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.

Throughout the World Cup, Ladbrokes Bingo offered customers the chance to play in one giant game of bingo using the goals scored during the tournament as the bingo numbers. There was £15,000 up for grabs in total; £7,000 for the full house prize, £5,000 for 2 lines and £3,000 for the 1 line prize.

‘Maceybeau’ won £3,000 for 1 line called on ‘cup of tea’ number 3 and ‘tbhoy83’ won £5,000 on 2 lines called on ball number 15. Lucky ‘kinghorse’ won the full house prize with ‘two fat ladies’ 88!

User ‘kinghorse’ could not believe her luck when she won the £7,000 jackpot bringing Ladbrokes Bingo’s World Cup promotion to an end. She said “It was a most unexpected surprise having never won anything over £120 before, and that was on Ladbrokes Bingo! After years of living to a budget we can now pay off most of our bills and do some redecorating. We may even be able to go on a holiday!”

Rupert Thacker, Ladbrokes Head of Marketing for Bingo said, “We were starting to wonder if anyone would ever scoop the jackpot and bring this promotion to an end! Of course, there is always a winner in Bingo and we are delighted to have such a worthy one. It has been a staggering year at Ladbrokes Bingo as we have had more big winners than ever before. We are delighted for “kinghorse” and looking forward making even more winners at Ladbrokes Bingo.”

With more fantastic games and big winners than ever before, there’s never been a better time to discover Ladbrokes Bingo.

He will leave his job on October 1 and will be replaced in the short term by the company’s executive chairman, Neil Goulden, who was previously chief executive between 2004 and 2008. Harrison has been at Gala since 2004 and was made chief executive in October 2008.

Harrison said: “After six years with Gala Coral it is time to seek fresh challenges. I wish Neil and the rest of the team all the best as they take the company forward to the next phase in its development and ensure that it remains at the forefront of the sector.”

Goulden praised his successor, saying: “Dominic has played a big role in the development of the group over the last six years and we are grateful for his contribution. He leaves with our thanks and best wishes for the future”.

Harrison’s departure comes shortly after Gala Coral completed a major debt restructuring. As part of the new ownership structure, under the control of private equity owners Apollo, Cerberus and Goldman Sachs, the management team were in the process of renegotiating their contracts.

One person close to the company told Bingo News: “The debt restructuring has been incredibly draining and has gone on for many, many months. There was a natural break and given he is only in his mid 40s Dominic probably felt there were some other opportunities available to him. I don’t think the new owners really understand the bingo business yet and they are definitely there as financial players rather than operators, so it makes sense for someone else to try and turn it round.”

Over 200 people protested outside the Alabama Supreme Court on Friday. The majority of the protestors came from Greenetrack bingo hall, which has recently had all its machines seized by Governor Bob Riley’s anti-gambling task force. Representatives from other Alabama bingo facilities came to protest alongside their Greenetrack colleagues.

The protest group have the support of some important people in Alabama, including state senator Bobby Singleton, who came to the protest representing Greenetrack. He said that the bingo hall is seeking legal advice on how to pursue the matter further.

He told reporters from WAFF48 Newsthat, “We’re now waiting on the supreme court justices to appoint a judge to hear that case, and we think that once they hear that case, based on the Greenetrack amendment saying that they could play electronic bingo, that they will find out that we are legal and that it is a legal establishment.”

Governor Riley maintains that electronic bingo machines are are illegal slot machines and says that his task force are only upholding state law when they seize machines from bingo halls.

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.”

With over 450,000 players registering on the site since 1996, this amazing achievement is testament to Cyber Bingo’s ability to still compete in a highly condensed market and retain customers for such a long time. The billionth game is an incredible milestone and Cyber Bingo should be applauded for reaching it

Over the course of the past fourteen years and billion games Cyber Bingo’s achievements equate to them giving away a total prize pot of more than £350,000,000 since the site began.

Daniel Illanes, head of marketing for the site told Online Gambling Magazine of the sense of achievement by Cyber Bingo , he said, “We are delighted that CyberBingo is continuing to deliver fun for its customers. One billion games of bingo really is a huge milestone for any business and the fact that it’s our 14th birthday too is doubly fantastic – we hope can celebrate 10 billion games in another 10 year’s time!”

During the years since it began, CyberBingo has grown into one of the internet’s largest bingo halls, winning several awards over the years – most recently in 2008 when it scooped a Gambling Readers’ Choice award for top online bingo site.

Pop’s Bingo World was given approval to open a bingo hall on Willow Pass Road, Concord, California in April 2010. However, the Concord Blue Devils bingo hall, a local rival, went to the city’s Planning Commission to lodge an official appeal against the planning approval.

Thanks to this second appeal the final decision has been further delayed and will now be made on 13th July by the City Council. The Blue Devils appeal asks that the Planning Commission undertake a full environmental study on how the new bingo hall would affect parking, traffic, crime and the provision of city services before issuing an approval.

The owners of the prospective Pop’s Bingo World argue that the building was previously used as a gym for many years, so there is plenty of evidence as to the environmental impact of using the site.

Bingo is popular in California and there are nearly 200 bingo halls in operation in the state.

All bingo halls in California must operate to raise money for charity, although bingo hall operators are allowed to be for-profit organisations which hire out their equipment and hall to charities who want to operate bingo nights.

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

Quarter-on-quarter player numbers in poker plunged nearly 9 per cent but the company’s performance exceeded market expectations and their shares were up 8 pence at 229 pence in early trading. Revenues from poker for the second quarter were expected to be down between 11 and 13 per cent in euros, hit by falling player numbers and the World Cup.

Total revenues were up 28 per cent on the same period last year, helped by strong growth in casino products and the acquisition of Cashcade, the  group behind Foxy Bingo and Cheeky Bingo, and the World Poker Tour. Party Gaming’s revenue reporting has switched from dollars to euros, making exact like-for-like comparisons difficult. The company said it believed that in US dollar terms the revenues would have been up 17 per cent on an annual basis.

Jim Ryan, Chief Executive Officer of Party Gaming, said: “We are pleased with the relatively robust performance of our business compared to many other consumer facing businesses in what remains a challenging economic environment. Overall the Group has performed in-line with expectations even though the adverse impact of the World Cup on our non-sports betting verticals was slightly greater than expected.

“We have made great progress in securing partners for our poker network in France with PMU, AB Groupe and Aviation Club de France already in place. We expect to add another significant partner to our French network in the near future. The early signs from this important new market are encouraging.

“The World Poker Tour is performing in-line with our expectations and we believe that this asset, combined with the strength of the PartyPoker brand and the resolution of our US legacy issues ensures that we are well-positioned should online gaming become regulated in the US. In this respect, discussions are progressing well with a number of potential US-based gaming partners.

“Whilst progress on consolidating the online gaming industry has been slower than expected, we remain committed to playing an active role and are continuing to pursue opportunities with a number of parties.

“Despite the challenges presented by the prevailing macroeconomic and competitive environments we are on track with the execution of our stated strategy. As governments around the world look to adopt regulatory frameworks, given the strength of our brands, our scale, excellent B2C and B2B products, we remain confident about the Group’s prospects.”

Currently online bingo sites in Ireland such as Bingo.ie, Paddy Power Bingo and Bingo Ireland operate in a grey area because legislation on gambling in Ireland was written well before the advent of the Internet. Most gaming companies taking bingo bets from Irish citizens have gaming licences in places such as Alderney, Isle of Man and Gibraltar.

In a statement the Irish Minister for Justice and Law Reform said he expected legislaton to be brought forward shortly following consultation with gambling industry groups about reform of Ireland’s antiquated gambling laws.

He told the Irish Parliament: “The Deputy will be aware from my replies to previous Questions that the consultation phase of the major review of gambling, initiated by me, has drawn to a close. I was pleased that over 70 organisations and groups considered the topic important enough to submit written submissions, and that many followed up those submissions with face-to-face meetings with the review team.

“I have also indicated that I hope to be in a position to seek Government approval of policy proposals for a new gambling architecture in the State, following an evaluation of the material received. The policy proposals, which I would intend to publish, will be based on an examination of the submissions received, as well as the recommendations contained in the Report of the Casino Committee, Regulating Gaming in Ireland, and, of course, consideration of modern gambling regulation. The review team is currently engaged in developing the appropriate proposals for consideration.

“Any new policy aimed at modernising our gambling code must take account of the challenges and threats, but also opportunities, presented by new technologies, particularly the internet. In addition, policy must also be premised on the three important considerations which are the hallmark of most well-regulated gambling codes.

“These are that young people and the vulnerable are protected; that gambling should in all respects be fairly and openly conducted and that gambling is kept free of crime.

“Following the settling of policy in relation to a new gambling architecture for the State, the House can expect the publication of legislative proposals in the normal course. As this will be the first comprehensive review of our gambling law, effectively since the enactment of the Gaming and Lotteries Act 1956, it would be reasonable to expect that any new legislation would be complex and comprehensive.”

Angry protestors  blocked the entrance to the Greenetrack bingo facility for 12 hours before being arrested. They were trying to prevent state troopers from carrying out the Alabama governor’s orders to seize 800 electronic bingo machines.

The closure of Greenetrack will see some 400 employees put out of work in a part of the state where unemployment is already hig.

Democratic state Senator Bobby Singleton of Greensboro was one of the 16 arrested and protestors included the Democratic nominee for governor. All 16 were released on a $1,000 bond.

The decision to close Greenetrack has become a huge political issue in Alabama and also has racial undertones, with black legislators identifying it is a major issue which affects a predominately black workforce.

Bob Riley, Alabama’s Republican Governor,  has stated that he believes the electronic bingo machines are in fact illegal slot machines and contravene state laws on gambling. He has been backed strongly by gambling task force commander John Tyson Jr who has helped close more than 20 bingo halls in the past two months. Only Victoryland in Macon County, which has more than 6,000 electronic bingo machines, remains open alongside the three state-endorsed Indian casinos in Alabama.

There are 34 charity bingo halls in Alabama, which are not offering electronic bingo and purely run bingo games for the purposes of raising money for local charities, which is permitted under Alabama state law.

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.”

Margaret Craig, 63, was kicked in the face by the robber who snatched her handbag, which had a total of £200 inside. She was taken to hospital following the attack.

Mrs Craig told the Daily Record: “I was at the bingo and decided to walk home because it was such a nice night.

I was going on to Portal Terrace when I heard someone running behind me. When I turned round, this guy started pulling my bag and said, ‘Give me it.’

“I swore at him and said no but he kept pulling and pulling and we struggled. I landed on the grass verge. That’s when he kicked me in the face.

“When he kicked me a second time, the strap broke and he ran away. I screamed and screamed. A guy came down and helped me.”

Police constable Duncan MacKintosh said: “This was a terrible attack on a lone woman. We are determined to find the person who was responsible.”

Aberdeen has three bingo clubs, a Riva Bingo, a Mecca Bingo and a Gala Bingo.

Pop’s Bingo World was granted approval to open a bingo hall on Willow Pass Road, Concord, in April 2010 but a rival bingo hall, the Concord Blue Devils bingo hall, appealed against the approval through the city’s Planning Commission.

The Planning Commission approved the Pop’s application and the Blue Devils appealed again, meaning that the decision will now be made by the City Council on 13 July.

Their appeal claims that the city must not issue an approval without a full environmental study on how the new bingo hall would affect traffic, parking, crime and the provision of city services.

However the owners contend that because the building that the bingo hall uses was a gym for many years there is plenty of evidence of the environmental impact of using the site.

Pop’s Bingo World is the second bingo hall with that name; the other operates as a bingo hall in Richmond, Virginia. There are 197 bingo halls in California, all of which must operate to raise funds for charity, although bingo hall owners can be for-profit organisations and hire out their space and equipment to charities who want to operate bingo nights.

BingoAngels offers both 75 ball and 90 ball bingo all day every day alongside a wide selection of slots and other exciting games with great chances of winning. There is also a free bingo room that is open 24/7 for those more interested in the social aspects of the game.

All those who would like to sign up and make a deposit will receive a heavenly 300% deposit bonus when they join the angels, while any further deposits over $75 will get an additional 200% deposit bonus. For each deposit a player makes at BingoAngels they are rewarded with an extra 10% rebate as well to make the playing last longer.

The site offers standard bingo tickets at $0.25 per card, as well as various special prices for bundles of cards, such as the 18 tickets for $3 bundle, a long standing favorite way to purchase tickets of many a big time bingo player. Typically for a bingo room, BingoAngels offers an entertainment platform focusing on gambling and games, with guaranteed prizes and jackpots on a daily basis.

Take a look at the Bingo Schedule page for all the Bonuses and Promotions BingoAngels has on offer each day of the week as well as the Tournaments tab to find out about special events on offer. In order to claim your $15 for free, all you have to do is sign up now at BingoAngels. Join the fun and meet all the other bingo angels at the heavenly new BingoAngels!

BingoAngels encourages feedback on their new site via their social media channels; The BingoAngels’ Blog, their Facebook profile or their Twitter account.

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.

The smoking ban is due to be enacted on July 1, 2010 and bingo halls claim they are likely to be driven out of business if their clients are not allowed to smoke.

Shawnee County District Judge Franklin Theis said he would aim to decide on whether an injuction could be issued by midnight on Wednesday evening.

The injunction has been sought by bingo hall and bar owners who say that the smoking ban is unfair because some private clubs and state-run casino are exempt from the new rules.

Bingo halls that have joined force with bar owners to try and get an injunction include Bingo Royale in Haysville and the Bingo Palace halls in Wichita.

Kansas Assistant Attorney General Tim Reimann said there was no evidence the businesses would suffer from a smoking ban and that bingo clubs and casinos had no fundamental right to offer smoking.

There are currently 171 bingo clubs in Kansas, all of which are run for charitable purposes.

The bill proposed that online poker would be allowed in California with up to 20 per cent of the profits going to the state. Bill sponsor Roderick Wright cancelled the vote in the face of vehement opposition from Indian tribes with gaming interests in the state and California’s card clubs.

Wright, a California Democrat Senator for Inglewood,  said he would continue to look for ways to legalize poker in California in order to help boost the state’s empty coffers. It is widely thought that legalizing poker would be a gateway to allowing other online gambling across the USA with bingo being one of the most attractive games to allow, both because it is widely ingrained in American culture but also because of the low levels of problem gambling associated with the game.

Ironically it is the Indian casino and card clubs in California that first strongly supported the idea of online poker in the state. But when it became clear that Wright’s bill would allow Nevada companies and foreign poker operators to bid for the licence to run online poker, they switched to opposing the bill. One critic told Bingo News: “As soon as the Indian casinos and card clubs realized they may not be the beneficiaries of this bill, they immediately changed their minds. If online poker is legalized and they are not running it then there is likely to be a major negative impact on their land-based businesses.”

The Morongo Band of Mission Indians, Commerce Casino and Hollywood Park Casino were among those who were most vocal in their opposition to the bill. All agreed however that online poker in California was desirable and that they expected it to be legalized within the next three years.

Check out California’s bingo halls at California Bingo.

NetPlay TV has Bingo Stars and Challenge Jackpot programming on ITV, Virgin 1 and STV. They launched Bingo Stars on 27 May and recently introduced a way of playing the game – a type of quick play keno – by mobile phone.

The company said that takeup of the mobile gambling product had been lower than expected. In a trading statement they said: ” It is becoming clear that we need to be very flexible in our product outputs and, on 21 June, we altered our format and scheduling to trial an alternative format in our earlier segment. This product is a more akin to our proven interactive gaming formats.

“We have gained a vast amount of knowledge from our current successful and profitable media partnerships and we are using this knowledge to the full, both in terms of potential cost savings and customer playing habits. Early signs are more encouraging with customers depositing funds during the show as well as to the website the following day.”

But the company warned that revenues would take longer to collect because players would lose money over a greater time period: “The move from an instant play model to a more traditional game play, as well as increased first half costs, will have a material impact on our short term profit performance. As a result the Directors believe this will have a significant impact on the full year market expectations. The initial costs associated with producing and trialling new gaming formats are high, although as we amend the model to be more inline with our proven formats we are able to reduce costs significantly with immediate effect.

“The focus on developing new formats, moving technical platforms, migration offshore and improving our core offerings has been a major upheaval for the business; as a result costs have increased substantially in the short term. In altering the current format and scheduling as well driving more synergies between our brands we are able to strip costs out from the business with immediate effect, thus protecting cash and the Company’s balance sheet.

NetPlay TV has several online bingo brands, including Bingos.com, Bingos.co.uk, Bingo Friends and El Bingo.

It has been strongly rumoured that Party Gaming, owners of Party Bingo, Foxy Bingo and Cheeky Bingo, would merge with bwin to create the largest online gambling group in the world.

But Hannes Androsch, bwin’s largest single shareholder and chairman of the company’s supervisory board, had said that talks to merge the two companies have been abandoned. “In the end, the talks have not led to the desired outcome,” he told Austria’s Trend magazine.

Party Gaming bought Cashcade, the UK’s bingo bingo company, last July and the bingo industry, along with all online gambling companies, is expected to see plenty of mergers and acquisitions as companies build scale in the face of increased regulatory requirements across all European gambling markets.

Bwin, which has almost no presence in the bingo market, said they were in talks with a ‘competent’ American company who aim to take a 11 per cent stake in the online gambling company. The San Francisco-based investor is said to have been chosen for strategic reasons to help bwin enter the US market when it opens up for online gambling.

The panel had recommended that online bingo, poker and casino games should be legal for Australians but the communications minister said he believed that the likely rise in problem gambling outweighed any potential benefits of allowing online gambling.

Australia has one of the highest rates of problem gambling but most gambling experts believe this is related to the high incident of slot machines, known as ‘pokies’, and the mixing of gambling and alcohol in Australian bars. There are an estimated 160,000 problem gamblers in Australia.

The 2001 Interactive Gambling Act banned online gambling on bingo, poker and casino products but many Australians have simply chosen to play with unlicensed sites, often because they did not know the sites were not legal.

Stephen Conroy, the communications minister, and Jenny Macklin, the families minister, gave separate interviews saying the government would ignore the advice of the gambling policy advisory board, an independent body who suggested the tax and player protection benefits of allowing online gambling would be worthwhile.

Conroy said that they would try and crack down on online operators targetting Australians from overseas and would talk to American legislators about how they had passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act and their attempts to enforce what is widely seen as a terribly drafted piece of legislation.

Several British companies have been keen to acquire Australian gambling licences in anticipation of changes in the laws on online betting. William Hill were widely expected to buy Centrebet while Paddy Power recently bought Sportbet and Sportingbet have long had a sports betting presence in the country.

It is understood that Bingo 777 and Bingo Fantasy are set to play their final bingo games at the end of this month. Unfortunately, neither of these sites are supported by sites on the same network, nor do they have enough money to start a successful advertising campaign.

The online bingo industry is changing, with even the biggest players in the game having to join forces with each other to maintain their success. With software providers such as Playtech and Virtue Fusion amalgamating it is clear that even the biggest stars in the industry are finding times tough.

The company that owns the two sites in question specializes in running online casino sites and seem to be streamlining their priorities to keep their more profitable interests.

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.”

The player, nicknamed ‘thebrownbear’, could not believe her luck when she scooped the progressive jackpot on the Snow Queen mini-game. She said, “When I found out it was madness, it just didn’t sink in. I have no idea what to do with the money, but I think some will go on a holiday!”

This is the latest in a string of big wins at Ladbrokes Bingo, many of which have come from the mini-games progressive jackpot that can be played during and between bingo games.

Rupert Thacker, Ladbrokes Head of Marketing for Games and Bingo said, “We are over the moon for our customer. The mini-games are designed to bring even more excitement to Ladbrokes Bingo – they have become so popular with our customers that they now create as many winners as the traditional bingo games. We hope ‘ thebrownbear’ has a fantastic holiday.”