It was a good night for the bingo industry with operators across the bingo spectrum putting up a surprisingly strong show in the keenly contested awards.

WooHoo Bingo, a fast-growing entrant to the free bingo market who only launched in October 2009, won Social Networking Operator of the Year for their integration of WooHoo Bingo into Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites. QuickThink Media won the award for Innovative Gaming Site of the Year for their Free Bingo Hunter website.

In the Bingo Operator of the Year category Tombola Bingo beat off 888 Bingo, Crown Bingo, Jackpot Joy, Costa Bingo, Mecca Bingo, Party Bingo and William Hill Bingo.

Phil Cronin, owner of Tombola, last night told Bingo News: “I am delighted to have won the award and it really is a reflection on all the hard work our whole team has put in.”

Ian Erskine, director of WooHoo Bingo, said: “Given we are such a young company we are delighted to have been named Social Networking Operator of the Year. It is a very competitive area to operate in and we want to thank all our users for making WooHoo Bingo such a successful site.”

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 best known NEOVIA product is NETELLER, an e-wallet service which allows bingo operators to provide their customers with a chance to begin playing their favourite bingo games immediately. It also allows the bingo sites to attract players who would have been previously excluded.

Bingo sites utilising this e-wallet service include Foxy Bingo, 888 Ladies, Wink Bingo and Posh Bingo.

NETELLER also reduces fraud as it performs electronic identity and anti-impersonation checks when a customer signs up to the service. This allows bingo sites greater freedom to allow new players to play instantly at their site.

Players using NEOVIA’s services have a quick and easy deposit and withdrawl option and are able spend their winnings instantly if they cash-out.

888 said that it had “revised its outlook for the remainder of the year and now expects profit to be significantly lower than previous market expectations”. Shares in the company plunged 20% in early trading, falling to 55.5 pence and valueing the company at less than £200 million.

But bingo, which includes wholly owned brands 888 Bingo, Wink Bingo and Posh Bingo and the software behind leading sites such as Foxy Bingo, Think Bingo, UK Bingo and Bingo Ireland, has managed to avoid what the company calls “a difficult trading environment”.

The company has been badly hit by a massive decline in the number of players on their online poker sites; real money ring game players dropped 18 per cent from January to May. The company said it believed the drop was a reflection of industry-wide declines in player numbers and was not particularly related to their poker brands.

It also said they expect that World Cup fever would contribute to fewer players on their poker network and an overall decline in online gambling during the soccer tournament. The weakness of the euro and sterling against the US dollar also contributed to a decline in company profitability.

The announcement will increase pressure on chief executive Gigi Levy who has seen shares in the Gibraltar-based group fall sharply since his appointment in January 2007. Analysts said that the company was now a ripe target for a takeover, citing Bwin and Ladbrokes as the most likely acquirers. Another leading analyst told Bingo News: “None of this should have been a big surprise to the market but we think Gigi is reducing expectations now so that the company is re-rated and the share price gains some upward momentum, rather than constantly drifting downward.”

888 said they believed that the online gaming industry would continue to consolidate and they were well placed financially to make acquisitions.

The viewer that complained felt that the £5million top prize being advertised was misleading as it “exaggerated the likely amount of winnings.” The odds of winning £5million were 1 in 25778699578994555700! The odds were so long for the jackpot as players would have to win the game by matching all 24 numbers on their card in 24 calls. This is clearly close to impossible and nothing like it has ever been seen in any form of bingo.

The ASA clearly agreed with the complainant as they decided to ban the advert on the grounds that it broke CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Code rules 5.1.1, 5.1.2 5.1.3 (Misleading advertising) and 5.2.3 (Misleading advertising – qualification).

The idea of the Golden Ticket game from 888 Ladies is that a player would win the top prize of £5million if they matched the first 24 numbers in 24 calls. After that the prize money drops for every additional number that is drawn. At 40 balls the prize money remains at a constant £50,000 regardless of the number of additional balls drawn out.

Click here to see the ASA adjudication on the 888 Ladies advert.

A stock exchange announcement said that “Q2 Trading to date has been disappointing in casino, poker and bingo…during the first 25 days of the quarter daily average revenue was approximately 13 per cent below the Q1 average.” Some of this can be attributed to seasonal slowdowns which are expected but analysts said the drop was likely to be down to poor operating performance as well.

888 has suffered from increased competition, both in its consumer facing brands which mainly consist of casino and poker, but also in its business to business offering in which both Playtech and Party Gaming have emerged as fierce competitors.

It is also clear that 888′s Dragonfish revenues are dominated by the Cashcade sites including Foxy Bingo and Cheeky Bingo; 888 recently signed an extension of their deal with Cashcade for software for the next two years.

Chief Executive Gigi Levy said: “While Q1 saw improvement on a year-on-year basis, B2C trading remains challenging across our product range, partly influenced by the seasonal pattern.

“Emerging Offering continues to out-perform the core products, and Dragonfish continues to win new deals, notably those in the newly regulated Italian market with bwin Italia and Gioco Digitale. However, revenue from new deals is yet to gain significant volume. We believe that the right steps are being taken to counter the current challenges we face, and the board remains confident in 888′s strategy.”

Shares in 888 fell to 80 pence in lunchtime trading on Wednesday, down from 98 pence prior to results being announced. 888 is now capitalised at £280 million. Playtech’s shares also fell in sympathy.

As well as the purchase of Wink Bingo, major successes for 888 include the new £5,000,000 Pot of Gold Bingo promotion and the prominently advertised £8,888,888 Pirates Millionaire free spin slot machine. Both of these promotions were launched along with UK television advertising campaigns.

The acquisition of Wink Bingo, completed on 31 December has helped to increase new customer sign up to 888′s offerings by 52 per cent in the first five weeks of 2010. Another figure which will please board members of 888 Group is that average daily operating income has seen a surge at the beginning of this year too with an increase of over 18 per cent compared to the final three months of 2009. The contribution to this from Wink Bingo and 888 Ladies has been highlighted in 888 Holdings’ financial figures for 2009 which were published today.

Part of 888 Group’s upturn in fortunes can be attributed to the intensive re-branding of the group’s core products. With a new look and feel and unified logos, 888′s sub brands can all link into one offering. The new sites were launched as 888casino, 888poker, 888sport and 888bingo. As a part of this re-branding process 888′s bingo offering was updated too and has 17 new quick play games and five new bingo jackpots.

One of 888′s partners, Kamay Holdings Ltd. has selected Dragonfish as its bingo partner to launch Silk Bingo. Silk Bingo will join the Dragonfish bingo network alongside more than 60 other bingo brands.

Gigi Levy, CEO of 888 said, “Our positive momentum continues into 2010 and, supported by our successful Wink acquisition and our various business initiatives, we expect to grow the business further during the current year.”

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1. Bingo companies will continue to be acquired/merge – One of the final stories of the year was 888′s acquisition of Daub Ltd, owner of Wink Bingo and Posh Bingo. Last summer Party Gaming acquired Cashcade, owner of Foxy Bingo, Think Bingo, Cheeky Bingo, Bingo Scotland and operator of Mirror Bingo. It is clear that major online gaming operators need to have bingo as part of their mix yet many do not have a presence in the market. Bwin, Sportingbet and the Mangas stable (BetClick etc) spring to mind as potential acquirers while potential targets include Crown Bingo (and their stable of valuable European bingo networks), Tombola and that old perennial target Gamesys/Jackpot Joy. Software providers with a bingo specialism will also prove interesting to companies like Playtech; Virtue Fusion and Cozy Games are the most likely to be acquired.

Where small operators start to struggle to run their operations we expect them to hand over their operations to the more experienced and better organised rivals, taking a profit share on the sites but leaving day-to-day operations to the experts.

2. New bingo sites will continue to launch – Although most people agree that the market is swamped in the UK, new sites continue to be launched. It is surprising how many software providers are willing to provide sites to partners with a very low marketing budget and no obvious strategy to enter a highly competitive market. While some launches such as Tea and Bingo may work because of their ownership of media sites such as Bingo Base, others look certain to be a waste of time and money for all involved. Expect

3. New markets will not be as successful as many people hope - Three years ago everyone expected Spain to be the next big thing in bingo. Ask anyone in that market how they are doing and most will answer that it has been a major disappointment. Poor credit card penetration, low broadband use among the target demographic, a lack of marketing outlets and an economy in a state of collapse are all cited as reasons. But perhaps the Spanish market is just very different from the UK? Sweden and Denmark seem to be doing better for some operators while a lot of bingo executives are keen on the chances of Italy and France, especially the former.

4. Tax is going to go up – Most governments around the world are up to their eyeballs in debt. The UK government has an interest bill in excess of £40 billion a year to pay off and while cuts in public service employment will help reduce costs somewhat the easiest way to pay the bill is to increase tax. And gambling companies are easy targets. Don’t be suprised if gaming companies who want to target the UK market are required to return to the UK and pay UK taxes.

5. Innovation is going to be key – Whether it is social networking, live bingo broadcasts or some other technology innovation, the leaders in bingo are going to embrace new technology solutions.  Very few bingo sites use Facebook or Twitter effectively and while this may currently be a niche area for gambling operators now, understanding technology is going to be key for the forseeable future. Software developers and bingo operators are going to have to work together to increase the community element of their sites, because of all gambling operations bingo is far the best suited to social networking.

It will be interesting to see which of these trends is the most dominant in 2010 – but it is clear that it will not be a year of standing still.

Foxy Bingo, Gala Bingo, Jackpot Joy, Wink Bingo, Skybet and 888 Ladies have all been shortlisted.

Gala Bingo, Codere, Cirsa Bingo and Mecca Bingo have been shortlisted for the 2010 Offline Bingo Operator of the Year Award. The title winner will a tough decision for judges. All four companies have struggled in the past year as online bingo erodes the real world bingo market and economic pressures have affected all four of the contenders. Gala Bingo won the 2009 award.

One leading rival bingo operator who failed to be shortlisted for the award said: “I’ve never even heard of these awards before. Gaming awards dinners seem to be cropping up every 10 days at the moment, mainly for the purpose of making the organisers lots of money.”

The disappointing results saw profits fall 43 per cent in the first half of 2009. Pre tax profits fell in the first half from $26 million to $15 million and revenues fell 20 per cent to $118 million.

Bingo was only mentioned in the context of an advertising campaign for 888Ladies, although no mention was made of how well the campaign had done. The signing of some new white label relationships was also mentioned.

888 owns bingo software company Globalcom, whose main client is Cashcade, owner of Foxy Bingo, Think Bingo, Bingo Scotland, Cheeky Bingo and Little Big Bingo. Cashcade was recently sold to Party Gaming, one of 888′s main rivals, and while Globalcom has the contract to run Cashcade’s bingo sites for just over the next two years it is not clear what will happen after that point.

Gigi Levy, chief executive, said that the downturn should be short lived and he expected the company to start growing again soon: “We have reason to believe that we will see the typical seasonal patterns return, namely a broadly flat third quarter and growth in the fourth quarter.”

The company said: “Sensitive to our customers needs, we have introduced various ‘recession friendly’ products and promotions which allow people to enjoy the same ‘entertainment value’ for less money, so while households’ disposable incomes are under pressure we have sought to remain the destination of choice for online gamers, even if they spend less. We have also introduced new social networking features which make the playing environment more customer friendly, such as chat rooms and daily blogs.”

In a separate move, 888 announced that it had been awareded a TRUSTe seal, which indicates the company follows best practice for privacy and security of players.

888.com’s Senior Vice President Regions, Itai Pazner said: “At 888.com we believe that entertainment and safety come hand in hand. Our player’s welfare has always, and always will, come first.”

On a conference call to discuss 888′s second quarter performance metrics, Levy was asked in detail about why he had not bought Cashcade, the parent company of Foxy Bingo, Think Bingo, Cheeky Bingo and Bingo Scotland. Cashcade was sold to Party Gaming last week for £94.9 million, surprising some observers who noted that Cashcade is one of 888′s main sources of software revenue.

He said: “At the end of the day everything has a price and a value for everyone and we got to the point where we weren’t sure it was the deal for us”. He confirmed that 888 had looked very closely at a deal.

In response to a question from Ivor Jones, analyst for Evolution Securities, he said he hoped that they would not lose the software contract with Cashcade when the agreement between the two companies ends in two years and eight months time.  “We have no reason to believe anyone wants to go away from that contract and we have a happy customer. We think we provide good service,” Levy said.

He said that 888′s Globalcom software had been one of the “cornerstones of success” for Cashcade and that if they continued to provide good service “I would like to think they will stay with us”.

Apart from Cashcade, Levy talked in detail about his plans for 888 in the US market. He warned that he thought it highly unlikely that non-American companies would be able to enter the US online gambling market in the event that legislation is passed to end the current ban. He suggested that current incumbents would be protected by the US’ decision to negotiate a WTO settlement in relation to gambling and that the only way that operators like 888 could benefit from a law change would either  be a software supplier to American companies or to be acquired by a US company.

Shares in PartyGaming rose sharply from 233 pence before the announcement to 250 pence at close of business, a 7.3 per cent rise.

City analysts said that the deal was good news for Party Gaming, who run Party Bingo, and bad for 888, who run 888Ladies as well as the Globalcom bingo network on which Cashcade’s bingo sites operate.

Broker Daniel Stewart welcomed the deal: “We view this deal as extremely attractive, providing an immediate boost to earnings and a market-leading position in online bingo. The acquisition is an ideal strategic fit for the group. We continue to expect further industry consolidation and robust trading from PartyGaming, with considerable potential positive catalysts from European and US regulatory issues.” Daniel Stewart reiterated their ‘buy’ status on PartyGaming shares and upped its target price form 339 pence to 366 pence.

Nick Batram of KBC Peel Hunt said: “The deal is negative for 888, as Cashcade is a major client for 888′s software and 888 potentially loses this relationship. However, we would regard any significant sell-off of 888 as a buying opportunity.” KBC expects Cashcade to increase PartyGaming’s earnings by 10 per cent in 2010.

Respect analyst Paul Leyland at Collins Stewart said the deal was good for PartyGaming but still reiterated a sell recommendation on the shares. In a note on the acquisition he wrote: ” There are two things we like about the deal. First, the acquisition should be earnings accretive this year, with profits acquired an EV/EBITDA multiple of 5.9x (falling to 5x in a full earn-out scenario) by a business trading at 10.6x (historic). Second, Cashcade generates the vast majority of its revenue from UK bingo and instant win (ie, cross-sell), which mitigates both European regulatory risk and exposure to the declining poker market (poker now represents only 42% of revised 2010E revenue).

“We see the Cashcade deal as buying earnings but confusing the B2B picture. On the whole sensible, but by no means justifying a premium rating. We remain sceptical on US re-entry (any form) and are still nervous on European regulation becoming increasingly protectionist. We reiterate SELL. ”

Leyland increased Party Gaming’s 2009E EBITDA and EPS forecasts by 14% and 6.2% respectively, factoring in five months of ownership and a 28% UK tax rate.

PartyGaming told analysts that it had both the financial and managerial capacity for further acquisitions in coming months; it is expected that they will take over one of the other major poker networks before the year end.

Read Bingo News’ analysis of Party Gaming’s purchase of Cashcade.

Levy told eGaming Review that although they have the bank facilities in place to fund an acquisition, other rival gaming companies were willing to pay a higher price for Cashcade.

It had been widely rumoured that 888 were unable to raise the necessary funds to complete the acquisition, but Levy strongly denied this was the case.

He said: “”We had bank financing for the acquisition, we just didn’t want to pay the price they were asking for. 888 is interested in Cashcade but there are other companies that are more interested in it and are willing to pay more for it.”

Party Gaming is expected to complete the acquistion of Cashcade by the end of July, although sources close to the negotiations confirmed that the due diligence and legal process is taking far longer than either side had expected. Cashcade’s 16% shareholder, Independent News and Media, is very keen to see a deal completed as rapidly as possible as they need the money to help pay down their debt obligations.

The deal will provide added focus on 888′s Globalcom division, who provides the software that powers all the Cashcade bingo sites. Cashcade’s sites provide more than 80 per cent of the liquidity to the Globalcom network. Levi told eGaming Review that his company had recently signed a two year software renewal with Cashcade but Bingo News has learned that not all parts of this deal are exclusive and that Cashcade would be able to launch new sites on other software providers’ platforms.

888′s Dragonfish division has recently been signing up new white label partners but any loss of liquidity from Globalcom sites would be a blow to them. Although they have a certain amount of liquidity from 888Ladies and Wink Bingo, any loss of Cashcade liquidity will weaken the overall network.

According to eGaming Review, Cashcade is in talks about a sale of the company at between £70m and £100m and the sale process is being handled by investment bank Jefferies. 888 was rumoured to be the most likely buyer as the bulk of their bingo revenues comes from the licensing fees paid by Cashcade to 888′s Globalcom software arm.

It has been widely rumoured that 888 would buy Cashcade in June, following an attempted acquisition in September 2008 which did not take place following the banking crisis.

But Gigi Levy, chief executive of 888, told eGaming Review that his company was not in “advanced talks” with Cashcade.

He said he was”interested in Cashcade and [is] involved as an interested party” but that he was looking at five other target acquisitions “because they are better value and or more value strategically”.

“Right now there are lots of opportunities out there because there are companies that are struggling or that can see it will be hard to maintain growth because they are too small,” he said.

Bingo News has learned that 888′s board has recently discussed a Cashcade purchase but 888′s bankers are not willing to lend to the company on attrative terms to meet the price demanded by Cashcade.

Cashcade run Foxy Bingo, Think Bingo, Cheeky Bingo, Bingo Scotland and Mirror Bingo, the latter on behalf of publisher Trinity Mirror.

They said they would however be launching a global bingo network in the coming months with the hoping of replicating their success in the UK in other territories.

Parent company 888.com lumps bingo performance together with their live casino, sportsbook and skill games products, which means there was no individual bingo performance. They did say that they have approximately 2,500 daily active players and over 30,000 real money players have ever played on 888 Ladies.

The company statement said: “Our Bingo offering has been significantly expanded and enhanced during the year. 888ladies, our new sub-brand targeted predominantly at a female audience was officially launched in February and backed by a high profile TV campaign featuring well-known celebrity comedian Vic Reeves. The launch was a huge success with customers and the industry alike, as was recognised when we were named Bingo Operator of the Year at the eGaming Awards.

“At the end of the year we announced the further expansion in the B2B side of our Bingo business, achieved by signing agreements to launch three new Bingo networks in addition to the seven we already operate. One of these in Spain will be, for the first time, a localised offering tailored specifically for local tastes and customers. In addition to operating our own brands we also host, on a full managed service basis, a number of skins and during the year agreements were signed to add another six new partners to the network. Bingo remains the fastest growing segment in the online gaming industry and we feel we are very well positioned in this market. The result of these activities was significant growth in the bingo business in 2008.

“In 2009 the Group will look to expand the bingo platform globally. We aim to establish a presence in Continental European countries by the end of the year. We will also be launching new networks and skins in additional languages and with localised multi currency support. Enhanced customer features will also ensure that the 888 bingo offering remains best of breed.”

888 owns Globalcom software that powers brands such as Foxy Bingo, Think Bingo, Cheeky Bingo and Game On Bingo. Much of the earnings of the combined business unit can be attributed to licence fees paid by these operators to Globalcom.

888.com shares fell 4% on the day following the announcement of the results, which analysts largely described as disappointing.

UKash take cash payments at over 275,000 outlets worldwide and players can then state where they would like their money to be uploaded to fund their online accounts.

UKash’s list of bingo sites suggests they have signed deals with St Minver, Virtue Fusion and Party Gaming.

Online bingo sites that accept UKash deposits:

Gone Bingo

Crown Bingo

Astro Bingo

JackpotCityBingo

Bingo Palace

Cyberbingo

Bingos.com

Bingozest

Baraka Bingo

Bucky Bingo

Take a Break Bingo

Bingo Day

Bingo Liner

Bingo Mania

Blackpool Bingo

Daily Express Bingo

Desperate Wives Bingo

Digital Bingo

Elgranbingo

Emmerdale Bingo

Ibingo

ITV Bingo

Magic FM Bingo

Mecca Bingo

Party Bingo

Purely Bingo

Rehabbingo

Ruby Bingo

BingoJoy

Bingo Loopy

Bingonanza

Butlins Bingo

Carlton Bingo

ChitChatBingo

Littlewoods Bingo

Yahoo Bingo

Winbonanza

321 Bingo

Capitol Bingo

Castle Bingo

Cheggers Bingo

Crazy Bingo

The only mention of bingo was positive, with chief executive Gigi Levy saying: “Trading in January 2009 has begun positively compared to December 2008, especially in Casino, Poker, Bingo and Live Dealer. Specifically, new customer recruitment increased more than 20%, Net Gaming Revenue by 10% and deposits by 4% in each case compared to December (which was the weakest month of the quarter).”

Rumours persist that 888.com are struggling with their sports betting operation, which is a while label of Blue Square (who run Mecca Bingo). 888.com do not separate out their bingo and sports betting revenues but many analysts believe the bulk of reported revenues for that operation comes from their ownership of bingo software Globalcom. The revenues are said to be licensing revenues paid by sites like Foxy Bingo, Think Bingo and Wink Bingo for use of the Globalcom bingo software.

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In the new site of the year award Bingo Playground took top spot, followed by Tombola Bingo and Wink Bingo.

The votes were something of a surprise as Platinum Play Bingo was a new site in 2008 and they must have worked very hard to get all their players and friends voting for them. By contrast Jackpot Joy is a huge site and has thousands of players every day. Crown Bingo, who finished third last year as well, continues to build on its reputation as being the friendliest online bingo site in the UK.

Top 98 bingo sites in the UK, according to Which Bingo:

1 Jackpot Joy
2 Platinum Play Bingo
3 Crown Bingo
4 Bingo Liner (UK)
5 Sun Bingo
6 Tombola Bingo
7 Bingo Playground
8 House Of Bingo
9 Gone Bingo UK
10 Foxy Bingo
11 Bingo MagiX
12 Free Bingo.co.uk
13 Rehab Bingo
14 Wink Bingo
15 Gala Bingo
16 Harry’s Bingo
17 All Bingo Club
18 Ladbrokes Bingo
19 Mecca Bingo
20 888Ladies
21 King Jackpot UK
22 Bingo.com
23 BingoSKY.co.uk
24 Paddy Power Bingo
25 Game Village
26 Think Bingo
27 Blackpool Club Bingo
28 Cyber Bingo
29 Bingo Cafe
30 Wow Bingo
31 Daily Express Bingo
32 Butlins Bingo
33 Bet365 Bingo
34 32Red Bingo
35 Betfred Bingo
36 Mirror Bingo
37 Bingo Zest
38 King.com
39 Jackpot City Bingo
40 Bingo Palace
41 Carlton Bingo
42 Bingo Scotland
43 Virgin Bingo
44 Sky Bingo
45 Best Bingo
46 Blackpool Bingo
47 321Bingo
48 Chit Chat Bingo
49 Moon Bingo
50 Think Bingo Cosy
51 Bingo Joy
52 William Hill Bingo
53 Daily Record Bingo
54 Dream Bingo
55 Astro Bingo UK
56 Bucky Bingo
57 Bingo Wags
58 Betsson
59 Love Bingo
60 Desperate Housewives Bingo
61 Bingo On The Box
62 Simply Bingo
63 ITV Bingo
64 Bingo Britain
65 We Luv Bingo
66 Bingos UK
67 Love it! Bingo
68 Winzingo
69 Kingsway Bingo
70 The Palaces Bingo
71 Yahoo Bingo
72 STV Bingo
73 BingoBallroom
74 UK-Bingo.net
75 Premier Bingo
76 Riva Bingo
77 BingoRooms
78 Loquax Bingo
79 Bingolore
80 BingoFriends
81 Jackpot Bingo
82 Bingo Jetset
83 Kiss My Bingo
84 News of the World Bingo
85 Yours Bingo
86 Fruit Bingo
87 BingoDay UK
88 BingoFun
89 Party Bingo
90 Riverbelle Bingo
91 BingoMania UK
92 Palace Bingo
93 abcBingo
94 Take A Break Bingo
95 BellaBingo
96 Bingo Chest
97 Closer Bingo
98 Purely Bingo

Which Bingo UK Site of the Year website

Gigi Levy, chief executive of 888, said that 888 would be launching the sites on behalf of third party operators. He also said that six white label partners would be joining the Globalcom network, strengthening the business they acquired in March 2007 for £$32.4 million.

Levy said: “These agreements and new initiatives represent acceleration in 888′s bingo activity, the fastest growing segment in the online gaming industry. They are set to make a significant addition to our bingo business not only in revenues but also in geographic presence. Furthermore, they represent further growth in our fast-expanding B2B business.”

888 currently runs seven bingo networks, most of which are owned or operated on behalf of Cashcade – Foxy Bingo, Mirror Bingo, Cashcade network, Think Bingo, Thinkbingocosy, Bingo Scotland and Wink Bingo. Only the last of these are not part of Cashcade following the acquisition of Think Bingo, Think Bingo Cosy (formerly Think Bingo Plus) and Bingo Scotland in 2007 from Dylan Schlosberg’s Herotech Ltd. 888 also runs 888Ladies, their own online bingo site, which launched in February 2008.

Bingo has been one of the core growth areas for 888 in recent quarters, providing $12 million of revenues in the third quarter. 888 does not split out its revenues by site but it is believed the vast majority of these revenues come from licensing fees paid by the Cashcade group of sites.

It is widely known within the bingo industry that 888 abandoned a close to £100 million takeover of Cashcade in September. The deal, which was to be backed by Barclays, was said to have within days of being agreed. Bingo News understands that negotiations stalled over the willingness of 888′s main shareholders to see their stakes in the business diluted and the availability of funding at a suitable interest rate thanks to the credit crunch.

That’s because on every day this month before Christmas, 888Ladies are giving away some amazing prizes, including a car on Christmas Eve! That would be an exceptional Crimbo present for anybody!

Here are the top prizes up for grabs this advent with 888Ladies:

• Mazda Car
• 42″ TV
• Laptop
• Sat Nav
• Sony Camcorder
• Fuji Camera
• Nintendo Wii Fit
• Sony PSP
• Apple iPhone
• Hair Straighteners

To give yourself a chance at one of these top prizes all you have to do is play bingo at 888Ladies! Daily Prize games take place every night at 10pm until December 23rd, in which you need to buy at least three 50p cards. The game that we’re looking forward to the most is the Big Prize contest, where a new Mazda 2.0 is in play. It takes place at 10pm on Christmas Eve, and you’ll need to buy at least five £1 cards.

The CGTV cable channel will allow Canadian players to play free games, including bingo, blackjack, video poker, slot machines and skill games. They will be able to play at www.cgtvcanada.com.

Allan Weinrib, Senior Director for CGTV Canada, said: “With the addition of Parlay’s gaming suite to CGTV Canada’s website, our viewers now have the opportunity to interact with the CGTV brand online. Since we are the first and only television network in North America to celebrate the casino and gaming lifestyle, it seemed like a natural fit to partner with Parlay to offer free online gaming content.”

CGTV Canada said it plans to promote the online games through advertising on its television network and in print campaigns.

“Our free-play gaming solution allows web operators like CGTV Canada a hassle-free opportunity to reach new audiences with interactive online content,” said Perry Malone, CTO for Parlay Entertainment. “Operators benefit by exposing players to branded messages, offers and other advertising within the game, while at the same time building their marketing database through site registration.”

Chief executive Gigi Levy said the global economic slowdown and adverse US dollar currency fluctuations contributed to a fall in monthly revenues between August and September.

“The majority of the change we’ve seen in customer performance is exchange-rate driven,” Levy told Bloomberg News. “We haven’t seen a significant change [in customer behavior]“, he said, claiming that online gambling was proving more resilient than wagering at betting shops and casinos.

Bingo and sports betting contributed $12 million in sales in the third quarter; 888.com provides gaming services to a number of bingo operators including Foxy Bingo, Think Bingo, Wink Bingo and Bingo Scotland through their Globalcom platform. It is not known how much 888 Ladies contributes to the overall sales figure.

October’s special promotion has a Halloween edge to it – 888ladies are giving away a pair of tickets to see the award-winning ‘Wicked” at the Apollo Victoria Theatre, London. Included in the deal is supper and a night’s accommodation in a top London hotel.

Entering the draw couldn’t be easier, and the more you play at 88ladies, the greater your chance of winning the prize! You will automatically receive a single ticket for every 10p wagered on instant games, for every 10p wagered on 90-ball bingo and a whopping 10 tickets for playing bingo on the 75-ball ‘ghost’ pattern!

Three prizes are up for grabs, so keep playing to ensure you have a chance of winning. Keeping with the spirit of Halloween, you’ll get 2000 loyalty points if you send in a picture of yourself in a scary costume or even a picture of a pumpkin carving. The coolest pic will net a staggering 20,000 points!