Malaysian company Genting International, a company recently linked with takeover speculation of major land and online bingo operator the Rank Group has directly entered the online gaming sector with the launch of its Playtech powered CircusCasino and Circus Poker.
The company plans to use its new operations as a testing ground for potential future launches into the Asian market.  Genting is expected to promote its new online operations via its existing interests in land casinos.

The new gaming sites do not offer comprehensive bingo online games options and this thought by online bingo games industry observers to reflect the small exposure bingo online has in the Asian markets.

Analysts at US banking heavyweight JP Morgan are predicting tougher times ahead for the land gambling industry in Las Vegas with the second half of 2008 shaping up to be the worst period for the industry since 2001.

Analysis provides more evidence for online bingo industry observers that land gambling’s loss is the online bingo games sector’s gain.  With higher petrol prices forcing players to curtail driving and airfares, many more gamblers are turning to the Internet for their entertainment.

JPMorgan analyst Joseph Greff has cut his earnings estimates for Las Vegas casino company Sands saying  “lackluster spend per visitor and stunted visitation.”  He further stated that “We expect this summer to be one of the worst on record, with meaningfully discounted room rates and special discounted package deals.”

Bingo online has enjoyed solid growth over the years and contrasts strongly with its land bingo cousins which have been beset in the UK by one crisis after another affecting player numbers and spending, including a nation-wide smoking ban and a double taxation policy.

Today we investigate Bingo Fabulous. This Bingo Room is part of the Globalcom Bingo Network and that means that there is loads of players and good Jackpots to be won at any time – is that why they call it Fabulous?

The Sign Up and redeposit bonuses are the usual 100% and 50% bonuses but where Bingo Fabulous excels is in the weekly and monthly bingo promotions.

Bingo Fabulous Monthly Promotions

The latest promotion is a Bingo Cruise around the Caribbean for 8 nights and fantastic prizes like Buy Ins for Championship Bingo with prizes of $80k to play for. You also get World Championship Bingo prizes and all entertainment and facilities are free to use.

Check out a full details of the Bingo Cruise

With prizes like this on offer and a good selection of Bingo Games and Slot games we think that this room has been aptly names .Go check out Bingo Fabulous today.

Wink Bingo remains the darling of Eyes Down Bingo for its monthly promotions - the latest one is Wink and the City which is sure to be a hit with the Ladies but the main reason for this post is the Bingo rooms Loyalty program .

Depsite Wink Bingos popularity with online bingo players i do think that this portion of the site remains as one of the most unreported parts of this fantastic bingo room. I think that it deserves to be reported on in Capital Letters as this is one of the best no nonsense Bingo Loyalty programs around.

Every single week Wink Bingo gives you 10% cashback - they determine the 10% cashback on play from the previous Saturday to the Sunday . The cashback is then put into your account on a Tuesday . The advantage of this is that you dont have to wait for the end of the month to go into the chat rooms and have a go at one of the Super Jackpots - you can do that with the money that you get back .

Apart from the weekly 10% Cashback offer there is a super Refer a Friend progam that will reward you with 15000 points for refering a friend that makes a deposit at Wink Bingo .

There are some Fantastic promotions happening there at the moment with a Sex and the City Promotion and a Love Boat promotion so go and check this place out .

Written for Eyes Down Bingo by Anthea - Your Bingo UK blog

Gala Bingo has launched its own Bingo TV show via the Internet allowing bingo players the chance to play the game without having to go through Sky TV.The move allows players to view the popular show via a live Internet stream while manually dab their own tickets during play sessions.
The launch of the new service brings together the entertainment of TV Bingo with an online bingo-style atmosphere and has the added advantage of accommodating land bingo fans with traditional real cards and dabbing.
Online bingo players can get involved by logging onto GalaBingo.com between 6pm and 2am every night where they then can navigate to the site’s TV Bingo Club.

For the online gambling industry and online bingo games operators alike it’s been a bad day at the office with news that US Congressman Barney Frank’s attempt to halt the implementation of UIGEA regulations has failed.

The delayed vote on Frank’s HR5767 bill failed due to a tied 32-32 vote before the Financial Services Committee.

The result is that US banks face having to become regulatory enforcers of UIGEA’s attempt to restrict financial transactions between US gamblers and non-US online gaming companies. UIGEA has been criticized as both unworkable and a drain on US banks’ resources at a time when US banks are under severe pressure due to the current credit crunch.

Online bingo industry observers had hope HR5767 would be successful and possibly lead towards a re-opening of the US gambling market to non-US online bingo halls. The failure of the bill to pass has dealt a blow to such hopes, though bingo online operators have successfully explored other markets since the inception of UIGEA in late 2006.

Online bingo games software developer Parlay Entertainment has seen its new Parlay 4 and BingoBets software pick up the top prizes during the Bingo Summit last week.

Parlay’s online bingo software Parlay 4 scooped Best Online Bingo Software 2008, while its patent-pending side game BingoBets grabbed Best Online Bingo Innovation 2008.

“We are very pleased to have won these two major bingo awards. On behalf of our entire development and support team, I’d like to thank the online bingo industry for this recognition of excellence,” said Perry Malone, Chief Technology Officer for Parlay Entertainment.  “We’re especially proud because these awards were chosen by our industry peers who recognise that Parlay continues to trail blaze in online bingo software innovation.  It’s a fantastic achievement and motivates us that much more to keep pushing the leading edge”.

Media reports say UK gambling company Rank Group may be the subject of renewed takeover attempts with the news that Malaysian investment compnay Guoco Pty Ltd. has increased its stake from 13.09% to 14.15%.

The UK land and online bingo operator has often been subject to rumour of a possible takeover since announcing a profit warning last September.

In a previous development, Genting Berhad, also of Malaysia had to deny speculation it was planning a $959 million bid for Rank.

The Rank Group has suffered a poor run of form recently in its land bingo operations due largely to the implementation of a nation-wide smoking ban. The company is best known in the free online bingo industry for it’s Mecca Bingo brand which operates a popular online bingo hall under the same name.

The UK government’s sports minister Gerry Sutcliff has announced that the amount of £500 jackpot slot machines that will be allowed to be place in any one bingo hall will increase from four to eight.

Addressing the UK’s House of Commons, Sutcliffe claimed the increase is a one-off measure aimed at helping the bingo industry which has been in pretty dire straights recently.

‘Bingo clubs play a crucial role in many communities and we want to see that continue,’ said Sutcliffe.  ‘For some people, especially older and retired women, bingo is their main leisure pursuit. It is therefore of great concern that nearly 100 bingo clubs have closed in the last four years.’

The Department for Culture Media and Sport issued a statement saying it will launch a consultation on the proposal covering England, Scotland and Wales.

EUBINGO has made Javier Franch Cardona of Spain its new president for the next two years. The organization, which is made up of a number of European bingo associations, sees outgoing president, Sir Peter Fry of the UK Bingo Association move to vice president and Italo Marcotti of Italy take on the secretarial duties.

The scheduled changes were made at EUBINGO’s Annual General Meeting in Brussels. The meeting also approved a common understanding regards online gambling and a code of conduct for promoting responsible gambling.

Active since 2006, EUBINGO was formed to represent the interests of various national bingo associations at governmental institutions of Europe. Members include the Bingo Association of Great Britain, the Spanish Confederation of Organizations of Bingo Games Managers, the Italian Federbingo and the Star Bingo Group of Ireland.