Now that Gaz knew that Sharon had slept with his brother, it was time to confess he was sleeping with their son's GrandfatherThose of you familiar with UK television will be aware of the marketing associations between Bingo and daytime TV. Bingo is one of the sectors that has really understood the type of players it has when it comes to television advertising. Look at the tie-ins between Foxy Bingo then Think Bingo and the Jeremy Kyle Show, Emmerdale and Tombola and Crown Bingo and the ITV 3 whole daytime TV schedule… all utterly relevant and appropriate partnerships for the demography of...

Half the stories about bingo are bongoThe blogger in the attached piece makes the fair point that bingo is getting a rotten rep in the press just now. The mainstream news has increasingly been labelling bingo – and all forms of gambling come to think of it – with everything from gambling addiction to the war in Afghanistan. Or not far short. Instead of whingeing about it, though, the advice to bingo operators is to rise above the sensationalist shit-stirring in the gutter press and ensure that every bingo site ups their game when it comes offering support and raising awareness about...

Awarding experienceWith the Oscars looming, Paddy Power Bingo have decided to get in on the act by launching a red carpet theme this week. Wednesday night they’ve got Oscars quiz night and during Sunday night’s ‘Red Carpet Hour’ between 10-11pm every bingo game will be given the name of a movie from the ‘Best Picture’ category – if you play in the game that wins the Best Picture award, you get a share of 300BBs. It’s not rocket science, ladies, play in the Avatar game. Read more…

Country Crossing paid around 1.7 million in bingo machine stamp fees in December only to shut down amidst task force raids. The Houston County Commission turned down a request to refund the money. If you guessed this is nothing more than pure grand larceny, bingo your right. That’s a whole lot of fees for jack shit. Read more.

Payback timeWhile just about everyone in the UK is still reeling from one of the most punitive pre-budget reports on record, there was one winner from Alistair Darling’s hair-brained economizing. The Rank Group will get £26m back from the government and possibly £17m more after a ruling found that the VAT paid on their land-based casinos and bingo clubs between 2002 and 2005 contravened the European Union’s principles of fiscal neutrality. Result! Read more.

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Bingo is worth billionsPartyGaming’s summer acquisition of Cashcade highlights companies’ eagerness to take advantage of the growing online bingo market – a sector which looks set to swell to be worth well over $1 billion by the end of this year. Read more.

Get a full house and, Bingo, you've got the X-Factor William Hill bingo has teamed up with sister website William Hill sports to offer free betting on the X-Factor. In a cunning attempt to boost novelty betting, which most online websites are obliged to pay lip service to without actually taking much profit, Hills are hoping that the many men who play bingo on the sly will familiarise themselves with the sports website and maybe occasion a flutter or two on their website, while the female demographic will be swayed by the lure of enhancing their X-Factor viewing. Then at least they’ll...

888 are trying to corner the male Bingo market Not content with its already successful site 888 Ladies Bingo the egaming operator has decided to branch out and launch a less female-centric site, simply called 888bingo. The website will initially run on the globalcom network, which is powered by their dragonfish company, but the long-term view is to move it to a standalone site. It seems that more men play bingo than meet the (Kelly’s) eye (did you see what I did there?) so it makes sense to offer a new brand. Read more here.