hall manager and nonprofit charity gambling manager.
Gambling receipts dropped the first three months after the
smoking ban went into effect, Barrett said. Gross receipts dropped 7
percent in October, 11 percent in November and 17 percent in December.
"We haven't seen those drops in numbers ever," Barrett said.
On a brighter note, Barrett said, Minneapolis and St. Paul late
last year amended their city ordinances so bingo can be played in bars
and restaurants that serve liquor.
And Minnesota is still at the forefront of charitable gambling
in the U.S., with $1.3 billion in gross receipts in 2007, Barrett said.
Charitable gambling bingo accounted for $65 million of that total.
Although the creaky, hand-spun "squirrel" cage and bouncing
bingo balls are not needed in MegaBingo, one mainstay remains: The
winner still has to shout "Bingo!"
"I don't think that will ever go away," Barrett said. "It's the enthusiasm of bingo."
Oggs.com Launches New Online Bingo Review Section
Oggs.com, the leading online casino reviews website, has launched an online bingo review section to complement its online casino review offering, in response to the growing popularity of the online bingo game. The section starts with the three most popular online bingo sites, Virgin Bingo, Sun Bingo and Gala Bingo. Over the coming weeks plenty more will be reviewed and added to the trusted review site.
London, UK (PRWEB) February 19, 2008 -- Oggs.com, the leading online casino reviews website, has launched an online bingo review section to complement its online casino review offering, in response to the growing popularity of the online bingo game. The section starts with the three most popular online bingo sites, Virgin Bingo, Sun Bingo and Gala Bingo. Over the coming weeks plenty more will be reviewed and added to the trusted review site.
Online bingo achieved dramatic growth in 2007 as a result of anti-smoking laws driving Bingo Hall regulars home and onto the Internet, plus the wider range of Bingo game offerings available from the major online casino operators. Bingo, a universally played numbers game, became predominately popular with female players, providing social entertainment and communal interaction in many towns and cities worldwide. Online operators aim to maintain these benefits through the provision of instant chat, social forums and community, as well as the other game features of 90, 80 and 75 ball bingo card variety jackpots and reward schemes in their online bingo halls. Many online bingo owners maintain full online casino operations and therefore members of online bingo can also play casino, poker and slot games on the same sites too.
Oggs.com's experienced panel of casino players and judges, which already provide reviews and comments to highlight the most reputable and best online casinos, will focus in their new Bingo section on the most interesting and rewarding offerings for the US, UK, EU and Asian markets. Online casinos offering Bingo and reviewed on the website amongst others include Virgin Bingo, Gala Bingo, and Rupert Murdochs's News International's Sun Bingo. A spokesperson for Oggs.com said "We review only the best online operators and are delighted to include Bingo as one of our many new sections launching in 2008. Our initial line up will shortly be joined by Ladbrokes Bingo, 32Red Bingo, Mecca Bingo and plenty more."
Visit Oggs.com to learn more about online Bingo and where one can play all types of online games safely.
Written by www.prweb.com
Wink Bingo, the newest addition to the UK bingo online community, opened its virtual doors on February 4th.
And the website is calling for fans of the game to get involved, as well as to benefit from some of the special promotions being run to celebrate the launch.
Site host Sassy says: "There's been lots of excitement and anticipation towards the launch of Wink Bingo.
"Everything is so new, so it's a bit like unwrapping a present."
Among the special offers currently available on the site is a £10 sign-up bonus to help players get started.
This is complemented by a 200 per cent deposit match on initial payments of between £5 and £100.
Subsequent payments of between £20 and £100 are then increased by 50 per cent as part of an ongoing deposit bonus scheme, the UK bingo site states.
Written by Bob Bardsley.
LAS VEGAS, Feb. 19 --
Las Vegas Gaming, Inc. (LVGI), the gaming industry innovator in server-based gaming application delivery, announced today that bingo technology leader Steve Smallman has joined LVGI as Senior Vice President and General Manager of LVGI's Bingo Strategic Business Unit (SBU).
Smallman joins LVGI with extensive experience in the electronic bingo industry. He has held several Vice Presidential titles at Bingo Technologies Corporation, GameTech International and Blue Dog, Inc.
In 1997 Smallman joined Bingo Technologies Corporation (BTC) and aided in the launch of the electronic bingo revolution. As the head of Marketing and Customer Service, he helped grow BTC's revenues from $4 million to $16 million by early 1999.
Smallman joined GameTech International (GTI) of Reno, Nevada, as part of their acquisition of BTC, and helped the combined companies grow into the $50 million range. He held several Vice Presidential titles at GTI, overseeing both operational and strategic planning functions including distributor and sales management, competition and market analysis, and mergers and acquisitions opportunities. Since January 2003 Smallman has served as Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing for Blue Dog, Inc.
LVGI President and CEO Jon Berkley said, "Steve is widely recognized as an industry leader in electronic bingo technologies. Bringing Steve on board to manage the LVGI Bingo business unit will help us continue on our path as a leading gaming technology development company and a distributor of emerging gaming technologies. Further progress in Bingo technologies is an integral component to our continued growth and further enhancement of the offerings in PlayerVision(TM) and other associated product groups."
In his new position at LVGI, Smallman will be charged with heading the Bingo Strategic Business Unit (SBU). The Bingo SBU will continue to grow the Bingo business and associated progressive games within LVGI, expand the distribution of electronic Bingo products and interface with LVGI's business and technology development teams to insure expansion of innovative solutions for gaming operators.
Written by Las Vegas Gaming, Inc.
Boss Media, a major online bingo provider, says a revised offer by GEMed has been unanimously recommended by its board of directors. The offer has been boosted by 32% to SEK 25 a share which now values the company at Euro 149 million.
A previous offer at the beginning of February was considered by Boss' directors as under valuing the company. It prompted speculation that other bids were in the works.
In announcing the revised offer, Boss CEO Tiveus said: "A combination between Boss Media and GTECH is industrially sound. We think the prerequisites for GTECH and Boss Media to create a competitive supplier alternative in an expansive industry are favorable.
"The revised cash offer presented by GEMed, as a consequence of the process conducted, means that Boss Media's shareholders receive a substantially higher price for their shares compared to the share price prior to the initiation of the process."
GEMed's parent company GTECH staed through its CEO Jaymin B. Patel that: "We are pleased that our revised competitive offer has received the unanimous endorsement of the Board of Boss Media. We now look forward to be working together with Boss Media in the acceleration of its international growth strategy."
Boss Media recently voiced its intentions to expand its presence in the online bingo games market which it identified as ripe for growth over the next year. A number of Scandinavian gaming companies are bullish on prospects for the free online bingo industry with a particular emphasis on targeting the female demographic of customers who play online bingo.
Written by John Witherspoonwww.bingostreet.com
Online gaming software company Parlay Entertainment has become very popular in the acquisition market with two more rival offers being made since PEIC put in a C$ 12.3 million bid for the Canadian developer.
Parlay, which offers online bingo games and online bingo software as part of its products, has stated it now has two other bids from companies interested in purchasing ownership.
At this time Parlay are not revealing the names of the interested companies but have said the offers are 'superior' to the PEIC bid. The company is, however, now in negotiations with these new bidders with a view to conclude a purchase by the end of February 2008.
"There can be no assurance that any agreement will be entered into as a result of the negotiations around any expression of interest received by the Company, nor can there be any assurance that any proposed transaction will be completed or approved by the shareholders of Parlay," a Parlay spokesman said.
Parlay enjoys whitelist status in the UK which allows it to advertise its bingo online products in the UK free online bingo market.
Written by John Witherspoonwww.bingostreet.com
School officials, parents and community organizers say many were alarmed after East Catholic High School in Manchester was cited last fall for using a money wheel in a fundraising drive.
State officials decided against legal action after determining the school was unaware it was breaking state laws. Those rules require organizers to register with the state Division of Special Revenue, go through background checks and other regulations.
The case prompted Manchester's public school administrators to alert principals and parent-teacher organizations to cancel Thanksgiving-themed bingo events that were just weeks away.
Debra Donnelly, president of the PTA at Manchester's Waddell Elementary School, says their yearly "turkey bingo" is their most popular event. But the state-mandated paperwork and background check has been a deterrent to volunteers.
"People don't want to go through all that," Donnelly said. "They don't understand why they have to do it."
Bingo has been legal in
The state created a special bingo category for "amusement and recreation" starting in 1988, allowing senior citizen groups to operate games with less oversight. Prizes are capped at $20.
State Rep. Ryan Barry, D-Manchester, is asking fellow legislators to change state law so PTAs could run games with similarly low stakes.
"I don't think there's a down side to it," said Barry, whose proposal calls for an annual registration fee of $50 and limits admission to $1 or less. "Parents being able to get into their kids' school lives and social lives is a benefit."
Paul Bernstein, head of the state Division of Special Revenue unit that regulates charitable games, said he believes the department would support Ryan's proposed changes, but that it must enforce the law as it's currently on the books.
"We have serious work to do, and are not looking to involve ourselves with games for children," Bernstein said, adding that many PTAs properly register for fundraising bingo.
"It's never been a problem before," he said.
However, Merrill Kidd, formerly president of Manchester's townwide PTA council and an officer for four years with the state PTA, said she is certain some schools in the state are still unwittingly but illegally holding bingo nights.
"A lot of PTAs probably don't know the law, and aren't being malicious," Kidd said.
Written by www.newsday.com
The 50-year-old mother of five set up her own training and recruitment company despite warnings that it would never get off the ground.
Now she is a multi-millionairess and has exchanged her modest semi for a seven-bedroom mansion plus a holiday home by the sea.
'No one who knew me beforehand can quite believe how my life has changed,' said Mrs Barton, now 62, from Solihull, West Midlands.
'My husband Frank thought I was starting the menopause and being irrational when I said I wanted to start my own business at the age of 50.'
Mrs Barton, who left school at 16, began work at the bingo hall after the birth of her third son, Darren. She said: 'I was a bingo caller for years, and it was a great job, but I only received the minimum wage. The jackpot back then was just a few thousand pounds. It was a job that really suited me as I was raising my five sons as well. I worked shifts and it was easy to fit it around what the boys needed from me.
'Frank worked as an engraver, but he also did some bar work in the evenings as we had to try and make ends meet. We lived in a semi and we had to manage with bunk beds for the boys as we didn't have enough bedrooms.
'We had a touring caravan and we would take holidays down in Devon and Cornwall with the boys. We couldn't have afforded to take them abroad.'
Mrs Barton was promoted to staff training at the bingo hall at the age of 36, and in this position she reached her top wage of £16,000.
'It was then I decided that I really loved training the staff,' she said. 'I'd have liked to have branched out on my own, but I didn't want to leave the security of a paid job. We had the boys to look after, so I needed every penny that I had.'
At the end of 1995, however, just after her 50th birthday, Mrs
Barton submitted a business plan to the Chamber of Commerce to set up
her own training business.
Written by Lucy Laing, Daily Mail
