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.”

EveryMatrix will make the Miles Ahead software available to its 25 existing customers who include Centerbet, Chilli Poker and BetClick . They will also offer customers the chances to use Miles Ahead’s software on a standalone basis.

EveryMatrix chief executive Ebbe Groes said: “Miles Ahead has one of the strongest development teams we’ve met so far. Their games are fast, well designed, and with cool graphics. In particular this is a team with great experience and skills in mobile development. They fit in beautifully in our organization and we’re very proud to join forces with Miles Ahead and have reached a level of maturity that allows us to do transactions such as this.

“We’re now focusing on bringing these products to the market, using synergies in sales, marketing, operations, and support. We have also initiated new development projects aimed at the fast growing mobile gaming market, allowing us to package this together with the new OddsMatrix mobile sportsbook,” he added. “We’re very excited about this acquisition, it raises our game to yet another level after last year’s successful launch of GamMatrix and we’ll be moving fast in using the opportunities this brings us.”

EveryMatrix was founded in 2008 and is privately held, mainly by Ebbe Groes, who is also the majority shareholder in odds comparison service BetBrain, and Stian Hornsletten.

The sale adds two extra sites – Bucky Bingo and BOGOF Bingo – to Betfred’s exisiting Betfred Bingo site. The sites all run on Playtech’s Virtue Fusion platform.

Betfred, whose online operations are run from Gibraltar, announced the deal today, telling affiliates:  “Betfred.com, one of the world’s largest independent sports betting brands, has acquired the online bingo brand BuckyBingo.co.uk and sister brand BOGOFBingo.co.uk. The acquisition will be highly beneficial to the operation and marketing of the BuckyBingo brand, building on their current experience and strengths.

Betfred’s Managing Director John Haddock said, “This is a great acquisition for Betfred.com of a leading brand in the Bingo market. Our intention is to continue with the Bucky brand and it will be business as usual.

“What I can say is that there will be plenty of investment that will give our customers a fantastic experience in the future.”

KPMG Corporate Finance partner Neil Meredith, who helped advise on the sale, said, ‘’BuckyBingo and BOGOFBingo provide an established and highly regarded online bingo offering, that is well positioned to enter its next phase of growth under the new ownership of Betfred.’’

It will be interesting to see how Betfred will use the Bucky Bingo brand, given that it played off and acquired players from the now defunct Buckingham Bingo brand. It is rumoured to have been a successful online bingo brand for a few months after launch but numbers dropped sharply after the initial marketing push.

It is thought Betfred will have paid in the region of £500,000 for the Bucky Bingo brand. Andy Cunningham, chief executive of Buckingham Bingo, is likely to have known the purchasers well because of his close links to the Manchester region, where Betfred founder Fred Done lives.

24th January, 2011 – Playtech Ltd, the international designer, developer and licensor of software for the online, mobile, TV and land-based gaming industry, has established a bingo licensing agreement with Nordic Gaming for NordicBet.com, Triobet.com and Tobet.com.

Nordic Gaming will become Virtue Fusion’s second major Scandinavian bingo licensee, confirming its capabilities in the region. It will see Nordic Gaming add online bingo to its sportsbook, poker, casino and games offerings at all three of its sites through Playtech’s award-winning Virtue Fusion platform.

Playtech’s Virtue Fusion is the world’s leading developer and licensor of internet bingo products and operates in 12 languages and six currencies. Nordic Gaming’s localised and specialised offerings will benefit from their feature-rich products and unrivalled prize pool liquidity.

Mor Weizer, Playtech’s Chief Executive, said: ‘It gives us great pleasure to announce this agreement with Nordic Gaming, an operator with impressive B2C marketing capabilities and a strong local profile. The deal expands Playtech’s increasing portfolio of significant operators across Europe and adds to what is already a strong presence in the Scandinavian region.’

Ben Clemes, Nordic Gaming Head of Casino Operations, said: ‘Launching bingo is something that we have been planning for a long time and we at Nordic Gaming are very confident that we have chosen the right partners to do this with in Playtech and its Virtue Fusion network.’

Neill Whyte, Head of Bingo at Microgaming said in a statement to the press that, “These latest Side Games are further evidence of Microgaming’s continued commitment to offering the very best entertainment mix possible. With player enticement and retention paramount for our operators, Side Games are an increasingly important element of our Bingo offering and we are constantly striving to add top quality content. November’s Side Games provide a real sense of variety, with video slots, AWP style games and instant wins, which we’re sure players will respond very well to.”

The four new side games feature a selection of slot games with various themes, including an excellent slot game with a medical theme.

The following information is taken from the Microgaming website.

REEL GEMS is the latest five-reel slot to join Microgaming’s portfolio of Bingo Side Games. The jewel-laden game features 243 Ways to Win and showcases Microgaming’s new re-spin feature. Reel Gems is focused on the glittering theme of precious gems and offers diverse winning opportunities through a mix of Wild, Scatter, Multiplier and retriggering Free Spins.

When 3, 4 or 5 Diamond Ring symbols appear on the reels it will activate 15 retriggering Free Spins, which triple all wins, with the opportunity of up to 120,000 coins on this feature alone. Rewards can be reaped by using the glistening Reel Gem logo as a substitute for other symbols, delivering up to 40,000 coins in return.

MAGNIFICENT 777’S is an AWP style game with three reels, holds and nudges. The game’s symbols are a mix of coloured seven’s and stars, and wins are awarded when three of a kind symbols appear on the win-line. Red Sevens are worth up to 200 times the original bet, Blue Sevens are worth up to 10 times and any mix of Red and Blue Sevens are worth up to double the original bet.

When a coloured star appears on the middle reel’s win line, a random number of winning spins are awarded, with the value of each added to the balance at the end of each spin. A Bronze Star pays out lower end total, a Silver Star pays out middle range total wins, with an odd chance of paying a high total win and a Gold Stars pays out high end total wins. The reel band also has ‘dash’ symbols that do not produce a three of a kind win, but they will break up potential wins.

PHAROAH’S GEMS is the second game in November’s double bill of gem themed Side Games and takes the form of a three-in-one instant win card. Big prizes are the aim of the game and players have three chances to win in the pharaoh’s tomb, with the opportunity to take home up to 7500 times their original stake.

The game’s theme is the grandeur and opulence of Ancient Egypt, as players are challenged to search for the treasures of the pharaohs. With three games on offer, discovering a win in the treasure chest in game 1, matching a gem to the winning symbol in game 2, or revealing a prize from the Nefertiti statue in game 3, all lead the player to riches.

GERMINATOR is a highly infectious slot style game where a host of colourful germs act as the symbols. The aim is to match three or more similar germs in a horizontal or vertical line to win. When a row of germs are involved in a winning line they are “cured”, allowing the germs above to cascade down and fill the gap, offering players the chance of even more wins.

If three or more bonus pills appear on the grid at the end of the game, the Medi-Bonus will trigger, allowing players to remove an entire strain of germs from the screen. The maximum jackpot for a single winning line is 360 coins, but players can benefit from an infinite number of cascades, greatly increasing their win potential.

Bingo continues to perform well for Playtech as did its online casino operations and William Hill Online. The performance of these key parts of the Playtech business were more than enough to cover the poor performance of Playtech’s poker offerings.

Thanks to strong growth from recently acquired bingo software provider Virtue Fusion and an Italian Bingo licence, Playtech bingo revenue increased 11 per cent compared to the second quarter of this year. Playtech’s share of the profit in William Hill Online more than doubled compared to the same period last year from €4.2 million to €8.8 million.

Mor Weizer, CEO of Playtech said, “The recent launches of Betfair casino and our Italian Bingo licensees have performed very well from soon after launch, and will be joined by RAY [the Finnish monopoly] in the coming months.I am also encouraged by discussions with a number of notable operators which should deliver a strong pipeline across the product range.”

Playtech also announced that early indications suggest that performance in quarter four is looking good and is already 25 per cent ahead of last years figures.

In total, William Hill group revenue rose 22 per cent compared to the previous period but the company still has net debts for covenant purposes of over £500 million.

Over the thirteen weeks up to 28th September 2010 online revenues were up 35 per cent as a whole even though the company had to close down the French arm of its online casino business thanks to recent changes in gambling legislation in France. The Sportsbook arm of the online business grew an incredible 287 per cent compared to quarter three in 2009, while bingo revenues grew an impressive 58 per cent compared to the same period.

In total the online part of William Hill’s business, including the well performing bingo, contributed £26.3 million of profits to the balance sheet; up nearly 80 per cent on 2009 figures.

Playtech, who run the William Hill Bingo site, had a non-controlling interest in the online business worth£7.5 million.

Ladbrokes Bingo only saw a one per cent rise in their active player numbers in the three months from July to September 2010 but their player base increased losses by 11 per cent.

Ladbrokes Bingo operate on Virtue Fusion software and Ladbrokes have been pushing their bingo hard in recent weeks, with their Free Bingo product now having its own tab on the navigation of Ladbrokes’ home page. It is thought that the record £3.5 million progressive jackpot on the Clover Rollover slot will have also contributed to increased revenue as players chase a life changing payday for just a £1 stake.

Across Labrokes as a whole, the online part of the business saw a 17% growth in revenue and across the entire company net revenue was up 12 per cent and operating profit, excluding high rollers, was up 128%.

However the company acknowledged that the like-for-like comparisons were not difficult to out perform, given how dismal previous trading had been.

Richard Glynn, the recently appointed Ladbrokes chief executive, said: “Although bolstered by successful latter stages of the World Cup and an easy comparative period, the growth rates achieved in the third quarter give the Board confidence that the Group is on track to meet its full year expectations.

“Ladbrokes has a great brand and a strengthened management team determined to drive operational improvements going forward. Though much remains to be done, I am encouraged by the progress we are making across the Group and I look forward to updating the market in February 2011.”

The site offers all of the great features which made the old site so popular, however, William Hill Bingo has given the site a makeover which they believe will be a huge hit with bingo fans.

The makeover sees features that make the site more interactive and user friendly.

Some of the exciting new player features on the new William Hill Bingo site include:

• A new straight-to-the-action button – which allows players to launch their favourite Bingo room from the homepage.

• Enhanced navigations on the home page – where players can see the hottest games and promotions on the top of their screen within the Hot Picks tab.

• Improved social networking functions – where players can share information such as bingo games and promotions with their bingo buddies on Facebook, Twitter, msn and more.

• A new review section – where players can see information and a preview of their chosen game, as well as leave comments and give star ratings to games and promotions.

• A way to order bingo games by ticket price, prize money, number of players and when the next game starts, so players can find the right game to suit them.

• There’s a new Help section in the which will help answer a wide variety of user questions or issues

• Enhanced opening hours in the rooms. The Early Bird will open earlier, the Late Lounge open later, the Variety Room will be open all day from 10am to midnight, and Willy’s Den no longer takes a lunch break but will be open throughout the day.

• New games. William Hill Bingo will launch several new games on the 28th of September – including Sacred 7s, a 3 reel, single line Nudge/Hold type slot, and Fruity Burst, a lively and colourful game where player’s match fruity combinations to win cash.

• And, a funkier new design. So why not go and take a peep?

There’s also good news for the huge numbers of existing players; the general layout won’t change – so they’ll have no problem finding their favourite games and promotions on the new-look site.

This innovative new site is leading the way at William Hill, building on their fantastic community of bingo players and embracing social networking functionalities. Tony Kenny, spokesperson for William Hill Online said, “We don’t believe in standing still here and thanks to suggestions from the players we’ve been able to make some fantastic improvements to the Bingo site where players will be able to have fun using the new tools and also find their favourite games a lot quicker.”

“We’re looking forward to getting their feedback on what we believe is the best bingo site around.”

Gossip Bingo will be powered by Dragonfish and will offer an online magazine and celebrity news alongside traditional bingo games and instant win style games. The site will be able to interact with Facebook and Twitter so players on the site can post their Gossip Bingo activity on these sites.

The launch of the new site follows Netboost Media, the company promoting Gossip Bingo, surveying over 70,000 bingo players and finding that over 80% are also members of Facebook and 75% read a gossip magazine or website every day.

Adi Frum, Chief Executive of Netboost Media siad, “For the last ten months we have managed to acquire over 3,500 new depositors every month to MoonBingo, the majority of which are based in the UK. I am confident we can more than double this number with GossipBingo.”

source: E-Gaming review

Bingo provided revenues of $23.5 million in the first six months of 2010, up from $5.1 million in the first six months of 2009. But since then 888 bought Wink Bingo and Posh Bingo, which provided $19 million of those revenues.

The rest of 888′s business was hit by declining poker revenues, which had fallen sharply during the World Cup, although the company did say there had been an upturn in August. Profits of $8.4 million for the first six months were down 44 per cent on the $14.9 million earned in the first half of 2009.

888 said it would scrap its dividend in order to conserve cash for acquisitions; it is widely thought that the online gaming market will see some major consolidations in the second half of 2010, following Party Gaming and Bwin’s merger.

Gigi Levy, 888′s chief executive, saidd: “Our business experienced a difficult first half against the backdrop of a challenging economic environment, with trading impacted by a number of factors including general online poker weakness, adverse F/X movements and, in relation to Poker and Casino in Q2, the FIFA World Cup. A cost reduction programme has been implemented to help mitigate against this impact, the benefit of which will be seen in H2. A reorganisation of the technology and product divisions and a re-focusing of certain aspects of the business is also underway to better position the business for the future.

“Despite the economic environment, we committed additional research and development spend to innovative new products and increased marketing spend, which has generated some increase in revenues and a rise in real money registered accounts. However, this important investment for future growth has impacted H1 EBITDA.

“Trading in August has been significantly stronger than in July, with a double digit daily revenue increase especially in casino and poker. Boosted by the release of the new platform, Poker has seen an increase of more than 15% in revenue in August.

“We will continue to innovate our B2C offering and attract and retain players to 888′s brands. Dragonfish also continues to win new contracts and industry accolades underlining the strength of its Total Gaming Services offer. Particular progress has been made in regulated markets, and notable deals have been signed in Italy and France.

“With full service operator capabilities, strong brand, technology and unique B2B platform, we remain confident in the underlying fundamentals of the business and believe that the move of 888, and the industry, to become a locally-regulated gaming entertainment operator presents significant opportunities for growth and M&A activity.

“In order to continue investing for future growth, and to support potential acquisitions, the board has decided not to declare an interim dividend at this time and finalise the full year dividend when the full year results are available.”

Shares in 888 remained unchanged at 37 pence in early trading, giving 888 a market capitalisation of £128 million, way down on the £830 million valuation it achieved in May 2006.

The acquisition of bingo provider Virtue Fusion cost Playtech €37.7million and has generated €4.5million of revenue in the four months that Playtech has owned it. It also means that Playtech has the biggest network in the industry enabling sites on the network to offer greater prizes and more attractive promotions to its players. Virtue Fusion is one of the leading players in bingo software provision and gives Playtech the opportunity to make inroads into the online bingo markets in the UK and abroad. This includes the recent launch of an Italian bingo site.

The acquisition of Virtue Fusion means that Playtech now controls such established bingo sites as Crown Bingo, Mecca Bingo, William Hill Bingo and Virgin Bingo.

Playtech’s partnership with William Hill was most lucrative with a busy World Cup giving the company a €15million share of the profits from its online only partnership. The profit share received by Playtech was up by over 45 per cent on the previous year.

Playtech has also announced that future licences with Betfair Casino in the third quarter of 2010, RAY in Finland at the end of the year and Casino Gran Madrid in early 2011 are all on target to launch.

In the six months to June 30th 2010 Party Bingo revenue was €25.8 million, up by over €24million from €1.2million in the same period of 2009, when Party Bingo was just entering the market.

The excellent bingo performance was also down to Party Gaming’s recent purchase of renowned bingo software provider Cashcade. This proactive step showed that Party Gaming are committed to bingo and making inroads in the U.K. online bingo market. Cashcade was acquired by Party Gaming in the final part of 2009 and their expertise has clearly paid off for the company.

Thanks in part to the vastly improved bingo performance, Party Gaming has seen its total revenue rise from €139.9million to €182.1million. Party Poker struggled to maintain its 2009 performance with revenue falling in the first half 0f 2010. Poker performance was blamed on the World Cup in South Africa meaning that less players were online.

The main star performer for Party Gaming was its casino operation which saw revenues rise by 23 per cent to €76.4million, contributing over one third of total revenues for the company in the first half of this year.

Jim Ryan, CEO of Party Gaming was pleased with overall performance, he said, “We delivered another robust financial performance in the first half and also made great progress in executing our strategy. While poker was impacted by the football World Cup and remained difficult from a competitive perspective, our other verticals continued to perform strongly with total revenue up 30 per cent.”

Thanks to this deal online bingo players from Italy will be able to play in many more rooms, with more networked games and excellent chat rooms operated by Italian CM’s.

Amministrazione Autonoma dei Monopoli di Stato (AAMS), Italy’s state gaming authority has announced that all Playtech software is compliant to Italian law, paving the way for the operators to make a big step forward in Italy’s bingo market.

In a press release from Playtech, Chief Executive Mor Weizer said, “Playtech’s bingo activities are making excellent progress across the board. This announcement adds to that momentum and is a significant revenue enhancing step forward for our Italian bingo operations. Playtech is in active discussions with additional Italian bingo operators and expects to add more licensees in the coming few months.”

Snai is a leading player in the Italian betting market, managing a network of 6,000 betting shops and providing a wide range of products and telematic services, including internet betting.

Eurobet is an Italian and international sportsbook owned by Gala Coral Group, and has been operating on Playtech’s iPoker.it network since 2008. It will join the bingo network in the next few weeks.

source: investegate

Playtech, based in the Baltic state of Estonia and one of the biggest companies in London’s junior market AIM, said that revenue in the second quarter of 2010 totalled €44.5 million. This is a huge increase of 34 per cent over the same period last year.

Revenue from bingo totalled €2.8million, a sharp increase of 61 per cent on the previous quarter, thanks to the increased contribution from Virtue Fusion, acquired recently by Playtech.

Playtech operate many of the leading online bingo sites in the UK market such as Foxy Bingo, William Hill and Ruby Bingo.

Playtech also remarked in their report that the World Cup reduced activity on its sites but traffic was returning after the competition ended.

One of the major highlights for Playtech, highlighted in a press release were the fact that their Italian bingo commitment with Sisal has already achieved an 18 per cent market share. Playtech and Virtue Fusion also gained industry awards for best bingo software.

The networked prize pool is accumulated from players on separate games. Matching combinations of balls then pay multiple amounts based on the total amount staked by an individual. The stake-per-game is £0.25 and each winning ball combination of five or more characters returns a respective cash prize in addition to a set of points which gives the player a position on the leaderboard. The higher up on the ladder a player is, the greater their share of the community jackpot.

George and the Dragon and Treasure Time Traveller Also launched by Virtue Fusion Alderney is George and the Dragon, a five reel, twenty five line slot with exploding reels, stakes per spin of £0.01-£50.00 and a progressive jackpot which has been seeded at £5,000. It also contains a bonus feature where the player, as the character of George, fights the Dragon to save the Princess.

Treasure Time Traveller is a new nine square scratchcard with a historical theme. Stake amounts vary from £0.10-£10.00 and players reaching the bonus round get the chance to pick a bygone era and destination, then travel through time to collect their winnings.

Virtue Fusion Alderney CEO Bob McCulloch said: “I am sure that bingo players across our network will love playing these new games. The community jackpot which is also part of our Blockbusters game is a feature that helps make online bingo even more sociable, so we expect it will be very popular.”

The new site opened to primarily UK and Irish players this week.

The new site offers 90 ball bingo along with chat rooms and an excellent selection of side games and great customer service facilities.

The founder of Butler’s Bingo, David Butler said, “We are delighted with the reaction we have had following the opening of Butlers Bingo and the number of exciting bonus and launch promotions we have been able to offer new players. Partnering with Microgaming and the quality of software it offers, means we are able to offer a unique level of service for our players.

“We have plans for global expansion, and the flexibility of Microgaming’s software and bespoke game development, means we look forward to developing the partnership as Butlers Bingo.” he added

Originally broadcast in the 1980s, Blockbusters was screened into British homes for nearly two decades. Signature elements and music are included in the game where normal bingo numbers are replaced by letters, appearing on 20 trademark yellow hexagons per ticket.

On top of the standard prizes, Blockbusters contains a special ‘1TG’ feature game, the ‘Gold Run’, for all players left with one to go when the final prize, either line or column, is won. Additionally, a Community Blockbusters Jackpot can be won if the first five letters called contain ‘B’, ’I’, ‘N’, ‘G’ and ‘O’ in any order. Players win a proportionate amount of the jackpot based on their game stake compared to the total staked by all players.

Rank Interactive head of gaming Angus Nisbet commented: “Branded online bingo games are among the most popular on Meccabingo.com and I am sure that Blockbusters will be another success. Playtech’s Virtue Fusion Alderney has created a fantastic product and I am positive it will strike a chord with fans of the show and be well-liked by new players too.”

Virtue Fusion Alderney CEO Bob McCulloch said: “Virtue Fusion Alderney has a long-standing relationship with Meccabingo.com. We recently created Britain’s Got Talent Bingo for them which was very well received so we are delighted to have been asked to provide this game as part of their exclusive agreement with Blockbusters.”

The site will be run by 888′s Dragonfish division, meaning it will be on the same software as well known sites such as Foxy Bingo, UK Bingo, Cheeky Bingo and Wink Bingo.

The sites will target the UK and Irish online bingo markets and will be extensively advertised on MTV’s music channel and on VIVA.

Gigi Levy, Acting Managing Director of Dragonfish and CEO of 888 Holdings, said: “As a leader in the field of gaming software and services we wish to form partnerships with market leaders from other business sectors seeking to monetise their assets. MTV Networks is an internationally renowned brand, and we are proud to launch their first entry into online gaming. The strength of Dragonfish’s bingo product offering, coupled with MTV Networks’ marketing reach, provides an exciting platform from which to build a successful partnership.”

Philip Bourchier O’Ferrall, Senior Vice President, Digital Media, MTV Networks International, UK & Ireland, said: “We are delighted to have agreed this new deal with Dragonfish which marks our very first online gaming initiative. At a time when the market for online games and virtual worlds is continuing to grow, collaborations such as this one provide responsible and enjoyable gaming opportunities for our audience.”

The announcement comes as shares in parent company 888 have hit new lows. The share price was 34.5 pence in early trading, down from a 52 week high of 121.5 pence and a long way off the April 2006 high of 240 pence. 888 is now valued at £119.5 million and is widely considered to be a potential takeover target.

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.”

Olympic silver medallist Steve Cram handed out the awards at the black tie ceremony held at London’s Old Billingsgate conference centre.

Dragonfish beat Microgaming and Virtue Fusion to win Bingo Network of the Year while Virtue Fusion beat Dragonfish, NYX Interactive and Parlay Entertainment to win Bingo Supplier of the Year.

NYX Interactive won the Innovation in Bingo Award, beating Alvin5 and Playtech and Cozy Games, who were highly commended in the category.

Dragonfish also won White Label Partner of the Year, while online scratchcard business NeoGames, who power Scratch.co.uk, were highly commended in the Software Rising Star of the Year award category.

Somewhat surprisingly, G2 GTech, owners of St Minver, the bingo white label supplier, were not shortlisted for any bingo awards, although they did win Lottery Software Provider of the Year.

Speaking to yogonet.com CEO of NYX, Steffan Lindgren was highly enthusiastic about their deal with Cashball, one of the most innovative bingo network operators. He said, ”

“In addition to being a transaction, in financial terms, it is also an acknowledgement that we have chosen the right direction – that allows Nyx to create greater benefits and value for our customers. We will be able to deliver customer projects and value added services more rapidly than ever. We have a unique market position that will create a huge opportunity for existing customers and for any operator who wants to connect to the Cashball network.

“The Cashball services and the NYX Rapid Platform together create a framework for operators to be proactive against the rapidly changing market and add content that they know their players want.

Lindgren added “Bonnier Lottery sees the value in this approach and will continue be a close partner to Cashball and NYX Interactive. Their focus will remain on the parts of the business that are closer to Bonniers core values such as distribution, marketing channels, content and brands.”

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.”