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Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Split Premises - Short Sighted Exploitation?

I've been seeing a number of stories about Bingo halls re-zoning themselves into two separate premises to allow them to double up on the number of Class B3 machines they can get into one venue. There's a loophole in the laws that allows this splitting of premises to happen, and many a Bingo hall is using this loophole to raise the number of machines they can get on their premises. One of the latest stories I've seen is of the Worcester Gala Bingo's plans to split its premises, which has raised criticism from some quarters.

The local council are concerned about this loophole, and will be writing to the Gambling Commission to raise its concerns about this practice. The Worcester Gala Bingo is not alone in exploiting this loophole, a number of clubs are trying to raise their limits in this manner. Brett has already mentioned this in his corner, with concerns that the practice could impinge on the areas used for Bingo. That's one concern, but I have some others that trouble me about this practice and the problems this short sighted exploitation could have for the wider industry.

Okay, I've mentioned my dislike of these high stakes machines here before. Their price range and the industry's reliance on them is not healthy and at odds with the value-for-money tradition of Bingo. There seems to be a land rush on splitting clubs at the moment, with little consequence to the future implications of this practice. Once again, it's a sticking plaster on Bingo's greater problems in the retail environment.

In the past these machines have had a bad reputation for problem gambling. Certain elements of the press have taken it upon themselves to be the moral guardians when it comes to gambling (despite their own forays into the realm). If they decided to focus on the proliferation of these machines and the problems attached, it could bring a lot of negative publicity to the game, which already struggles with negative stereotypes and notions about it.

On top of this, the Gambling Commission may take a dim view of these practices and come down hard in the future as a result of giving an inch, and operators taking a mile. Complaints from local councils like Worcester, and bad press could cause a situation in the future where the Commission over-reacted and introduced new regulations that made the current ones look pretty tame. Given the industry's reliance on these revenues and its inability to find other ways of monetising its intervals, this could be even more catastrophic than the Smoking Ban was supposed to be.

Personally I'd like to see the industry move away from these machines and develop other entertainments for customers that don't carry the potentially addictive problems that the Class B3 machines come attached with. And I don't just mean gaming entertainments, there could be a range of other money making side activities taking place in Bingo halls in the interval. Clubs and operators need to start innovating in this field rather than relying on this dubious money. Innovation could save the industry, but instead its spending its energies on loopholes like these rather than innovating.

Posted at 5:07 PM | Add your comments [0] | Links |

Saturday, July 19, 2008

A Couple Of Positive Bingo Stories

With so much doom and gloom in the retail industry, the last few months have had a few beacons of light in the shape of the 'potential' tax rebate for Mecca and the change in the amount of Class B3 machines allowed in clubs. Well, I'd like to continue that trend with a couple more positive stories that I've seen in the press the last couple of weeks.

First up is a story of artist Timothy Sutton who used the women stood outside the local Bingo club as the subject for a series of portrait paintings. The series is called Bingo Girls and was on display over the weekend. There's a video of the paintings and the regulars from the club, the Streatham Riva Bingo. Note the blooper where the voice over calls it the Streatham Gala Bingo then two seconds later shows the big Riva Bingo poster (note sent to the BBC.)

And bucking all the trends of the last couple of years, this piece from the Yarmouth Mercury proudly proclaims that 'Bingo Beats Smoke Laws'. The piece doesn't seem to have any real kick to about why they're bucking the trend, or even if they actually are, but seeing it made me smile. I think it's a little more than a slow-season-puff-piece, but there we go, let's hope we start seeing this headline all over.

Posted at 12:01 PM | Add your comments [1] | Links |

Friday, July 18, 2008

Bingo Mugging - Take Steps To Protect Yourself

There's been a lot in the press this last week about a pensioner who was mugged leaving a Mecca Bingo club in Manchester. Lees Bins was attacked from behind as he left the club, and had £1,000 of winnings on him at the time which were stolen. It was a bit of an ordeal for the D-Day veteran, and unfortunately one that happens on a regular basis to the frailer and older Bingo player. I remember the same thing happening at the hall I worked at back in 1990, this time with an elderly female who'd won a substantial amount of money.

In both these cases, it seems that the mugger had knowledge that the victim had won a good enough sum to warrant the crime. Unfortunately this is often the case, and there's no way of guarding against these elements when you go to Bingo. At least, in the sense that they will know you've won and there's nothing to stop them passing that information on.

I won't go into what should be done to these cowardly muggers and the people who gave them their information here, I'll let you use your imagination. Instead, there are actually steps you can take to avoid this happening to you in the instance you have a big win at a Bingo club and have to get home alone.

First up, many Bingo clubs will write you a cheque for your winnings (if they are large enough to warrant it) if you ask them too. It's worth checking with your club ahead of playing just to see what the procedures are first and if they offer this option. Although this may not stop you actually getting mugged, if it does happen you know the robber won't get any money for his trouble and the club can re-write you a cheque and cancel the stolen one.

The second option is to order yourself a Taxi, and wait for the driver to escort you to the car. If you've just had a big win, spending £10 of it to get the money home safely is a good investment. You could also ask a member of staff to escort you from the club to the taxi for added security. The type of low-life that would have the nerve to attack a pensioner on their own is not the type that would take on a pensioner and two other adults. Don't be afraid to ask for this sort of help, the staff at the club should be happy to help.

If you don't want to get a taxi, you could always call a friend or family member and offer them a few quid for petrol. Either way, it's worth taking steps to protect yourself from this sort of opportunistic attack. It's a sad fact of modern life that these sort of things happen at all, and I hope Lees gets better following his ordeal.

Posted at 11:42 AM | Add your comments [0] | Links |

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Bingo Babble - New Interviews, Bingo Hall History And Lost Hall

I can't quite recall who said it, but someone at the 3rd Online Bingo Summit described a number of people as 'Bingo nerds'. Well, I guess I must be one, as this will be Bingo babble to most people, but I'm actually really excited to be making this post as I've got a load of new content up on the site that will be of real interest to us self-confessed Bingo nerds.

So enough babble, and on with the great new content, starting with a couple of new interviews. First up is an interview with Stephen Hare, the Bingo Manager at the new online Bingo site Love Bingo. Love Bingo have tried to offer a bit more than the usual St Minver skin and to make a mark in the market place, in the interview you can read about what they've tried to do that's different and the challenges of setting up a new online Bingo site.

The second interview piece is one of the busiest Bingo commentators around today, Nickie Shute writes for BallsUp Bingo and Bingo Spy but to name two of her sites. Nickie has worked as a CM in her time, and currently writes about Bingo for a number of clients as well as for her own sites. We met at the Online Bingo Summit last month after lots of chatting and gossiping in IM. She agreed to do an interview about her work and experiences in the game. You can read the interview with Nickie Shute here.

I'm also really stoked to be able to post the latest instalment of Ian Grundy's ongoing series of articles looking at the history of some of the UK's best looking Bingo halls. In this one he takes us on a photographic tour of Shrewsbury's Gala Bingo club, The Granada. The photographs are stunning, I've never seen this hall before, but it's colour scheme and décor are pretty remarkable, I'd love to visit for a game just to take it all in.

And whilst we're on the subject of Bingo halls, I was contacted by Tony Mettam from Staveley, with the offer for a photograph of his local, the Regal Bingo And Social Club which shut down in October 2007. I've added a page to the Lost Halls section of the site for the club, as well as Tony's picture. If you've got any photos of this club's interior, or any closed down club come to that, drop us a line here at the site and I'll put some pages together to show them off.

Phew, it's been a busy week - and I've really enjoyed putting this stuff together and up on the site. It doesn't end there, I have some plans for some more exciting content for the site in coming months, and the Club Finder section is also having a lot of work done to add clubs to it, finally! So, if you enjoy a bit of the Bingo babble like I do, stick around and be a Bingo nerd with me!

Posted at 9:36 PM | Add your comments [0] | Links |

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Rank Confirms HMRC To Appeal VAT Ruling

Here's on appeal case we'll all be hoping gets thrown out for the good of the industry. In a statement the Rank Group has said the HMRC will appeal against the VAT and Duties Tribunal ruling that would give the company a £36 million VAT rebate.

It's not expected the appeal will be held until 2009 at the earliest, which isn't good news for the company, or any other Bingo operator hoping to claim back what could be years worth of wrongly collected VAT. According to Rank's statement, it's expecting the case to go to the High Court next year, which in itself could be a big cost if the company losses alongside the fact it could do with these excess revenues during these turbulent times. If the VAT and Duties Tribunal agreed, I can't see why a High Court judge would want to turn over their considered and expert opinion. Good luck to Mecca Bingo on this one I say.

Posted at 12:24 PM | Add your comments [0] | Links |

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