The Bingo World Championship 2007

The Bingo World Championship 2007 event took place on 15 th April, 2007. Sponsored for the 6th consecutive year by Bingo Entertainment NV, this is one of the most highly anticipated events in online bingo. Only matched by the Bingo Cruise annual event, of which Bingo Entertainment are platinum sponsors.

At 8pm EST, 120 online bingo players from all areas of the world, who had won qualifying heats on the Bingo Entertainment sites, gathered for this great event. CM Michelle was kept busy in chat with the players, answering any questions they had, and scattering lucky dust. There was a flurry of gl’s sent over chat (gl means good luck), as the major event of the year got under way.

Consisting of 23 bingo games, all 120 players would participate in each game, there would be no eliminations. The first 10 games had a prize of $100, and the winner would be the first to get any straight line. The next 5 games had a prize of $200, again for any straight line.

Then it was time for players favourite, the blackout! 4 games for $300, then it goes up to $400 for the next two games. The penultimate game had a prize of $1000, and then the grand final held a prize of $5000.

So how did the players fare? Game one for $100 was won by Trudy_bm. The next 4 games saw players Hogge, Mini36, Laluna_mq, and Nazanin, each take $100 prize. Reba2706 and Cilla_pr hit a straight line on the very same number in game 6, so the prize is split. The chat was still buzzing, and there was an endless stream of wtg’s whizzing up the chat screen (wtg means way to go), and more lucky dust from CM Michelle.

Game 7 went to Celebrian, but then in game 8 players Eje428 and bubies got a straight line on the same number, another shared prize, but there are no bad feelings in this game, everyone is friendly and happy for other’s wins.

Games 9 to 15 were won by bingodilla, jewel2_bm, hogge, ornurse_bm, blaze_ms, bibber_em, and prubrat.

By now the excitement is at fever pitch. Its time for blackouts! Winning $300 on the next games were Trudy_bm the winner of the first game, bingodilla who won game 9, slyna_ms, and then its bingo bingo bingo bingo as 4 players get a blackout on the same number. Sugarnet, Reba, Bingomasa, and jewel2_bm all split the prize, and wtg!

Its not only the excitement that is rising, the prizes are too, the next 2 games are for $400! Prubrat takes the first, and then shakev and sterling split the next. Now the penultimate game for $1000. Sayrd gets the blackout, but in more ways then one, as her electricity fails during a storm, at this precise moment she does not see the wtg’s from the other players, nor does she know that she has just won $1000, but she’ll be back.

The final, 120 players, all hoping to get that grand prize of $5000, as well as the esteem of becoming the Bingo World Champion 2007. More lucky dust from CM Michelle, gl’s flying off the screen, could this be the cause of Sayrd’s storm, and resulting power failure?!

As all eyes are on the final game, some players clutching on to lucky mascots, others being egged on by family, the final ball is called, and 2 players get a bingo and share $5000! Ornurse_bm and squamish are the joint Bingo World Champions 2007. WTG!

Bingo Entertainment were once again very proud to sponsor such a prestigious online event. Watch out for news on forthcoming events on www.bingoentertainment.com/news.htm Thanks to all players for participating and making it such an exciting and amazing event.

Barney Frank wants gambling ban undone

As reported yesterday by Reuters, U.S. Rep. Barney Frank will present a bill to end a ban imposed last year on online gambling in the United States, within two weeks, but it will likely need time to garner support, he said.

Internet gambling in the United States was effectively banned last October when President George W. Bush signed legislation outlawing gaming financial transactions.

“I want to get it undone,” Frank told reporters.

Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat, is chair of the House Financial Services Committee.

The ban has irked some in the European Union which is home to online gambling firms that were forced to withdraw from the United States.

The bloc’s internal market chief Charlie McCreevy has hinted he may challenge the ban at the World Trade Organisation.

Last month the WTO said the ban violated international trade law as it still allowed online bets for horse racing.

Frank, who held talks with McCreevy during his visit to Europe, said the bill will be introduced or registered within a couple of weeks to test the level of support.

“I think reconsideration among my colleagues is beginning but it’s not far enough along yet,” Frank said. “If the storm of public unhappiness is great enough then I will try to substantially revise that ban.”

Poker players were lobbying for an exemption from the ban just for their game but Frank was ‘unpersuaded’.

“I am not going to draw a distinction between poker and blackjack,” Frank said.

He said no major progress on the bill was likely soon, and he may not be able to tackle the whole online gambling issue.

“My committee only has jurisdiction over credit cards. I can’t do more than repeal the ban on the use of credit cards. We don’t have jurisdiction generally over the Internet or other aspects of this,” Frank said.

The U.S. bill forbids credit card firms in the United States from taking money for bets on online sites.

“The Caribbean states, and not the EU, were the major complainants about the ban” he added.

Canadians are responsible gamblers

A recently released summary of findings by the National Gaming Monitor, claims that Canadians are mostly responsible gamblers. The report summarises that;

Canadians participate because they see gaming as fun and entertainment.

Most who gamble self-regulate their spending and play with a pre-determined limit they adhere to.

Most Canadians see gaming as a fun and an acceptable form of entertainment.

The survey was conducted from a random sample of 1000 adult Canadians, during the period 3rd April to 20th April 2006.

Asked what gambling activities they consider to be acceptable, coming in tops was buying a lottery ticket, closely followed in second place by playing bingo.

When asked why they would participate in a gambling activity, almost 50% claimed because it is ‘fun and enjoyable’.

To the question ‘do you stop playing when your budget is spent?’ a staggering 71% said ‘Always’.

Entertainment galore at the Bingo Plex

Bingo Entertainment Ltd is well known for operating its hugely popular online Poker site www.pokerplex.com, with an exciting current promotion offering a first prize of a Porsche Boxster car. Although some ladies do participate in online poker games, it has to be said the game in general is predominantly male orientated. So what do the ladies do if they don’t play online poker, and spend too much time trying to persuade their significant ‘other half’ not to play another hand?

Bingo Entertainment has come up with just the thing! Introducing Bingo Plex! (www.bingoplex.com); The latest in innovating software, incorporating online bingo games and much more.

Launched at the end of March, Bingo Plex is proving to be very popular, and not just among the ladies, there is an increasing male participation, proving that online bingo is emerging as a favourite amongst males and females of all ages.

Poker players who want to spend a bit more time at the tables without upsetting the wife could do no better than to point her in the direction of www.bingoplex.com

Of course it is not just married or ‘attached’ people that play online. Many times love stories have been heard from single people who have met online, and this can also happen on Bingo Plex with its great friendly chat rooms. But you don’t have to be looking for love, if you’re just looking for fun, the friendly chat masters are there to assist and entertain you!

Bingo Plex has a choice of two bingo halls, a 75 ball, and the newly introduced 90 ball, which is steadily increasing in popularity. Each hall has its own progressive bingo jackpot. At the time of writing this, the progressive JP in the 75 ball hall stands at an amazing $8,384.69 and climbing! Who wouldn’t say no to a chance of winning that? The progressive jackpots always re-start at $1000 minimum, so even if you don’t hit the current big one, the next JP starts climbing very quickly.

As well as the great game of bingo, and the exciting chat games, there are also slots games to play, incorporating 3, 4, and 5 reels, as well as the very popular Bank Heist, which currently has a progressive JP of $21,210.01. With Keno, Pull Tabs, Video Poker, and Black Jack, what more could you wish for your online entertainment! www.bingoplex.com

Virgin Games Pulls out of Canadian Market

Citing “a review of the legalities of online gambling within Canada”, U.K.-based Virgin Games this week informed its Canadian customers via e-mail that it will withdraw from the Canadian market on April 13. The decision is consistent with the policies of WagerWorks, a subsidiary of land-based gaming machines provider International Game Technology (IGT) and the gaming software supplier to Virgin.

“Due to recent developments in the global Internet gaming environment and following a review of the legalities of online gaming within Canada, we have determined that it is inappropriate for us to continue accepting online wagers from Canada,” The notice continued.

Virgin’s announcement follows the emigration of other companies doing business in the I-gaming space. Most recently, online payment company Neteller said on March 26 that it would no longer process transactions from Canada and Turkey due to the risk to its ongoing business in both regions.

Before Neteller left, Curacao-based sports book VIP pulled out of Canada, followed by Antigua-based online casino group English Harbour.

The surprising announcement and the vagueness of the language left players as well as industry observers scratching their heads.

Michael Lipton, a partner at Toronto-based law firm Elkind & Lipton said there has been no recent legal activity in Canada to precipitate the changes.

“There is no new legislation,” Lipton said. “There are no recent cases that have been reported. There have been no press releases or media to suggest that in Canada. There has been no announcement by any governmental agencies to suggest that the law enforcement attitude has in anyway changed. But that’s only a snapshot in time. The question of whether or not you can accept best from Canadians will still depend upon whether or not the Canadian courts take jurisdiction in those circumstances. And when all of the elements of the operation are offshore except having a customer that places a bet from Canada, there is still a question of jurisdiction. I’m not saying that you can do it and I’m not saying that you cannot do it, but there’s a question of jurisdiction and one must very carefully examine all of the circumstances before making a determination whether the court will take jurisdiction.”

The only situation that I can envision with IGT is that it is a land-based supplier of gaming equipment registered in a number of jurisdictions in Canada,” Lipton continued. “As part of its registration it may have to acknowledge to a gaming commission or a gaming regulator in Canada that it cannot allow WagerWorks to be involved in Internet gaming with anyone, which would entail accepting bets from Canadians.”

And that seems to be the case with Virgin Games.

“Due to the current legal climate in North America, WagerWorks (our casino software provider) has taken the decision to stop accepting online wagers from Canada from the 13th April 2007,” Pierrick Leveque, affiliate marketing manager for Virgin, told gambling information site Online-Casinos.com.

One could theorize that companies such as IGT that have subsidiaries involved in Internet gaming may be required by the land-based regulators in Canada to filter out Canadians because of the attitude of some gaming regulators, which may have been the catalyst for Virgin’s departure.

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