Hosted by Bullet Business, the ceremony took place after day one of the sixth Online Bingo Summit. Award winners were determined by votes from more than 300 industry delegates and attendees at the conference held at the Victoria Park Plaza, London.

Virtue Fusion Commercial Director, Rob Keown-Boyd said: “Virtue Fusion’s continued success at the Online Bingo Industry Awards further consolidates our reputation as the leading name in the market.

“It is extremely satisfying to have won this award for the third consecutive year, especially as the votes come from key members of the industry itself. We are pleased that once again our efforts haven’t gone unnoticed by our peers and will continue to build on this success in the year ahead.”

Acknowledged for its best-of-breed products, Playtech was named RNG Casino Supplier of the Year and was awarded Bingo Network of the Year through its subsidiary Virtue Fusion, the world’s leading developer and licensor of internet bingo products.

The industry’s premier awards, which are now in their second year, took place at Chelsea Football Club on Tuesday 3rd May and recognise the very best B2B providers in online gaming.

Playtech CEO Mor Weizer said: “Winning EGR B2B Awards for two major product categories sends a significant message about the strength and capability of Playtech’s products across the group. As a leading name in the industry, we were delighted to be recognised at this prestigious event and look forward to building on our success in the coming year.”

10th November 2010, Alderney – Gambling industry newcomers Intellectual Property and Software (IPS), have been nominated for the Social Networking Award of the Year at the upcoming E-Gaming Review Awards in London for their bingo software which powers Woohoobingo.com.

What makes Woohoo Bingo stand out from the crowd?

Woohoo Bingo, launched last November, is a completely innovative bingo site and takes a fresh look on online bingo by offer its players a completely free bingo environment and boasts unparalleled social interaction for its members through use of player profiles and picture uploads.

New players are given points to play with and can then win points and stars in the bingo game. Players who gain enough stars can shop in the Woohoo Bingo shop and receive real gifts such as chocolate hampers and Amazon vouchers.

Players can earn extra points by taking on challenges which promote the social nature of the site, some being an instant reward, others being a higher daily recharge of their free bingo points.

“This fresh approach to bingo has been hugely successful,” said company spokesman Ian Erskine. “During this year Woohoo has become the largest completely free bingo website in the UK and has attracted more than 70,000 users, and thanks to its links to Facebook we can offer our platform to a wider array of users that other sites are unable to reach”

The links with social networking site Facebook, allows players to invite their friends from Facebook to join them playing Woohoo Bingo, further strengthening Woohoo’s marketing ability within a competitive marketplace.

Amongst the features Woohoo offers is a Bingo Forum, where announcements are made to keep players up-to-date with the latest news from the site (supplementing the fortnightly newsletters which contain promotional activities and sponsored sections for paid for bingo sites), releasing new challenges and prizes, and how to gain more points as well as feedback sections where players can leave comments.

Advertisements of other paid for-bingo sites are provided through links from player profiles and video segments being played between games which Woohoo users are rewarded with extra points for signing up to.

Intellectual Property and Software, the company behind Woohoo, are keen to further develop the brand and have high hopes for launching the site in other countries in the near future.

10th November 2010, Alderney:- Online bingo specialists European Domain Management (EDM), have been short-listed for the Bingo Operator of the Year award at the upcoming E-Gaming Review Awards in London. EDM runs numerous major online bingo brands across the UK and Europe including Crown Bingo, Bingo Loopy, Bingo.ie and Svenska Bingo and has been a market leading innovator of online bingo products since 2005.

Ian Erskine, Operations Director of EDM, said “We are delighted to have been short-listed for the Bingo Operator of the Year award for the second time. It reflects the hard work and dedication of our whole team and shows that the industry recognises what our customers already know – that our sites are fantastic places to play online bingo. Our core aim is to provide players with the best online bingo experience possible and this commitment drives innovation throughout EDM.”

So what makes EDM a contender in these awards?

EDM not only have a strong portfolio of their own operating websites, but also have several other White Label websites for well known clients such as Endemol (Deal or No Deal Bingo) and JD Williams.

EDM is a market leader in product innovation, driven by a commitment to continuous improvement of its online bingo products. Earlier this year, EDM applied recent advancements in communications technology to provide a cutting-edge online live bingo room for its UK Bingo sites. Bingo Studio Live launched in March 2010 and allows bingo players to interact with live presenters streamed to their screens through the game client. Bingo Studio Live takes full advantage of the visual communication element and often has themed days for players to take part in which has been described by industry analysts as a “major success”.

EDM not only leads the way in technology, but was the first online bingo site to have a monthly Charity Bingo Night, where 50% of the prize pool goes to a charity nominated by our customers. Tens of thousands of pounds have been raided for charities across the country over the past four years.

Thanks to the shared liquidity between EDM and other clients of our software provider, Virtue Fusion, EDM sites can offer outstanding bingo prize pots through “Bingo Linx” games. These games, played three times a day, can offer members a chance to win some staggering pot prizes of up to £4,000 per game, and a monthly game played every last Sunday of the month offers up to £10,000.

The combination of market-leading software, innovative product development and creative marketing strategies alongside generous daily and monthly promotions which players are informed by through fortnightly email newsletters and SMS marketing, supplemented with a highly experienced and effective team of Chat masters makes European Domain Management a strong contender for Bingo Operator of the Year.

Playtech was the winner of the Bingo Supplier of the Year category through its Virtue Fusion Alderney bingo product which provides the most exciting bingo action in the industry.

Playtech CEO Mor Weizer said: “The EGR Awards are a prestigious new event in the industry’s calendar, so we are delighted Playtech have been recognised here with three separate awards. It really shows the strength of our products across the group. Being named Bingo Supplier of the Year is a fantastic endorsement and it is extremely satisfying as it comes straight after our double success at the Online Bingo Summit.”

Held at Old Billingsgate, London, the event saw Playtech win both Poker Network of the Year and Poker Software Supplier of the Year, for its leading iPoker network.

Playtech was the winner of the Bingo Supplier of the Year category through its Virtue Fusion Alderney bingo product which provides the most exciting bingo action in the industry.

The EGR B2B Awards follow on from those won at last week’s Online Bingo Summit where Playtech’s Virtue Fusion Alderney was awarded Best Online Bingo Software and Best Online Bingo Innovation.

Playtech CEO Mor Weizer said: “The EGR Awards are a prestigious new event in the industry’s calendar, so we are delighted Playtech have been recognised here with three separate awards. It really shows the strength of our products across the group. Being named Bingo Supplier of the Year is a fantastic endorsement and it is extremely satisfying as it comes straight after our double success at the Online Bingo Summit.”

Wednesday 9th June 2010 (London, UK) – Playtech was a double winner at last night’s Online Bingo Summit Awards through its Virtue Fusion Alderney platform.

Virtue Fusion Alderney, the world’s leading developer and licensor of internet bingo products, picked up the Best Online Bingo Software award for the second consecutive year. Dragonfish, Gamesys, Cozy Games, Parlay Entertainment and NYX Interactive were also nominated for the prize.

The company also claimed the Best Online Bingo Innovation for its Deal or No Deal product and one of its customers, Tea&Bingo, was named Best Newcomer for 2010 at the ceremony at the Victoria Park Plaza, London, which is now in its fifth year.

Virtue Fusion Alderney CEO Bob McCulloch said: “The Online Bingo Summit is very well regarded within the industry so it is fantastic for Virtue Fusion Alderney to have won the Best Online Bingo Software award for a second year in a row. We are very proud of our Deal or No Deal product so to see further success for that in the Best Online Bingo Innovation award was also very pleasing.”

• Most Popular Online Bingo Website
• Best Online Game Innovation
• Most Online Bingo Prizes Won

The biggest award won was for most popular online bingo site based on trends data confirming our position as the biggest online bingo site in the UK with more cash players than any other site.

The second award was for Best Online Bingo Game Innovation for our exclusive game Bingo Roulette. If you’ve not played Bingo Roulette yet it combines the community aspect of online bingo with the excitement of a roulette wheel. Plus the game has a top jackpot of £10,000 so it’s no surprise it’s such a popular game.

The third award was for Most Online Bingo Prizes Won. With £3 million paid out every week to thousands of lucky tombola bingo players it’s good to win this award.

Foxy Bingo was one of six companies shortlisted for the highly coveted award. The judges commended them for their large number of networks, their extensive television spend and the launch of Cheeky Bingo.

Their competitors for the award were Tombola Bingo, Jackpot Joy, Ladbrokes Bingo, William Hill Bingo and Wink Bingo.

The result was largely expected by the bingo industry following the sale of Foxy’s parent company, Cashcade, to Party Gaming earlier this year. Simon Collins, Cashcade’s marketing director and co-founder, collected the award from comic Mark Watson.

It was interesting to see that neither Gala Bingo or Mecca Bingo, the dominant high street bingo brands, were shortlisted for the award. Last year’s winner and runner up, 888 Ladies and Crown Bingo respectively, apparently did not even enter the awards this year.

The top prize – Operator of the Year – was won by Bwin, the leading pan-European sports, casino and poker operator.

See the full list of 2009 eGaming Award winners

Two winners were widely accepted as being reasonably fair within the industry but most bingo insiders were left baffled by the decision to award Playtech the title of Best Bingo Software.

One bingo software rival said: “I could name six bingo software companies with better software than Playtech. They have hardly any licensees and their product is obviously not competitive in the market. To be frank, the judges must have been smoking something pretty strong to come up with this verdict.”

They added: “It’s a shame because it definitely detracts from the overall credibility of the awards”.

The other winners in the CAP awards for bingo were Jackpot Joy/Market Ace for Best Bingo Affiliate and Bingo Port for Best Bingo Affiliate. Both of these awards were widely considered to be reasonable within the bingo industry and a fair reflection of the hard work put in by both sites over the past year.

Virtue Fusion claim to be the largest dedicated online bingo software company in the world. They have a stellar list of the world’s top gambling companies using their bingo software.

Virtue Fusion holds an Alderney gaming licence and is in the process of applying for a Maltese licence.

Virtue Fusion is run by Alex Haig-Thomas and Robert Keown-Boyd. They are unusual in the world of online bingo in that both are old Etonians. The company has approximately 340 employees, of which 260 are chat moderators.

Virtue Fusion’s bingo product grew out of bingo software developed for Gala Group. Following Gala’s decision to build their own bingo platform, Virtue Fusion signed Mecca Bingo as their first client in 2005. They then signed Crown Bingo as their second client and first end-to-end bingo solution client in November 2005.

Sites currently running on Virtue Fusion software include:

UK Facing Online Bingo Sites

Mecca Bingo

Crown Bingo

Sky Bingo

Bet365 Bingo

Jackpot City Bingo

Jackpot Bingo

Ladbrokes Bingo

William Hill Bingo

Paddy Power Bingo

Carlton Bingo

Blue Square Bingo

Vernons Bingo

Scot Bingo

Bingo Loopy

Crazy Bingo

Minxy Bingo

Buckingham Bingo

Capitol Bingo

Take A Break Bingo

Fruit Bingo

Bonanza Bingo

Big8 Gaming

River Belle Bingo

Beach Bingo

Bingo Crazy

Bunny Bingo

European facing online bingo sites

Bingo Corona

Bingo.ie

Other territories and forthcoming launches

Virtue Fusion are planning to launch sites in Sweden and Denmark in early 2009. Virtue Fusion does not accept clients from the United States.

With bingo becoming more and more popular, there seem to be more awards than ever before this year.

First up is Which Bingo’s Online Bingo Site of the Year award; the organisers style it as the “Online Bingo Oscars”. The awards have been going for five years, so it is safe to say these are currently the most prestigous prizes to win. The awards are voted for by the bingo playing public and last year were won by Think Bingo, with Mecca Bingo winning in 2006. Nominations open on December 1 and run through until the end of the year.

The same organisers also run the New UK Online Bingo Site of the Year award, which was won by Gone Bingo in 2007. They also run the CM of the Year Award, which was won by Bingo Scotland in 2007.

Phil Fraser, owner of WhichBingo and, in the words of his own press release, ‘widely recognised as the sector’s leading expert’, said: “We want to praise and celebrate those sites that consistently deliver enjoyment and satisfaction to their players.

“There are some really great bingo sites out there doing a fantastic job. Once a year, bingo players have a forum to register their appreciation of the fun and enjoyment these sites supply. We are very excited about these awards. Having been running these awards since 2003, we are constantly amazed by the way the market improves year on year with innovation and development.”

This year sees some competition in the awards category with bingo website Bingo Port launching the Players’ Choice Awards. The organisers say the awards, which will be announced on 30 January 2009, will be chosen   “both the data collected by BingoPort.co.uk over the previous 12 months and survey information collected from BingoPort’s membership base of online bingo players. It is this detailed collection of information that will provide the industry with the most accurate measure of who is the best in the UK Online Bingo Industry.”

We’re not actually sure what this means – does this mean that it is the busiest site who wins or the one who gets the most votes or what? But clearly someone will win and there will be lots of competition amongst operators to be the winner.

“We are really looking forward to the Players Choice Awards in January,” said Scott Logan, the owner of Bingo Port. “Our membership base represents a broad cross-section of the UK market with our players choosing a wide variety of bingo sites to spend their time. And our rigid voting registration process allows us to target all online bingo players in the UK. This thorough methodology means the BingoPort Players Choice Awards will provide the industry with a very accurate reflection of who is doing the right things in this market.”

The Players Choice Awards is not the only new bingo award to be launched this year. Bullet Business, who run the Annual Bingo Summit, had the Online Bingo Awards dinner as part of their conference. The awards received a lot less publicity than one might have hoped or expected – partly because half the online bingo industry did not even know they were taking place – may well turn out to be a much bigger hit next year when the 4th Annual Online Bingo Summit takes place next June.

To vote in the awards, click on the link below

Online Bingo Site of the Year Award

New Bingo Site of the Year Award

CM of the Year Award

Players Choice Award