Online Bingo Gambling - Play Free UK Bingo

William Hill Bingo was the star performer in the William Hill group last year, delivering growth of 169%.

The bingo operation, which is grouped together with skill games for financial reporting purposes, saw explosive growth on the back of a TV advertising campaign and extensive advertising of William Hill Bingo in the group's betting shops.

Overall revenues from William Hill's online operations rose 13% in 2008, to £83.1 million. Poker disappointed with a 21% fall in revenues while sports betting increased by 6%.

Earlier this year William Hill entered into an agreement with Playtech which saw the two groups combine their online sites into one group under the leadership of William Hill online bingo chief executive Henry Birch. Playtech own 29% of the new group.

An interesting statement in the financial results says: “We also entered into a software agreement with Playtech for a minimum of five years, which will enable us to benefit from Playtech's improved poker and casino software.” The failure to mention use of Playtech's free bingo game software, which is widely regarded as one of the poorer products in the industry, suggests William Hill will stick with their current provider, Virtue Fusion, for the forseeable future.

At the same time William Hill informed the market they had reached new agreements with their banks to provide new funding of £838.5 million and would raise a further £350 million through a rights issue with shareholders entitled to subscribe on a one-for-one basis for new shares at 105 pence, a 57% discount to yesterday's closing price. Shares in WIlliam Hill edged up 3 pence to 250 pence in early trading.

News Sources:-
Posted by Debbie Archer on 27 February 2009
http://www.bingonews.com/2188/william-hill-bingo-up-169-percent-in-one-year/?lang=all

The government will not change the VAT regime on bingo halls despite industry claims that the tax situation is unfair and will cause hundreds of bingo halls to close.

The bingo industry has mounted a vigorous campaign to abolish VAT being charged on free bingo tickets, which they claim amounts to double taxation.

But Treasury secretary Angela Eagle has ruled out any changed to the VAT regime, saying it would not be an “appropriate solution”.

A government insider told Bingo News: “While the Treasury recognised the bingo industry’s claims it is politically impossible to cut taxes on gambling at a time of huge economic difficulty. The Daily Mail would absolutely slaughter us and I doubt The Guardian would be terribly impressed either. It was just not going to happen.”

The bingo industry claims that because of double taxation they face a total taxation bill of 32%, versus 15% for most UK bingo based gambling companies. But Ms Eagle said that bingo halls actually faced a 25% tax bill which was comparable with other UK gambling companies.

She said: “Our assessment remains that tax is not at the root of the industry’s problems and nor do we believe that alteration of the tax regime would be an appropriate solution to them.”

Bingo industry leaders say that up to 100 clubs could close in the next 12 months as many had been waiting for a VAT ruling from the government before deciding whether to shut their doors.

News Sources:- Bingo News
Posted by Debbie Archer on 26 February 2009

Gone Bingo has some great daily promotions that we think everyone should check out!

So, if the snow has kept you at home for another day, keep yourself entertained and check out Gone Bingo's daily promotions!

Bingo in Kansas might be in line for an injection of cash.

Organizers of charitable bingo operations reached out today to the Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee with a bill that would increase game prize limits, the frequency of events, compensation for volunteers and the value of drawing items.

“There is money to be made, not only for the nonprofits that run bingo, but to the state of Kansas as well. We pay taxes,” said Debi Kreutzman, who is part of a Sedgwick County charitable cooperative of organizations that hold bingo licenses.

However, officials of the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars objected to proposed changes.

Charles Yunker, representing the American Legion, said Senate Bill 107 would tip the scale toward large, professional bingo parlor operators and away from the original goal of helping religious, veteran, fraternal and other civic organizations raise money.

He said the legislation “favors a few and will force many to stop offering bingo” because it would be too difficult to compete with high-dollar venues.

There are 318 active online bingo licensees in Kansas, but just 27 licensed bingo parlors.

Under the bill, the maximum cash prize for a regular bingo game would increase to $100 from $25. The existing $1 charge for a paper game card would be eliminated, allowing any price to be assessed.

The bill would allow an organization to play bingo three days a week. The current limit is twice a week.

State law would be amended to permit bingo parlors to operate seven days a week, with a 24-hour waiting period between sessions. Current law lets parlors conduct business three days a week.

The value of prize drawings would be capped at $500, a significant increase from the current $25 limit.

The bill would allow food to be given to volunteers, which should help in recruiting people to help at bingo events.

Sen. Pete Brungardt, R-Salina and chairman of the federal and state affairs committee, said the hearing on bingo issues would resume next week.

News Sources:-
Published Tuesday, February 3, 2009 at 1:08 p.m. CST
http://cjonline.com/stories/020309/bre_bingo.shtml

Gala Bingo's parent company, Gala Coral, has had its supplier insurance cover removed.

Suppliers to Gala Bingo have been told that they are no longer insured against the company going bust or into liquidation after credit insurer Euler Hermes suddenly withdrew the cover.

Drinks and food companies, free bingo ticket printers and slot machines manufacturers are likely to feel less comfortable about supplying to Gala Bingo and other Gala Coral businesses, including the Gala Casino chain and Coral betting shops, following the decision.

Gala Coral told the Financial Times that Euler Hermes' decision was “appalling behaviour” and came about as a result of their worry that many private equity-backed deals were struggling to meet huge debts.

The newspaper said sources close to Euler Hermes said the withdrawal of cover was linked to Gala Coral's debt problems and refusal to supply information.

Gala Coral has net debt of £4.3bn, and last year made a pre-tax loss of £397m. Its financial backers were forced to give the company an extra £125 million to prevent it from breaching debt covenants.

Neil Goulden, chairman of Gala Coral, said: “We have had absolutely no contact with Euler Hermes at any time. This is random targeting of private-equity companies, which is appalling behaviour by them, and the government should do something about it. We pay all of our suppliers on time. We are totally solvent and have £125m of cash in several banks.”

A gaming analyst told Bingo News: “Credit insurers didn't seem to mind taking the premiums when the economy was good and default levels were low. Now things are not so rosy they seem to be incredibly risk averse. It feels slightly like they are having their cake and eating it.”

News Sources:-
Posted by Debbie Archer on 3 February 2009
http://www.bingonews.com/1881/gala-bingo-insurance-cover-removed/?lang=all

If you're a player at the Betfred bingo site, you may have noticed a few changes of late. Although the owners didn't make a big announcement about it before it happened, the entire Betfred empire (which is associated mainly with being a sports book operator) has been sold.

Originally owned by the Done brothers, Fred and Pete, the whole setup has been sold for a reputed £27.2m and the online bingo game part of the business is now licensed from Gibraltar.

Betfred's Financial Director has said of this move, "We have sold the online business but we're bound by the terms of the deal not to reveal any more details. It made commercial sense, but with our new partners the Betfred brand will continue to go from strength to strength".

No need to worry

This change of internet bingo site means that your account will have been transferred to Petfre Gibraltar Ltd. You can check the terms and conditions of this new host at the Betfred site.

Although some bingo players may feel nervous about this changeover, with their open policy, we are convinced that players are not in any risk.

How we can help

The process for obtaining an operating license from Gibraltar is quite stringent, so there should be no cause for concern among any of Betfred's players.

Since we at the Hideout love to help our members with any problems, if you do encounter any difficulties as a result of this change that cannot be resolved by the Betfred site, do let us know and we'll do our best to help out.

We are happy to do this for all of our members no matter what site you're playing on. So drop us a line at the forum if you'd like us to look into any problems.

News Sources:- Bingo Hideout
Written by Lily
Monday, 02 February 2009

If you live in the UK and you have a passion for online bingo, then you are among many friends. A surprising number of Brits spend a whole lotta time playing bingo online at more than one bingo website.

Business is booming in bingo land and competition is extremely fierce, thus the hundreds of bingo sites catering for the UK bingo market are continually having to put noses to grindstones and come up with unique ways to attract bingo fans to their particular site.

One well-known leader in the field of unique bingo promotions is Wink Bingo, a comparatively late-starter in the industry just about to celebrate its first birthday in February giving away £3000 worth of diamonds. You could be forgiven for thinking that diamonds isn't such an unusual prize, seeing as it's mostly the fairer sex that play bingo online.

Fair enough, but the folks at Wink Bingo have borderline geniuses imprisoned in their Marketing room. They were the first online bingo site to offer a brand new car as a jackpot prize, the Win a Mini Cooper bingo game that played off on New Year's Day. Wink Bingo also came up with delights as a year's free shopping in Tesco, and their extremely popular Super Cleaner promotion - where the winner gets all their housework done for the year!

In our eyes Wink Bingo is the supreme champion of online UK bingo sites when it comes to bingo promotions, however there is a new kid on the block, Live Bingo, who've also come up with a first: a £30 rebate on spaying your cat or dog.

Now this is a quirky bingo promotion and it's one that we like, considering that it costs between £100 to £200 to neuter your pet - any savings you can make in this dismal economic climate are a boon. Working hand-in-hand with the RSPCA, LiveBingo are promoting a good cause in an effort to reduce the number of homeless cats and dogs on the streets.

It doesn't quite come into the same category as charity bingo, but it's going in the same direction. Our recent article on All Bingo Club promoting an increased awareness of the environment is a great example of what we would love to see the online bingo industry do - use your power, raise awareness of important issues, and keep them quirky bingo promotions coming!

News Sources:- Bingo Street
Written by Charlene Grey - January 30, 2009

Lots of internet bingo sites have VIP schemes and the like, where you can get cash back for spending what is usually an obscene amount of cash throughout the month but Mecca Bingo Rewards Loyalty in other ways this January and the good news is it will only cost you £20 to take advantage of it.

It’s a fantastic promotion and it’s aimed at regular players at Mecca Bingo, it’s running all through January and here’s how to take part.

Simply deposit and spend just £20 before January 30th at Mecca Bingo and you’ll be treated like a very important person. That’s because on January 31st Mecca Bingo is holding their ‘Big Night In’ a special private room where you can play for lots of goodies, but you need the password to get in.

So long as you spend £20 at Mecca Bingo this month you will be emailed a password to get entry into the private room at Mecca Bingo, it will be open for one night only and there are some very special bingo game being played in there.

Mecca Bingo promises free bingo games and huge jackpots in their private room including a £1,000 guaranteed jackpot just for the regulars at Mecca Bingo.

So if you’d like the key to the door and fancy joining in on the private party at Mecca Bingo on January 31st then just deposit and spend £20 this month at Mecca Bingo and you will be sent the password by email before the doors open.

It’s a great way of rewarding loyal customers and yet another fantastic promotion from Mecca Bingo.

News Sources:-
15th January 2009
http://www.ukbingo.org/news/mecca-bingo-rewards-loyalty.asp