Archive for 'Press Room' Category

Mecca Bingo and Rank Group Shares Increase After Buyout

July 21st, 2011

Mecca Bingo recently saw a hike in its share prices on the FTSE index soon after it was taken over by Guoco. Mecca Bingo and Grosvenor Casinos are owned by its parent company Rank Group and Rank shares stood the highest, subsequent to the announcement made by the gambling company that the Guoco offer was closed at the moment and a broker upgrade the company. The level of acceptance was 74.5% for its 150p a share offer, which was faintly beneath the 75% brink, which would have jeopardized the company’s listing on the London Stock Exchange.

According to Panmure Gordon, a brokerage firm reaffirmed its “buy” endorsement of the company mentioning that it still is “a compelling investment proposition.” In a time when stock markets saw abundant losses with repeated fear over government debts, gambling companies such as William Hill, Betfair Group and Ladbrokes defied any such news stating that the United Kingdom Treasury intended to make a handful of regulatory modifications that would ensure that online gambling companies from foreign countries pay British tax.

There was a 6.2 percent increase in Rank Group’s shares, following which it became evident that the bingo and casino operator will have its London listing, closing persistent questions in the wake of a 150p a share offer from the Guoco Group based in Hong Kong.

According to Rank board, they felt in the beginning that the deal would depreciate the value of the company. Hong Kong based Guoco could have managed to take Rank Group from the London Stock Exchange list if it had achieved a 75 percent stake in the company but it scraped through as the offer was closed.

The era of troubled times is finally coming to an end for Rank Group, whose board dallied four times in its recommendation to shareholders over the offer. Rank Group also managed to let loose its Chief Executive, Ian Burke before re-hiring him within a week.

Many of the board members were not interested in the bid for the longest time, but they accepted the Guoco offer having in mind their stake with the shareholders. The company did not perform so well and a bit of damage control couldn’t go all that wrong, and to their expectations, things have turned out to their favour. Mecca Bingo’s stake has also been very skeptical and now since the shares have risen, everybody is contended with Rank’s performance in the market.

Pavilion Bingo Club Re-opens after 14 Months

July 19th, 2011

The Pavilion Bingo Club, which belongs to Border Bingo Clubs, was thrown open after a time gap of nearly 14 months. The facility had been closed since May last year when it’s brand new false ceiling collapsed for reasons that are still unknown.

When the ceiling of Pavilion Bingo Club collapsed, around 8 employees and 102 customers were hastily evacuated from Market Street, which also belongs to Border Bingo Clubs, and 34 others were moved from the nearby cinema. Work on reconstructing the bingo club began soon after.

The Scottish Borders Council (SBC), which immediately began investigating the incident, still hasn’t found an answer. An SBC spokesperson said that the investigation into the collapse of the bingo hall’s ceiling is still in progress, adding that the tenant and the landlord have fully cooperated with the investigators. The spokesperson also said that the SBC is working with Health and Safety Executive specialists to determine the reasons for the collapse.

Fortunately, the collapse did not cause any death or injury, in spite of which 3 ambulances, 3 fire engines, and 2 police vans rushed to the place. Kurt Ramage, who was at the bingo hall with his wife the day the ceiling collapsed, said that everybody had a miraculous escape. Recalling the incident, he said that he heard a crack, looked up, and saw that the ceiling over his head had developed a crack. When more cracks were heard, the manageress urged all the players to leave the hall as quickly as possible.

The bingo players who had beat a hasty retreat on the day the ceiling collapsed were back on the day it re-opened. Mr. Ramage, who was also back, appreciated the club’s new look and said that everybody got a free bingo game and a free glass of wine on re-opening day.
Christine Grahame, who had been a bingo caller for some time, said that meeting so many people from the locality and watching them enjoy playing bingo with their friends and loved ones is a delightful experience. She also said that the bingo facility will generate 16 new jobs for the people in the locality.

Border Bingo Club has issued a press statement in which it has expressed its gratitude to its loyal bingo players who had supported the bingo hall throughout the previous year. The press statement also said that the Pavilion Bingo Club is now larger, more glamorous, and better looking that before.

Charity Bingo Becomes Very Popular Trend

July 18th, 2011

Bingo has always been a charitable game of chance, played not just to win bets, but also to raise funds for worthy causes. The game is the favourite of philanthropists who want to give to the underprivileged while having fun playing their favourite bingo games. Long before bingo was commercialized and bingo sites mushroomed all over the Internet, bingo was played in church halls and community centres to raise funds to repair significant public buildings, donate to the sick and the poor, conduct social events, and so on.

Today, bingo is mostly played at land bingo halls and online bingo sites, but it is still used to raise funds for charity. In fact, altruism, philanthropy, and raising funds for charity have always been part of the bingo gaming culture and will continue to be. What’s more, it appears as if the charity bingo trend is becoming more and more popular with entire bingo sites devoting themselves to the theme of charity bingo.

Bingo Giving, for example, is one of the most charitable online bingo sites in the industry. Besides being a paradise of free bingo coupons and deposit bonuses, Bingo Giving runs fantastic promotions that give players the chance to win fabulous cash as well as non cash prizes. Whenever players play at Bingo Giving, they will be donating to charity. This month, Bingo Giving is focusing on Count the Kicks, and will be able to donate more only if players play more bingo.

The trend of playing bingo for charity is not just popular at online bingo sites, but also at land-based bingo halls and charity organizations. For instance, the Benchwork program, which provides employment to disabled adults, organizes bingo games on Saturdays, giving bingo lovers the chance to play their favourite games and give to charity.

Bingo players in a philanthropic mood can always find charity bingo games being played at popular online bingo sites such as Mecca Bingo and William Hill Bingo. William Hill Bingo, for example, delights in raising funds for charity. In 2008 – 09, the online bingo site donated £41,000 to Breast Cancer Care; and recently, it raised £3,530.60 more through its Pink Ribbon sessions. The online bingo site gave players the option to donate to charities such as Walk the Walk, Macmillan Cancer Support, Marie Curie Cancer Care, Breast Cancer Care, and Cancer Research UK. Interested players can check out the bingo site’s Charity Support section for more information.

BingoCams Awarded Best Newcomer Award

July 16th, 2011

Bingo Cams, a fairly new entrant into the online bingo market, was given two bingo awards on account of their contribution to the bingo community. The bingo community was swept off their feet when the site came up with the concept of integrating webcams and online bingo.

The Bingo Cams site bagged the 2011 titles of “Best Online Bingo Innovation” and ‘Best Newcomer’. Bingo Cams had to fight away competition from some of their rivals, but nevertheless, they managed to pull their weight and also win themselves some accolades.
The fact that Bingo Cams, a new online bingo website that brings together high end technology with traditional bingo games, ended up garnering two awards in the very year of its inception has amazed the online bingo industry. Usually, awards are given out based on promotions, free bingo games and Bingo Cams seems to have a green tick mark in terms of all these criteria.

Bingo Cams entered the online bingo industry in February and it has allowed all of its bingo members to tape their special moments on their webcams and bag great rewards as a consequence. The members who have not joined Bingo Cams as yet may be tempted to join the site because of their big hearted 200% welcome bonus on all first deposits of up to £100; there are no bonus codes needed. Another great brownie point for this online bingo portal is that, the winnings and the bonuses are immediately transferred to the players’ accounts at Bingo Cams.

Those who want to participate in the games offered by one of the state of the art bingo websites and communicate with each other through webcams can do so right away by going to the Bingo Cams site. Today, bingo players do not just play bingo to win money but also choose their favourite site based on offers, promotions, ambience, chat, friendliness, and good value on the whole. Chat games are play a huge role and again it is the players who have come up with a great chat game structure in Bingo Cams.

Bingo Cams has also unleashed a set of completely automated chat games, which have been available for quite some time now and is also becoming a hit amongst the players. Since the games are automated, the arguments that a host may forget to credit a game winner or who answered the question first can be avoided.

Bingo Cams has also proved its mettle and has proved to the online bingo world that it is one of the best online innovators in terms of bingo.