Hi guys. Firstly, let me say that bingo has been a completely new experience for me. I’m 35 and I’d never been inside a bingo hall in my life until last week. I was invited along by a group of friends who go semi-regularly. It was one friend’s birthday and I couldn’t really say no, ha ha!

We went to a Mecca Bingo hall (I’ve heard there’s a big rivalry between Mecca and Gala??). My first thought was: It’s huge. I hadn’t realised how big a bingo hall could be – it was split over two levels, with tables of two and four chairs grouped together on both levels. It was relatively early when we arrived and was largely empty, so we had a choice of where we wanted to sit. But it didn’t remain empty and the place got really busy as the games started.

I was somewhat confused by all the ticket books I had been given and I actually began dabbing the wrong one when we started! As a complete bingo newbie, I was at a loss trying to listen to the numbers from the caller, find the numbers on the ticket, and make sure I was keeping an eye on the lines as well. It wasn’t easy, I can tell you! In fact, I missed calling a line completely because I couldn’t keep up!

It was halfway through the night, when one of the girls who worked at the Mecca heard me moaning about not being able to keep up, and she suggested I switch to the electronic terminals instead. You just tap the screen on each number call and it does all the hard work for you – dabbing the correct number and telling you in big letters in the middle of the screen if you are 1 away and which number you need. I couldn’t believe my luck when the screen flashed I was 1 away from a full house and needed number 34, and the very next number the caller said was… 34!

I won £100 for that and was suddenly enjoying myself a lot more! I admit to feeling panicky and irritable when I was getting lost in a sea of bingo numbers, so the electronic terminal was a life-saver – I’d recommend them to any bingo newbie who isn’t sure if they can keep up.

As to the atmosphere in the club, during the games it was all hush-hush while everyone tried listening out for numbers, and between games, it was talkative and pleasant. People were definitely having fun.

The price of the tickets, when compared to my £100 winnings, was reasonable, and the price of drinks from the bar was even better (I’m surprised young twenty-somethings haven’t discovered the cheap alcohol in bingo clubs and taken over the whole club before they head out on the tiles!).

All in all, for my first time, it was a great night out. I can’t claim to be a bingo convert, but if the opportunity arose again, I certainly wouldn’t say no to going!

Thank you for letting me write this for your blog, and I hope it might encourage other bingo naysayers to give it a try sometime! It’s certainly a worthwhile experience!

Students are being targeted in a new campaign by Mecca Bingo that should see more and more of a younger crowd entering bingo halls up and down the country. Move over Generation X, this is Generation Y’s turn!

Mecca Bingo will be offering a new bingo game called ‘Rock & Roll Bingo’, where players won’t be daubing numbers but instead their bingo tickets will have the names of famous Rock & Roll songs. The songs are played over the hall’s speakers and read out by the caller (just in case you don’t know that 80s classic!).

In a bid to appeal to a wider audience and shake off the image that bingo is just for Dot Cotton and Nora Batty (which we all know isn’t the case!), Mecca’s move to this fun new style of bingo game should shake up the student population and get them into bingo halls everywhere.

Cheaper than a night on the town, and arguably much more fun, Rock & Roll Bingo promises to be a great night out with some fantastic tunes to sing along to while you try to win some great prizes.

The game will be a monthly special and it won’t be the only game Mecca Bingo will be running aimed at the younger generation – they even have a unique glow-in-the-dark game called Binglo!

That’s when I came across Ruby Bingo listed over on WhichBingo.co.uk. Ruby Bingo has a 300% first deposit bonus (as well as a £5 new player bonus!). Apart from their big money games, every Sunday Ruby Bingo has Super Sunday with £1,000 guaranteed prize money games every hour between 8pm and 11pm.

The 300% first deposit bonus is pretty good so I know what I’ll be doing with my Mum on the 18^th March! The fun will start with a glass of wine and a fistful of virtual bingo tickets.

If you missed out on playing their extra special games on Leap Year Day, 29^th February, maybe you can come play with me and my Mum on 18^th March on Mother’s Day.

Other fun games at Ruby Bingo include the Royal Court Jackpot which is more than £5,000 as well as the Joker Jackpot and the Super Joker Jackpot of a minimum of £10,000.

And I can’t pass up the chance to tell you about their Bit O Fun room, with their special BOGOF offer! For every ticket you buy, they give you one for free!

So Happy Mother’s Day to all the Mums out there and good luck!

As January is the time for looking for bargains, the timing of this offer at Sky Bingo could not have been better. Some say that no deposit offers are decreasing and becoming harder to find, well Sky Bingo have broken this trend!

This offer is not around for long, so be quick! We would be very surprised if this offer was still live next month. It is currently the only Virtue Fusion site out there that is offering a no deposit bingo bonus.

The registration process at Sky Bingo could not be easier and they assured everyone that the bonus will be credited instantly (once the account has been fully validated). It may be worth pointing out that this offer is only available to players from the UK and Ireland.

Once logged in, there is a whole host of games to start enjoying at Sky Bingo. Loads of BOGOF bingo is available daily, as well as prizes for 1tg and 2tg in the happy hours.

Get it while it’s hot – £10 No Deposit at Sky Bingo

WhichCM.com is the only website around that solely dedicates itself to the world of bingo chat hosting. Not only does it list every single chat team, but each month they invite all bingo players to vote for their favourite. Every week they publish the latest leader board, and the crown a CM of the Month at the end of every month.

Along with the voting they also have a substantial CM Recruitment section. Here can only apply for the latest jobs, but you can research just exactly how to become to bingo cm.

New sections added this year include the Mystery Shopper and brand new blog written by site manager, Evie.

If you want to celebrate all things bingo chat hosting, learn how to be one or to tell everyone why you love a certain CM, WhichCM is the only place to be!

Regular bingo players will be well aware that many bingo sites operate over a network. It gives smaller sites the chance to provide big ‘linked’ jackpots. This means that a particular room will be open to the whole network, regardless of which site each player is on.

There has always been a Cashcade Network consisting of what are considered ‘small’ bingo sites. However, Cashcade have now made the decision to move some of its more bigger and famous brands over to the network.

Rollover Bingo, Bingo Scotland, ITV Bingo and Mirror Bingo have always been stand alone bingo sites, but are now part of the network itself. They will continue to have their own promotions, but will now over much bigger ‘networked’ promotions.

The noises coming out of JPJ suggest that the campaign is producing good results. However, they honeymoon is now over as one of the latest adverts has been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). The ASA rules over all advertising medium in the UK, and must authorise all TV adverts before they make our screens.

The ad is question featured the ‘Star of Joy’, which was a bonus system which gave players the chance to win up to £10,000. All new players received a spin and there was a guaranteed prize on each spin.

The complaint made by players to ASA stated that the advert implied all new players would receive a cash prize, when it was in fact a free gift. In addition there was no clear statement that players needed to make a deposit before claiming the free spin.

The Star of Joy was removed not long after launch, details of why remain unclear, but it doesn’t look like coming back any time soon!

To obtain entry to the room, You just have to register at Paddy Power via the special url links at WhichBingo.co.uk. Then as long as you have cashed and spent a fiver before noon Thursday 17th March, you can gain entry to the exclusive bingo room. If that wasn’t enough all new sign ups who deposit £5 will be given a £20 free bonus to keep enjoying the games at Paddy Power Bingo.

The free games will take place in Paddy Power’s Ruby Bingo Room, which will automatically become available to all those who qualify. Simply the site and click to play in the room before the exclusive free bingo party begins.

This exclusive bingo offer, has sprung up at a great time in the life of WhichBingo UK. Recently the site was given a complete makeover with a fresh completely new design , giving it great new web site features.

Remember, this offer is only available to players who have signed up via WhichBingo.co.uk.

While we usually know the locations that are closest to us, quite often we may be out of town on a holiday or for work and would like to play an evening of bingo. It’s for times like these that bingo halls destination maps come in handy. Tidy little maps will pull up from sites like Map Quest International or Maporama and you simply find where you are going, the quickest route and whether or not there are any public transport systems you can take to get there.

Sometimes we have a bit of a tiff with the mates we play bingo with and would just like to find another location to play for a time or two. Bingo halls destination maps are a great asset when you just aren’t familiar with where other bingo halls are located. Whether you are looking for a bingo hall near you, or one where you intend to spend a holiday, you can easily find the location and hours of operation online. Then you won’t have to miss a single minute of play time, because you’ll find your way quickly and be at the table before the first ball is called. It’s all in the game!

Bingo halls in the UK will generally sell books of tickets (cards) and they may be colour coded, lime, gold, yellow, violet, grey, pink, blue, orange red and white, not necessarily in that order of course. They also sell multiple books of tickets that generally have 6 tickets of each colour. Experienced players can play all six tickets at the same time while newcomers may want to start out slowly with one or two tickets.

In some bingo halls across the UK, callers will call the balls quite rapidly so there is no time to search for your numbers if you are not quick about it! It is always best to start slowly, and get a handle on the game before trying to keep up with the balls. It is suggested that if you want to socialize a bit that you go to some of the bingo halls in the smaller villages and by the shore. In the cities the players are serious about their game and tend to be a bit more formal, but in the towns and villages, bingo halls are the local meeting places where you’ll get to meet the people and maybe win a prize or two!