Gala Bingo’s beginnings

It was back in 1991 that Gala Bingo was created. A company called Bass plc purchased bingo halls from Granada Theatre Limited in a deal reportedly worth £147 million, with the intention of merging them with its own Coral Social Clubs. The official launch of Gala Bingo occurred on 17 October 1991 when a total of 17 bingo clubs were relaunched by Bass plc with a new name, image and branding. Then in 1997, a management buy-in saw all of the 130 Gala Bingo halls purchased from Bass plc in a deal reportedly worth £235 million.

Over the next decade years or so, Gala Bingo continued expanding and diversifying its collection of clubs up and down the country. However, in 2006 the smoking ban came into effect into Scotland, with it also coming to England, Wales and Northern Ireland throughout 2007. This ban resulted in a number of halls having to close down; at the start of 2007, there were some 174 halls and now, as previously mentioned, there are 129. It’s thought that the growing popularity of online bingo has contributed to the closure of some bingo halls.

October 2005 saw Gala Bingo merge with Coral Eurobet – the deal was estimated to be worth £2.18 billion. This merger resulted in the formation of the UK’s single largest bingo operator and third largest bookmaker. Then in 2015, it was announced that Gala Coral Group would be merging with Ladbrokes to form Ladbrokes Coral, which is currently the country’s largest bookmaker.

Gala Bingo online

With a bingo brand as big as Gala Bingo, one thing about its future is for sure: even though the online bingo side may continue to grow in popularity, there will always be a demand for traditional bingo halls. However, it has recently been reported that Gala Bingo’s private equity owners are looking to offload a number of bingo halls in order to improve on annual profits.

The company’s 2015 operating profits were reported as £746,000 – a 5% decrease from the profits reported in 2014. It’s also been reported that a rebranding may be in the works, with the name Buzz Bingo being floated as an idea. A Gala spokesperson chose not to comment on the potential rebranding; the spokesperson did, however, state that the company occasionally looked at which halls could be disposed of.

Despite this, Gala Bingo CEO Simon Wykes has commented that there’s no chance of the bingo industry (specifically bingo halls) dying out because they’ve always had some level of popularity. Though bingo halls in general (not just those by Gala Bingo) may have declined in numbers over the past few years due to various reasons, those in the industry believe the decline is over and that 2017 and beyond will see far fewer halls close down; there may even be new ones opened.

The future

So where does this leave Gala Bingo? It’s bingo halls may be fewer in number than several years ago, but the brand is still strong, relevant and popular. Some players may have migrated online, though there’s still room for both bingo halls and bingo sites to operate. Hopefully, bingo hall visitor numbers will either continue to remain stable, or even grow; as for the online bingo site, its popularity is surely going to keep on growing over the next few years, especially since recent advances like mobile gaming have made online casinos and bingo sites more accessible to smartphone and tablet users. Some have predicted that virtual reality may be next thing for the gambling industry: if it does indeed take off, Gala Bingo could develop some sort of virtual bingo hall experiences that combines the traditional bingo hall experience with the convenience of gambling from the comforts of your own home.

The Gala bingo is available for all mobile & tablet devices that are have Android platform, iOS platform and other mobile platforms such as Blackberry, Microsoft.

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Costa Bingo’s beginnings

It was back in June 2009 that Costa Bingo was launched. The Costa Bingo site is operated by Mandalay Media ltd, a company based in the Isle of Man, while its gaming software is supplied by Bridgend Limited, a wholly owned Cassava Enterprises subsidiary. Both Bridgend Limited and Cassava Enterprises are registered in Gibraltar.

Costa Bingo is part of Ignite Bingo, the only performance-based affiliate marketing network that’s entirely dedicated to online bingo. There are over a dozen other bingo sites that are part of the group and these include Crocodile Bingo, Dino Bingo, Farmyard Bingo, Frozen Bingo and City Bingo, to name a few. Just like Costa Bingo, Ignite Bingo was also launched in 2009.

Mobile casino

Players don’t have to be on a desktop computer to access Costa Bingo, they can play their favourite bingo games on the go thanks to the mobile casino. It’s fully compatible with a range of mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets, and it’s designed to run smoothly and seamlessly on operating systems such as iOS and Android. Lots of bingo sites and online casinos have been launching mobile versions of their sites over the past few years in an attempt to capitalise on the growing mobile gambling market. Many have also developed apps – this is something that Costa Bingo has done as well. Its app is bright and colourful, just like the desktop site, and it offers plenty of bingo and casino games. It doesn’t offer the full selection of bingo rooms and casino games you’ll find on the desktop site, though there’s more than enough to keep players entertained while they’re on the go. The Costa bingo app is available for all Android devices and devices running on other mobile platforms such as Blackberry, iOS, Microsoft.

The future

So what does the future look like for Costa Bingo? Since its launch, the site has gone from strength to strength, so it’s safe to say that the future for this bingo site looks very good indeed. We can certainly expect it to keep adding more new and unique gaming content to the site, as well as creating exciting new promotions to attract new players and retain regular ones. Virtual reality has been touted as the next big thing in online gambling – there are already virtual reality casinos that use the latest technology to offer people lifelike casino experiences they can enjoy from the comfort their home. Could this be where Costa Bingo and other bingo sites are heading? Could Costa Bingo develop a virtual reality bingo hall? Time will only tell.

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90-ball bingo

This is the most common version of bingo and pretty much every bingo app will offer it. As its name suggests, there are a total of 90 numbers involved. The card you receive has three rows and nine columns – this makes for a total of 27 spaces, but there are only 15 numbers on the card, with the remaining 12 spaces left empty. Only a range of certain numbers can appear in each column; for example, the numbers 1-9 will only appear in the first column and the numbers 10-19 will only appear in the second and so on. To win 90-ball bingo, you need to match all of the numbers in a single row, two rows or all three rows.

80-ball bingo

This bingo version isn’t yet as popular as the other two bingo versions mentioned above, but it’s still worth playing if you happen to come across it. There are a total of 80 numbers and the card has four rows and four columns, for a total of 16 numbers to match. Each of the four columns has a certain range of 20 numbers that can appear in it. In the first column, for instance, the numbers 1-20 will appear. Prizes are typically given for marking off all numbers in a vertical, horizontal or diagonal line and for matching all 16 numbers on the card.

75-ball bingo

This version of bingo is very similar to 90-ball bingo except that there are fewer numbers and the card is different: it’s a 5×5 grid that usually has 24 numbers on it with the central space left empty. Each of the five columns is headed by one of the letters of the word ‘Bingo’ and each column has a group of numbers that can appear in. For example, the leftmost column is the ‘B’ column and has numbers 1-15, whereas the rightmost column is the ‘O’ column and has numbers 61-75. The biggest prize is for the first player to get a blackout or full house, which they get by marking of all 24 numbers on their card. There are usually other prizes for marking off all the numbers in a row or column, or even for marking off a diagonal line. You may even win by marking off a random selection of spaces that make up a sort of pattern.

Speed bingo

If you like your bingo games quick and fast-paced, speed bingo is the one for you. There are only 30 numbers and the card has just three rows and three columns. It works in pretty much the same way as other types of online bingo, except that the game can be over very quickly indeed. In fact, a single game can last less than half a minute. There’s only one winner and that’s whoever marks off all of the numbers on their card first.

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For many online bingo players, simply playing bingo isn’t enough to keep them entertained. They like to play chat games as well. These chat games can be found in the bingo site’s forums, which is where players head to chat with other players about bingo and all sorts of other things. The reason chat games are so popular among online bingo players is that they offer some pretty good bonuses.

Types of chat games

The sorts of chat games you’ll often see in online bingo forums include things like trivia and general knowledge quizzes, simple maths tests and word connection challenges. They’re overseen by a chat host, whose job it is to ensure that everyone in the chat room is being friendly and no one’s disobeying the bingo site’s rules in any way. The typical chat host is lively, fun and friendly; they encourage everyone in the chat room to have a great time and when it comes to playing chat games, they make the atmosphere even more exciting.

Easy and hard chat games

Some chat games are very easy and are ideal for beginners, whereas some require a bit more skill and are perhaps best for more experienced players. The easier games tend to offer lower prizes, whereas the more challenging ones typically have higher prizes. Chat room games typically reward winners with bonus money they can use on the site’s games; sometimes the bonus money can be used to purchase bingo tickets.

Improving your chances of winning

The best thing you can do to improve your chances of winning is to play in chat rooms that don’t have many other players in them. If you decide to play one of the harder chat room games, you can improve your chances simply by practising typing fast; the harder games often require you to type answers and the fastest wins, so the faster you’re able to type, the better your chances of winning are. You also have to be accurate, as words that are misspelt won’t count.

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There have been a few very lucky people who have won multi-million pound prizes playing online bingo. One such person is John Orchard, a former Jobcentre worker who won a record-breaking £5.9 million in 2012 by playing at ButlersBingo, all on a bet of just 30p. The previous record holder was someone called Georgios from Greece, who won £5.1 million back in 2009. It doesn’t happen too often that someone wins such a life-changing amount of money, but it’s not impossible. Most players will only ever win much smaller cash prizes, if that.

Improving your chances

Because bingo is pretty much a game of luck, there’s not as much you can do to improve your chances of winning as there is with game of skill like poker, for example. Still, there are a few things you can do to make yourself better prepared for the game.

The right bingo site

Finding the right bingo site is very important if you’re serious about trying to make money from online bingo. If you just want to try to win smaller amounts of money, you should find bingo sites that have cheaper tickets; if you want the chance of winning larger cash prizes, look for bingo sites with more expensive tickets. Generally speaking, the more expensive the bingo ticket, the larger the prize will be. Be sure to look out for tournaments as well – the cash prize grows as more players join.

Bankrolling your bingo

Some players are lucky enough to win huge cash prizes without having spent much money on bingo at all. Others sink a lot of money into the game and never land any big wins. Even if you do eventually win big, the prize might be less than the amount of money you’ve spent on bingo. If you’re keen to land that big win, it’s best to have a sum of money set aside for bingo that you can afford to lose.

More cards and fewer players

If you’re in a bingo room with hundreds of other players and you only have one bingo card, your chances of winning aren’t going to be very good at all. Improve your odds by playing at less popular bingo rooms and purchasing more cards. Of course, you can still win big if you have just one card and you’re up against hundreds of other players, but you have to be extremely lucky to do so.

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Bingo apps typically offer a range of promotions and bonuses to attract new players and to keep regular players coming back for more. There are so many bingo apps that competition is very heated and they have to compete with one another for new customers and, ultimately, for the customers’ money. That being said, promotions and bonuses are great for players because they offer some pretty cool rewards and benefits. Some bingo apps have better offers than others, so if you’re looking for somewhere new to try, it’s worth shopping around to see which is going to give you the best offers. Let’s have a look at some of the promotions and bonuses you’re likely to find.

No deposit bonus

This is one of the most common promotional offers you’ll come across. As its name suggests, it’s simply a bonus that you can claim without needing to have made a deposit. In other words, before you’ve deposited any of your own money, you’re given a set amount of money (usually around £10 or so) to use on some or all of the app’s games. The no deposit bonus is great for new players as it gives them a chance to try out the app and some of its games without risking their own money. If you like the games and the app, once your no deposit money is used up, you’re free to deposit real money; if you don’t like the games or the app, you’re free to go elsewhere and you haven’t lost any of your own money.

Match bonus

Bingo apps typically offer match bonuses for your first few deposits. They’re commonly referred to as ‘welcome bonuses’ as they’re part of the app’s welcome package; you may also see them referred to as ‘sign up bonuses’. The way they work as follows: say you deposit £100 and there’s a match bonus of 100%. This means that, in addition to the £100 you deposit, you’ll receive a further £100 to play with, for a grand total of £200. Some bingo apps offer you several match bonuses as part of your welcome package and they’re quite often a lot more than 100% – on many apps you can claim several hundred pounds in bonus money just from the welcome package match bonuses. Note that you usually have to deposit a minimum of £10 in order to qualify for match bonuses and there is always an upper limit on how much money you can claim. Many apps offer match bonuses to existing customers – in this case, they’re often referred to as ‘reload bonuses’.

Other bonuses and promotions

The two bonuses listed above are the most common ones you’ll find on bingo apps. A lot of bingo apps also offer free bingo rooms, where you can play for free – the prizes are a bit smaller since everyone’s playing for free, but the games are still worth playing since you’ve got nothing to lose. Some apps even have raffles with prizes such as high street vouchers, smartphones and gift baskets up for grabs. A lot of welcome packages include a number of free spins you can use up on slots. You’ll find that a lot of bingo apps have extra games like slots, scratch cards and casino games included to give players a bit of variety.

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Going to the bingo hall to play a few rounds of bingo is a popular pastime for many. It’s a great social activity and many bingo players enjoy the social aspect of bingo as much as they enjoy the game itself. If you’re new to the world of online bingo, you’ll be pleased to know that online bingo does have some social aspects to it. No, it isn’t the same as traditional bingo in that there’s no face-to-face interaction with other players, but you can chat to other players and get to know them as you play. This is all thanks to bingo chat rooms.

What are bingo chat rooms?

Most bingo apps offer chat rooms to make the whole bingo experience more sociable, friendly and enjoyable. They’re essentially forums where you can ‘chat’ to other players by text and are overseen by moderators. The role of the moderators is to welcome newbies, answer any questions players might have about the app and games, and ensure that nothing offensive or inappropriate is being discussed. Players who repeatedly disobey the rules will get a warning from a moderator and if they continue misbehaving, they’ll eventually get banned for life. When in chat rooms, you don’t have to talk about bingo all the time – you can talk about pretty much anything, so long as you don’t break the chat room rules. You’ll be able to have a look at the rules to see what sorts of things are not allowed. Generally speaking, chat rooms are relaxed and informal places that offer a good way to pass the time in between bingo games. You’ll probably notice a lot of players using abbreviations – this is known as ‘bingo lingo’ and it’s essentially the bingo chat room equivalent of text speak. Some examples of this include BLTN, ‘better luck next time’, GL, ‘good luck’, and AFK, ‘away from keyboard’. You should find bingo lingo pretty easy to pick up.

Chat room games

Many chat rooms have their own games to draw more players to the chat room and encourage them to get involved. There are loads of different chat games you’ll find and they’re usually pretty straightforward and very competitive – number games, guessing games and trivia games are examples of common chat room games. The prizes you can win aren’t that big, but the games are held quite regularly, so if you play them often enough, you should have a decent enough chance of winning. Entering the games is completely free and they’re a good side activity to take part in while you’re waiting for your next bingo to start. You don’t have to play them, but they can be good fun and you could win a nice little prize or two.

Chat room etiquette

Just as with other online forums, with bingo chat rooms there’s a level of etiquette that’s expected from all players. In other words, you should be courteous to your other players and treat them how you would want them to treat you. One thing you should definitely not to is verbally abuse anyone for whatever reason – even if you mean it as a joke, it will still be frowned upon. You should also avoid mocking people for not winning bingo games, as well as being prejudiced in any sort of way. As mentioned previously, chat moderators do have the power to ban people from the chat rooms – and from the app – for life. You should always pay attention to what the chat moderators have to say and if they tell you to stop doing something, stop doing it. As long as you use your common sense and have a positive, friendly attitude, you should find the chat rooms a nice place to socialise with your fellow players.

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Before apps became popular and there was an app for pretty much everything, we just relied on websites. When it comes to playing online bingo, you’ll probably have seen that lots of bingo sites now have apps. The question is: should you stick to the website or give the app a try? Let’s have a look at the pros and cons of each.

Bingo websites

What’s so great about bingo websites is that they’re typically of a very high quality. Most bingo operators develop a website first and then branch out into apps, so in a way the website is the main way to access and enjoy the bingo games on offer. When accessing the website on a desktop computer or laptop, it will run perfectly fine as websites are designed for such devices. However, if you try to access a bingo website on your smartphone or tablet, you may find that it’s a lot harder to navigate since the screen is considerably smaller than that of a desktop computer or laptop.

This can make the bingo experience somewhat less enjoyable, especially if you have to repeatedly zoom in to see what’s going on. Luckily though, mobile websites have become commonplace; these are versions of the website specially designed to run on mobile devices. Mobile websites have bigger graphics and fonts and offer a more streamlined and condensed version of the main website, though without compromising on quality, of course. The main downside to mobile websites is that games built using Flash won’t work on iPhones since Apple devices don’t support Flash.  It’s also worth mentioning that apps take up storage space on your device, so sticking to the website might be the best option if your device is low on memory.

Bingo apps

While mobile websites seem great, apps are even more convenient and beneficial. They’re specifically designed for the devices they run on, so they’re quicker and easier to use and everything runs faster. Websites, on the other hand, aren’t designed in this way and have to run on multiple types of device. Bingo apps do offer pretty much the same content and features as the website, though generally speaking, they’re much easier to navigate than websites and have a lot less clutter, making things easier to find and access. Another key advantage of bingo apps is that you can access bingo apps right from your home screen and don’t have to go through your web browser.

A lot of the time if you access a bingo website, whether it’s a standard website or a mobile one, a window will pop up asking you if you want to download the app if you haven’t already done so. You’ll find that bingo apps are optimised for both smartphones and tablets. No matter which of these two devices you’re using, you should find the bingo app runs smoothly and quickly, with everything perfectly visible so you don’t have to zoom in. Note that for iOS devices you can download bingo apps straight from the App Store, whereas for Android devices you have to go to the bingo website and download the app from there.

Which one’s best?

Overall, bingo apps are definitely more convenient for mobile users since they’re specifically designed for operating systems such as iOS and Android. Stick to bingo websites if you’re on a desktop computer or laptop, since websites are designed to run on both of these. If you’re out and about and fancy playing bingo – or even if you’re at home and want to play on your smartphone/tablet – we strongly recommend bingo apps.

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Best Android Bingo Apps #1 – Tombola Bingo

We absolutely love the Tombola bingo app and they have easily the best Android bingo app. Tombola bingo have invested a lot of money in mobile bingo and are the market leader in the best Android bingo apps. Once you’ve played on the app you will quickly see why we rate it as number one in the best Android bingo apps. We don’t say that lightly either, because there are many Android bingo apps on the market at the moment, and everyone of them have some really good games, offers etc, it’s just the Tombola bingo app has that little bit extra than their competitors.

Exclusive offer – Register via the link and get a £20 bonus! Yes that right, £20 free. This offer is for all new customers who register through bingoapps.co.uk, you MUST register before you download the app.

REGISTER & CLAIM £20 FREE!

How to get the best Android bingo app – Use the link above from your mobile or tablet and you will be taken straight to the Tombola bingo mobile home page. You will be prompted to download the app, it is advisable to register before downloading. To do this you will need to have your device open for third party downloads and have your GPS turned on. It is best to download the app over WIFI. Even though it’s a third party download the app still compiles to the latest requirements in mobile security.

Best Android bingo apps #2 – Gala Bingo

Gala bingo came second in the best Android bingo apps as their app is only available for Android users. They have the best new customer offer of any of these apps, deposit £10 and get a GIGANTIC £30 free! This is a brilliant app for playing bingo and looks really good on touch screen Android mobiles. The app is designed to look and feel the same as the gala desktop site meaning its simple to switch from the site to the Android bingo apps and vice versa.

Gala’s Welcome Offers – There are two offers which are available to newbies, spend £5 play with £30 or alternatively deposit £10 play with £40.

Additional Incentives – Newbies also have the capability to win a share of over £10,000 of free bingo within the first 7 days.

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How to get the Gala Android bingo app – Although the Google play store does not support real money bingo apps in the marketplace, Gala bingo allow you to download the APK file straight from the Gala bingo site. Once you have downloaded the file to your Android mobile device you’ll need to go to your downloads and click on the gala bingo APK file, this will install the dedicated Android Gala bingo app on your device. You can get the app by clicking the button below. Before we install the Gala Bingo Android app you must register your account first, do this by click on the link above.

DOWNLOAD THE ANDROID APP!

Best Android bingo apps #3 – SkyBingo & William Hill Bingo

Sky Bingo has recently launched and is one of the best Android bingo apps in the UK. The Sky bingo app has all the best Sky Bingo games and you can still collect your bingo gems when you play through the app . We love the social side of the app too, with in play chat with other bingo players making it a really fun app to play on. New customers to Sky Bingo get £35 free when you deposit just £5.

REGISTER & CLAIM YOUR £35 FREE!

The William Hill Bingo app is identical in appearance to the Sky Bingo app as they are built by the same company. So when it comes to appearance, performance & usability they are very similar. In terms of what they offer, if you deposit £10 you will receive a £40 bonus. To register your account click the link provided below.

REGISTER & CLAIM YOUR £40 FREE!

How to get these best Android Bingo apps – Click the link above from your Android phone or tablet and then add the page as a bookmark on your home or app screen or visit for more games. This will install the Sky Bingo app or William Hill bingo app as a quick link with no download required.

FAQ’s about the best Android bingo apps

What mobile did you test the Android bingo apps on? To test them we used a Samsung Galaxy S5 and a Samsung Galaxy tab 10.1 and all the apps run great on both.

How many games of bingo do you play on each of the Android bingo apps? To get a good understanding of the app we play a minimum of 25 games and like to try to play all the different games that are available. It’s a very good job we love paying bingo.

Why are Sky and William Hill joint second on the best Android bingo apps? We had to put them as a joint second on the best Android bingo apps as they are identical apps. They have been built by a third party company and run the same. They are both fantastic bingo apps.

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Best Blackberry Bingo Apps #1 – William Hill

William Hill bingo scored top in a close run race in the best Blackberry bingo apps. The William Hill Blackberry bingo app is very well designed an as soon as you’ve played a couple of cards you’ll see why we rated it as the best. The bingo app has all the same games that the desktop site has and features free bingo every Thursday. Real money bingo can be played with games starting every minute and cards starting at just 1p. New customers get a £40 sign up bonus too exclusively through best bingo apps, just click the link below to register. To register you need to click “log in” in the top right corner then select the green bar for register and enter code F25 in the “promotional code” box.

How to get the app – Click the link above from your Blackberry and you will be taken to the William Hill mobile home page. Select bingo, then add the bookmark to your home screen for quick access to bingo on the move.

CLICK HERE FOR £40 FREE!

Best Blackberry Bingo Apps #2 – Tombola Bingo

Tombola Bingo were a close second in the Best Blackberry bingo apps. Tombola bingo have one of the best bingo sign up bonuses available in the UK with a triple your money new customer offer. Sign up using the link below, deposit £10 and get an extra £20 free to real money bingo with.

How to get the Tombola app on Blackberry – On your Blackberry click the link above and you will be taken straight to the home page. Now add the bookmark to your home screen and you will have installed the Tombola Bingo app.

CLICK HERE FOR £20 FREE!

Best Blackberry Bingo Apps #3 – Ladbrokes Bingo

The Ladbrokes bingo app has the very best sign up bonus of all the apps on this page, deposit £10 and get a massive £40 free and an extra £5 games bonus too. The Ladbrokes bingo site has free bingo games to play everyday and you earn bonuses through the week for free plays and credits on the weekend. The Ladbrokes Blackberry bingo app works considerably better on touchscreen Blackberrys.

CLICK HERE FOR £30 FREE!

FAQ’s

Why are there so few bingo apps for Blackberry? With the declining market share of Blackberry phones the bingo companies are focusing on Android and iPhone apps. We were surprised by how few bingo apps for Blackberry there were.

Are the Blackberry bingo apps secure? Yes all the featured apps are secure to the latest requirements for mobile apps and sites. You can feel safe depositing funds as well as hopefully withdrawing your winnings!

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