Cheeky Bingo offer both free play and pay to play games.  Here bingo buddies, the bargains seem destined never to end.  As well as the free rooms, there are rooms offering penny and tuppence bingo during the day.  Do you fancy being a bit more extravagant?  Then get in on the night action at Cheeky in the 5p and 10p bingo rooms.  With some very tasty jackpots up for grabs they are sure to be right up your street.

Non depositing players can play in five of the six free rooms at Cheeky Bingo.  Just registering is enough to play in these rooms.  ALL the free rooms are good fun and none of them in particular tends to have the biggest jackpots – in fact you have to keep your eye on the bingo ball and watch those jackpots!  They vary from £1 up to £10 as a general rule and move around faster than my nanas knitting needles… The cash won in ALL the free bingo rooms is REAL and if you collect enough it can be cashed out.  It cannot be used in the pay to play rooms unless you have made a deposit.

There are some big jackpots up for grabs in the pay to play rooms and some bargain bucket bingo tickets to boot: For instance?  In the Penny Whoppers 90ball room at Cheeky Bingo cards are available for 1p and the prize pot is guaranteed at £50.  In their 75ball Big Twos room the cards are 2p and again, there’s a guaranteed prize pot of £50.  Cheeky Bingo also has a 75ball 5p room and 90ball 10p bingo room.  The jackpots in both these rooms vary from game to game.

Cheeky Bingos’Cash Crazy bingo room has a guaranteed £5,000 jackpot every Friday night.  The game starts at 8pm and the 50p cards can be pre-purchased – minimum purchase of two cards per player.  To play in any of the pay to play bingo room players must have funded their account at least once.  Make a first deposit at Cheeky Bingo right now and you will receive a corking 200% bonus.  Cheeky also give a 50% cash match on all subsequent deposits. As you can see bingo buddies, there’s always some bargains up for grabs at Cheeky Bingo!

During the year 2009, online bingo in the UK has continued to grow in popularity despite the fact or perhaps in spite of the fact that many new sites have joined in this bun-fight for market share. This year there are more sites than ever to vote for and I know who mine are going to be, do you have a favourite or two, too? There are also 50 sites available to nominate for the “New Site of the Year” award, so your, the player’s input is needed in both these categories.

There should be a link from your favourite site through which you can vote, but if you don’t see one, it is a simple matter to go to Which Bingo and place your vote there. There is not a lot of trouble involved in doing this, it will only take you a few minutes and you can even do it between bingo games.

This prestigious celebrates and rewards excellence in online bingo, and this can only be done by allowing players to vote for their favourite site or sites. Criteria for voting will reflect the excitement, quality and entertainment value of these sites and the results are going to tell you where the best places to play bingo in the UK can be found. Make sure you get your say.

Play Foxy Bingo....

Foxy Bingo is not only one of the best UK online bingo sites it is also one of the biggest and they have forty different games rooms for you to play in. They have become instantly recognizable by the cheeky Fox branding, and are quite honestly a household name, the name is nearly as at home in your home as Fairy dishwashing liquid.

New members get a very warm welcome, and this is more than just a pat on the back and a “welcome, come in and join the fun folks” that you get at land based bingo clubs. No sir, make your first deposit and receive a 100% cash match to boost your bingo playing balance, and redeposit bonuses every time you deposit money. At this site your custom is always welcome, but it is also always rewarded.

To reward you even more for joining in the Foxy Bingo community a special membership scheme has been designed to make sure that members receive even more rewards. These rewards are commensurate with the length of time you have been a member and what your spend at the site has been. So the longer you have been with them and the more you have spent, matters in terms of the rewards you reap.

You become a member of the Foxy Bingo Membership Scheme from the moment you register and make a deposit, and this happens automatically. There are five membership levels, and each of these offer their own benefits. Top players enjoy regular cash back bonuses at the end of the month, priority access to events like the annual cruises which take place, they are also invited to play in exclusive free bingo jackpot games that other members don’t have access to and these have big money prizes on offer. But you can find a full list of all the benefits at the site if you are keen to read them.

At the moment check out the wonderful Christmas Advent calendar promotion taking place at Foxy Bingo, at this site you don’t get twelve days of Christmas, you get a full 24 and a special prize on Christmas day, so check it out, the countdown is on.

Mrs. Humble has joined a long line of MP’s in the UK who have shown serious support for Bingo. It is a very social activity and sometimes the only social outlet that the lonely or elderly have which is local to them. It has been scientifically proven by research that when a bingo club is closed down, many people lose the only social activity they participated in, and this is unhealthy.

Bingo in the UK is taxed far higher than other gambling activities, plus between session games were subject to VAT. Although this VAT can be claimed back, this was not brought to light until one of the UK giants in this industry took customs and excise to the EU Commission courts, and won their case and their claim.

Political attention needs to be focused on the plight of this industry. They are already struggling against the smoking and the new gambling act. That bingo which is classified a soft gaming activity, should be taxed higher than casinos which provide hard gambling activities, is completely mystifying to many people, and the Government doesn’t seem to care to justify this action either.

The bingo industry is currently in a second wave of a campaign to fight against Government intentions to increase taxation from 15% to 22%?? This industry is already troubled and all operators are concerned that this could be the death knoll of many bingo halls. In the past three years 117 bingo halls have already closed down and two of these have been in Joan Humbles constituency. She says that they need to do whatever they can to ensure the remaining clubs remain open. Let’s hope she sticks to her word! In the meantime, if you have lost a bingo club, get online, play at Party Bingo, they are waiting to give you a very warm welcome.

While there is absolutely nothing wrong with the new Parlay Entertainment version 5.0 software it is as good as or even better than previous versions, it just doesn’t seem to be cutting the mustard for St. Minver.  They provide White Label services to the UK and this means, the bingo sites under its wing are able to advertise in Great Britain and this is worth a great deal to them.

In the meantime, I have been noticing that St. Minver promotions are pretty much the same from site to site and am wondering if this isn’t because of Parlay’s performance. I am not quite sure how it works! I have also learned that Ann Summers, another of their big brand names have closed down altogether, and this could be another indication of lack of performance or complete disinterest.

Cashcade on the other hand are going from strength to strength and they are the master minds behind names like Foxy and Think Bingo. The online bingo industry in the UK is incredibly competitive, it is vital that the site remains interesting and different. People who visit bingo sites, don’t want to see the same promotions day after day on every second site on which they click.

To start with, there is a bingo bonus of up to 150% with a maximum limit of £150. Then there is a redeposit bonus of up to 50% which isn’t a common sight on online bingo circuits. There is the hugely awarding monthly jackpot of £8,888 which is a guaranteed one. This means someone is surely going to get lucky and avail this big money. £10 can be won each hour by playing free bingo. Here you don’t even need to buy your cards, just play for free and get the money.

Interesting chat games have been devised with non-cash prizes and there are special games with cheaply priced bingo cards starting 5p. There is the fabulous Horoscope game where ladies can get their chart made through Russell Grant and also win 60,000 Ladies point. Apart from this, ladies can team up into threes and compete for the Team Bingo prize of £3,000. Weekends also offer special prizes which keep changing time and again.

So stay updated and don’t miss out on the fun at 888 Ladies Bingo, the exciting online bingo site.

Lady Luck was clearly shining on Karen – her big bingo jackpot win is one of the largest ever by a Crown Bingo member! Karen, from Liverpool, had all treats and no tricks thanks to her Halloween win, and says that she will be using the money to renew her wedding vows abroad next year, 25 years after the original ceremony. The experience will be “a dream come true” for the Crown Bingo player!

Karen staked the minimum amount of 10p on 10 lines to win a share of the progressive jackpot total, making her Halloween a very happy one indeed. Karen, or Kagsybabe as she prefers to be called in the oh-so-friendly rooms at Crown Bingo is still a relative newbie to the site, having joined the Crown Bingo party in June after seeing a TV ad for the online bingo operator.

And it seems like the site was a perfect match from the start, with Karen finding a new way to spend her time. Once a fan of her local bingo hall, Karen says logging on to Crown Bingo has given her loads of new friends, good times, and now, big bingo jackpot wins – all in the comfort of her own home! A regular in Room 2 at Crown Bingo, Karen is a big fan of the fab Chat Masters that Crown Bingo is renowned for, and won big thanks to Crown Bingo’s “Jungle Madness” side game.

The game is just one of an impressive selection of side games at Crown Bingo. Jungle Madness is one of a selection of side games on offer at Crown Bingo with an impressive progressive jackpot. With over a dozen other popular slots including Clover Countdown and Big Top Tombola, both of which have a progressive jackpot exceeding £600,000, Crown Bingo manages to strike the perfect balance between those big money jackpots and some 100% fun, friendly bingo!

And November looks set to be a big month for Crown Bingo, with a huge range of promos available, including a Bonfire Night promotion, a Thanks Giving Day promotion and the unique promotion Name a Game, where 3 lucky members will get the chance to rename a game in the Room 3 schedule after themselves.  And as is regular at Crown Bingo, the site have picked their monthly charity as the Grace House North East Children’s Hospice Appeal, with a special promotion on Monday 16th November.  So if you fancy joining the ranks of Karen in Crown Bingo’s winners list, what are you waiting for?! With all this and much more going on, you’d be mad to miss out!

Play Gala Bingo Here!

A Gala Bingo caller has been sent behind bars after it was revealed the crafty caller was fixing the numbers so that his girlfriends could pocket thousands of pounds. Christian Grant, of Sunderland, was sentenced to nine months prison for the scheme, in which he managed to override the random number generator at the Gala Bingo hall he worked at.

In an elaborate scheme that we feel is begging to be made into a film, Grant managed to fool players and other employees at the Sunderland Gala Bingo Hall, calling out the numbers he knew were on cards bought by two different girlfriends, Samantha Temple and Nandi Ndebele.

Jailing Grant for nine months at Newcastle Crown Court, Judge Esmond Faulks said: “You were clearly in a position of trust.

“You deliberately overrode the random number generator and turned it to manual input to deliberately make winners of your two co-accused then took your share.”

Newcastle Crown Court heard Grant, 29, who was working at Gala Bingo in Sunderland, had overridden the random number generator on two occasions and read the numbers manually. As a result he ensured Ndebele, 29, won a £7,830 windfall on September 5 last year and fixing a £1,040 win for Temple, 28 on March 15 this year.

The court heard Grant had halved the £7,830 with Ndebele but had been given just £100 from Temple’s winnings.

It was a customer at one of the games of bingo that raised concerns about Grant’s integrity, nothing that during the games Grant’s behaviour was somewhat suspicious. The woman had mentioned to staff that Grant often moved the microphone away from his mouth when calling out the numbers, and that there were also “long pauses” between each number. Smelling something distinctly rotten, Gala immediately launched an investigation, uncovering Grant’s less than honest antics, as well as those of his accomplices, who had been ironically employed as claim checkers by the firm.

Bridie Smurthwaite, prosecuting, told the court: “Grant accepted he was the instigator. He said he approached the other two defendants and suggested they bought a bingo book and showed it to him so he could override the system and call out their numbers.

“Grant had been in a relationship with both the other defendants and he and Temple have a child together.”

Michael Rose, defending Grant and Temple, of Birch Road, Blaydon, said the couple now live together on benefits after losing their jobs because of the scam.

Richard Bloomfield, for Ndebele, of Pattenson Gardens, Felling, said her winnings paid off debts, including a bank loan.

All three admitted conspiracy to defraud. Temple was sentenced to a community order for 12 months with supervision. Ndbele was sentenced to a community order for 12 months with supervision and 100 hours’ unpaid work.

No Gala Bingo representative commented about the verdict, but it is understood that the bingo operator immediately repaid the winning amounts back into the winners’ pot so genuine customers would not lose out following the results of their investigation.

Play Cheeky Bingo Here!

Without doubt, there’s enough Bingo available at Cheeky Bingo, to keep even the most crazed Bingo head ‘feeling fine’.  And, of course, the great thing about Cheeky, is that you don’t actually need any money to join in.  Can’t say that about a lot of things these days….  But, if you are like me, and like a twirl on the side games now and again, then this is one online Bingo website that also allows you to play, without parting with a cent.  Not all free sites allow this, which, to my mind, is somewhat of a bone of contention.  I get all excited about my free Bingo money…points…whatever! Only to find I have two Bingo rooms to wager it in.  Not entirely useful, if you are one for the side games, as much as the Bingo.

Well, thankfully, this is not the case at Cheeky Bingo.  They have a whole pile of great side games, and you can play for fun on any of them you fancy.  Sorted!  Plus, when it comes to a sense of humour, and innovative, Cheeky Bingo never short change their members on either.  I tend to be a bit of a ‘casino person’, Roulette being Numero 1 on the list – which Cheeky has a deluxe version of, for which, I am eternally grateful! Even so, with so many people winning BIG money on Instants and Slots, I thought I’d change the habit of a lifetime, and go check them out.

Of the Instants, I got hooked on a game called Bee Happy. You’ll find this game under the Instants tab.  Players can choose to play for real, or for fun.  Being able to play for fun, being a fledgling in the world of Instants, was a huge bonus.  A great opportunity to get the feel of the game.  Or, should I say the Buzz…lol.  The graphics are fun, extremely colourful, with a good dash of humour thrown in. But!  The thing that really caught my eye, was the way my cursor turned into a little Bumble Bee.  Boy!  Did I have a lot of fun watching my BB go!  … I know… small things!  So, sue me… Go on!  Give Mr BB a ‘once around the block’.  Remember, it’s the simple things in life that make you happy. So, Bee Happy!

Perhaps the most pertinent recent example has been the furore in the land based bingo world regarding the hike in taxation from 15% to 22% by the Government, a move which many across the gaming industry have been critical of as bingo is considered one of the most softest forms of gaming around. But it wont be all about offline bingo – the world of online bingo, as it gets bigger and bigger, will be subject to increasing regulatory change that will be high on many operators priorities. The event is proving to be very timely as gambling regulation is still hot on the agenda for operators, and not just in the world of bingo.

“The big issue for the industry is regulation. Regulation, and in particular the recent ECJ verdict against Bwin, is the big thing facing us. It is the one thing that could change the industry altogether on the European side” said Gigi Levy, CEO of 888holdings, which has many interests in all aspects of gaming including the hugely successful 888Ladies online bingo site.

Despite gaming being one of the least badly hit sectors, many are arguing that regulation is key to stifling growth in the industry, and as result, many companies are looking to see how to work within the limits of current legislation to get the best they can possibly get.

The industry has also seen a rise in the number of cases referred to the ECJ, and European Legislation was a huge factor in the recent landmark case win between Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs and the Rank Group, who operate Mecca Bingo. And Ladbrokes has also benefitted from European law, with the company, who own Ladbrokes Bingo, winning recent cases regarding trademark infringements with rival companies Svenska Spel and Danska Spil

Ben Satchwell, Conference Director at Bullet Business who are staging the event said “The European Commission appears not to be interested in regulating the European Gambling industry. This has left a void that each country is looking to fill by implementing their own regulations. Now we are seeing jurisdictions left with problems in establishing which is the correct licensing model to adopt, taxation system to implement, ensure commitment to responsible gaming etc.”

He added “Operators are also realising that it is not only the regulation they have to consider but you also have cultural challenges to face across the various European countries they currently operate in. It is safe to safe the legal environment is still one of the largest challenges preventing the gambling from fulfilling its promise.” And as the world of online bingo grows, it seems many sites will be keen to exploit all opportunities within Europe and beyond. We’ll certainly be keeping you updated on the insider info on this one as trust us, this could have big big implications for your bingo bonuses in the future!