Bingo Halls Get Zero Support

Exactly what great crime is it that our faithful old bingo halls in the UK have committed to deserve such unfair treatment by the government?

With Bingo Halls dropping like flies all over the UK, forced to closure because of Big Brother government moves to apply double taxes, take away their high jackpot slot machines, and to add insult to injury, apply a smoking ban to the whole of the UK. All these measures plus the general recession has forced our traditional bingo clubs to their knees, begging for a fair chance.

The 2009 Budget revealed yesterday by the Chancellor at first seemed to be heaven-sent for Bingo Halls, when they realised that VAT was going to be dropped for Bingo. Unfortunately the Bingo gaming tax increased at the same time from 15% up to 22%, basically meaning no change.

On the other hand, the online bingo business in the UK is positively booming. Perhaps leaping off the back of the apparently doomed land-based bingo industry, and bringing the game of bingo back into the limelight, with an increasingly younger generation of bingo fans, and tons of appealing free bingo games to get your teeth into.

So what does the future hold for our grand old Bingo halls? With all the pressure from our leading UK operators including Rank and Gala Bingo, you’d expect some backing from the government, but there appears to be none. Looks like the cards are on the table, and the Bingo Halls will have to battle it out for themselves.

Posh Bingo

Posh Bingo has burst back into the online bingo UK scene in a swish of glamour and glitz fit for the Queen herself. This faithful old bingo site has totally reinvented itself with a thrilling new look and a brand new selection of exciting bingo games and promotions I love!

Their new design is very cute, I love it!

Comedian Jokes

For a change I’m not going to write about online bingo today, the subject is jokes, but not bingo jokes, comedian jokes. The Edinburgh Fringe festival has been giving out awards for funniest gags, and the newly crowned winner is Zoe Lyons – well done girl!

This is the one-liner she jumped over the winning post with, on the subject of the misunderstood but talented singer Amy Winehouse:

“I can’t believe Amy Winehouse self-harms. She’s so irritating she must be able to find someone to do it for her.”

In the tasteless ratings this joke scores pretty highly, but humour is like art, and as Picasso once said famously, “The world today doesn’t make sense, so why should I paint pictures that do?”

33 year-old Zoe from Brighton said she was delighted to have won the award.

“I know self-harming is not funny but it’s just a joke, so I’m not going to beat myself up about it.”

Andrew Laurence came in second with his witty one liner: “Most of us have a skeleton in the cupboard. David Beckham takes his out in public.”

I’ve always appreciated a good joke, it’s something I can’t get by without, like a nice cuppa while I bingo. I wish there were more bingo themed jokes around as I love anything to do with bingo, however we have a few rib-ticklers submitted by our very own Bingostreeters in our Bingo Forum – pop over now for a quick giggle!

Online or land-based bingo?

While the news all last week tended to highlight the growing Scandinavian online bingo market, back here in the UK evidence mounted of more troubles in the land-based bingo industry with the announcement that Gala Bingo has put up its Nuneaton bingo hall for sale.

Land-based bingo has been in a bit of a bind recently with its profitability impaired by a new nationwide smoking ban, a controversial double tax system and the growing popularity of online bingo games and online bingo halls.

Gala Bingo is already a mainstay on the online bingo scene and it makes sense for them to maximize their land-based operations rather than run at a loss by keeping non-profitable halls afloat. On the other hand, I doubt they will receive many offers from any industry for the building they have put up for sale due to the need to spend extra money on asbestos removal from the property.

What this move by Gala does tell us is that land-based bingo is an increasingly negative option for bingo operators in a world where changing habits are reflecting a move towards a more online-based lifestyle when it comes to entertainment choices. I can see the day when outfits like Gala focus almost exclusively on people who play online bingo and exit the land-based scene completely.