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Brett Hyrjak - Image Courtesy of the NBGAWelcome! You've found your way to Brett Hyrjak's corner of Playing Bingo. Get yourself comfy and pull up a web page - share a few minutes with the Bingo Caller Of The Year 2006 and GalaTV caller.

Brett will be dropping by monthly with his own personal column, exclusive to Playing Bingo. Brett will be writing about his experiences as a Bingo caller and an ambassador for the game. Funny experiences, calling tips and lots of Bingo related anecdotes are expected!

If you'd like to find out more about Brett and his background and how he prepared for the 2006 Bingo Caller Of The Year competition, you can read a full interview with him in the Playing Bingo Articles And Interviews section. Subscribe (Atom) to Brett's Corner.

Thursday, 2 July 2009

hands off our balls!!! Players storm the capital

The bingo industry have finally joined forces, along with customers and have stormed parliament to urge the government to reduce the bingo tax laws: Well, when I say storm; I really mean that on one of the hottest days of the year around three hundred players and staff visited the capital to stage a peaceful demonstration on an open top bus whilst waving placards and chanting slogans such as '1 and 5 keeps bingo alive'

It's pleasing to see that the bingo playing public are willing to stand up for the clubs and try to make a concerted effort to ge the people that matter to listen and amend these unfair taxation laws.

Although in a flipside to this, after an announcement that a club in Pitsea is to close at the end of the month some customers were reported to say that they were not surprised about the news: a bit defeatest some may say; but unfortunately maybe these people are realists?

It's the players that use the clubs as a social event though that I feel most sorry for: the shutting of smaller non-profit making hall's means another place lost where people can meet friends and feel welcome.

Hopefully the government will not wait much longer to amend this law: and not wait until the next general election to throw the bingo tax into the pot as 'bait' to tempt voters to tick there parties box!!!

check this link out for more on the protest....including an audio clip about the demonstration.

Posted by Brett at 22:27 | Add your comments [0] | Links |

Monday, 22 June 2009

stop the bullying players...No matter how old they are!

You would think in today's climate that there would be plenty of seats available in the bingo hall to accommodate everyone. Well not for a 96 year old pensioner from Scotland who has now been banned from every club in the country after punching a manager in the face!!!!

After finding out that her regular seat had been taken, the OAP decided to have a shouting match demanding her table back. Apparently when the assistant manager came to calm down proceedings he was rewarded with a left hook from the pensioner! She now has been banned from every one of the companies clubs for life!

Reading between the lines on this it seems to me that this player has been a constant menace for a while: Every club seems to have one such member (most clubs have at least a dozen!!!) and reports suggested that this was not the first time that the player had acted out of order. It's just a shame that they could only take action on the disruptive member after a physical altercation had taken place. And kudos to the assistant manager for not reacting to being smacked one. I don't think I would have shown the same restraint.....imagine if they had reacted....the pensioner would have sued and the papers would be going on about how an adult had smacked a poor old defenceless 96 year old lady!!! Will the assistant manager get justice for being whacked in the face....I doubt it!!!


Posted by Brett at 15:00 | Add your comments [0] | Links |

Sunday, 14 June 2009

I like very much,,,,,,,,,its nice

Remember a couple of years ago when Sacha Baron Cohen's 'Borat' invaded America causing mayhem, not to mention several lawsuits. Well his new alter-ego 'Bruno' has started where Borat left off; only this time he has upset the US bingo community!!

A woman who ran a charity bingo game in America is suing the former Ali G star after she claims she was 'offensively touched, pushed and battered' which caused her to fall to the floor (sometime later apparently) and hit her head on concrete: confining her to a wheelchair ever since!

Now, this could be clever PR for the movie. All the hype from the Borat movie mainly came from Americans filing damage's claims left, right and centre (or should that be center!?!?!) and maybe they are doing the same sort of stuff for this film. Or it could be a genuine claim for what could have been a very distressing situation?

It's funny though that this suit has been filed after the victim realised that this was a motion picture film and not just a small Austrian documentary crew. America, it seems, hates to be the butt of any sort of jokes; especially when it makes them look stupid, un-educated, homophobic or racist.

I have a funny feeling though that when Bruno is released worldwide then we shall see what actually happened in the incident and realise that the law suit is being filed out of embarrassment rather than victimisation.

Now can I get a free ticket for the premier Sacha? hmmmmmmmmm?

Posted by Brett at 04:16 | Add your comments [0] | Links |

Tuesday, 9 June 2009

Where's my hair??

Just a selfish little thing. I searched for my name on Youtube and this little gem popped up!!!!! Me on the automated bingo TV service. Thanks to the person that uploaded it (I think I know who you are!!)
Click and watch it and maybe I'll get a million hits!!!


Posted by Brett at 04:18 | Add your comments [0] | Links |

Watch out taxman.........bingo wants it's money back!!!!

Yeah!!!!!!! Gordon Brown might have been perplexed the other day when the bingo player ranted at him about the unfair taxation on the bingo industry, but he will be fully aware of the game now as the bingo companies will be seeking to reclaim around £500 million for being overcharged on tax on ancilliary games.

This story has been around for the last 18 months or so and it is pleasing to see that the judgement has been upheld (One of the few advantages of being in the European Union!)

Although this might be another headache for our countries economic security, at least it could save the jobs of a lot of people in the bingo halls and ensure that the remaining operating clubs in the country stay open and in business. Although I do agree with this site that the government are sure to make the bingo industry pay for 'doing them over' with some other inventive tax on the game!

Nice one!!!!!!!

Posted by Brett at 03:58 | Add your comments [0] | Links |

Tuesday, 2 June 2009

You don't need to see to play bingo!!!!!

Here is a story about a blind woman in the states who has won a battle to make electronic tickets audible when a claim is found so that she can stop the game. Apparently in the US, up until this judgement the consoles played on in bingo clubs there had to be silent. Over in this country the sound on these machines vary from club to club and from each different brand of electronic gaming machine.

I know that I have been rather technologically minded in my last few post's, but I think the bingo industry is missing out on something here. Believe it or not, in my time working in the halls I had several players that came in and played who were either visually impaired or totally blind. They played the game either by bringing in a carer to assist in the game, or in the case of one of my old regulars in Bognor Regis we photocopied the tickets to A4 size so that they could see them. If we could make these electronic terminals more user friendly for the visually impaired in the community then we could open up the bingo clubs to a whole new breed of player.

And to solve the problem of customers complaining about the beeps and whistles of these terminals then there is this great invention that can combat this.......something that could also be used by the ignorant kids on buses and trains when they play there tinny music constantly on there mobile phones.......an invention called the EARPHONE!!!!!

Most modern clubs now have hearing loops installed so that people with compatible hearing aids can play along and listen to the caller clearly.....so why not do something to assist the blind to play the game?


Posted by Brett at 14:27 | Add your comments [0] | Links |

Tuesday, 26 May 2009

Ton up your bad selves!!!!!

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned about bingo's oldest player at 102. Well, another centenarian has now entered the 'record' mix as perhaps being the player who has travelled the furthest to take part in a session of bingo!!!!!

Jean is a former Scot who is now based in Canada, who, for her 100Th birthday travelled over 3,000 miles to play bingo in a club in Dundee.........because it has a better atmosphere than her local club in Canada!!!!!

Her sprightly nature and her determined attitude just goes to show that bingo can keep you active and young..........so grab a dabber and join in!!!!!!

Posted by Brett at 12:14 | Add your comments [0] | Links |

Wednesday, 13 May 2009

you'll never get rid of the dabbers....part 2.......the debate!!!!

My main piece this month is a follow up to last months discussion over modern technology coming into the bingo clubs today. I ended the blog by stating that you can never get rid of the paper bingo but after reading articles this month I am not so sure. A woman was reported to have missed out on £1000 in winnings because the caller did not stop the game when she shouted and instead carried on. Now, missed claims are not an unusual story in the world of bingo, in actual fact it happens all the time. In this instance the customer has kicked up a fuss and taken her story to the local press. I just hope that the club involved hold steadfast in keeping to the rules of the game (unless of course it is proven that the caller did indeed make an error and 'missed' the claim) instead of bowing down to media pressure. But could modern technology get rid of missed claims for good; or would it interfere with the 'skill' aspect of the game?

For as long as I can remember, the way to play bingo was to buy your books, listen and dab off the numbers on your cards, and scream like a banshee when the last number completes the line/2 lines/house. Over the last couple of years though more and more technology has been brought into place which has made this process easier for the player. Handheld electronic tickets which keep an eye on your best tickets as you dab them off and alert you to when you have won are now commonplace in most modern clubs. And now the computer terminals are popping up where: via a touchscreen/swipe card method you can now purchase, play and win without even leaving your seat. The winning is automatic and the prizes are instantly put back onto your card. I have even heard reports from players in some clubs that the shouting aspect has gone from the terminal players as all the player has to do is to press a button on the touchscreen to alert the caller to the claim; and as long as the caller is being stopped by the player (no matter whether it is through a shout/a button press that pops up on the callers monitor/ or by somebody sounding a klaxon and throwing there knickers on the stage!) then they are playing according to the club rules, which everyone accepts when they become a club member.

But is this fair though? I remember when playing bingo was all about the skill of it. You would learn how to play by your mother or friend or whoever dragged you down to the club. Invariably you would miss your first claim because you never realised you had a line, or that you never knew you had to shout the moment the number came out, and quite quickly you would make sure that you would never make the same mistake again. I have to say that I am one of the fortunate few who have never missed out on a claim whilst playing (although there was one instance where my two lines came out of nowhere and the next number came out, but fortunately me shouting down the house stopped the caller from starting it!) and this has mostly to do with the fact that I have seen literally tens of dozens of people miss out by either being too slow, too quiet, or even too shy to stop the claim. In these people's cases maybe the computerised way of playing might be more beneficial to them? How many new players I wonder visit a club for the first time only to become overwhelmed by the variety and pace of the game, miss a claim, then never come back because it was all too complicated for them? Die hard old-school bingo players might say 'tough' if a new player misses out. At the end of the day a player missing out means another chance for them to win. I bet the player who won the full house from the disabled pensioner in the article didn't forgo the prize because it wasn't fair that the caller hadn't heard the earlier claim. You BET they didn't! They were probably cursing when they heard the commotion beforehand and then went 'goodie' when the caller refused the complaint and carried on with the game. This is just the nature of the game......But would totally automated bingo be the solution to the 'missed claim' forever?

Play bingo at any site on your computer and the game is played in front of you. Whilst you are talking in the chat rooms.....or making a cup of tea.....your tickets are being dabbed off automatically and your winnings are claimed for straight away. If online gaming operated in the same way as the bricks and mortar business then I think that bingo online would have ended a long time ago. The amount of lawsuits would be astronomical; not to mention that the gaming commission would be shutting sites left, right and centre for cheating the players out of winnings that were meant to be theirs. It shouldn't take a lot of effort to make all bingo clubs run in a similar way, and wouldn't this be easier for everyone? Totally automated bingo whereby the players could dab without fear of missing out on a prize? Or would that take away the whole point of playing and winning at bingo? What's the point of dabbing if the winnings are automatically credited to you?

To be totally honest with you I have no definitive opinion on this matter: Do we keep the old methods whereby if you miss the last number you miss the prize, or do we go the online route and automatically stop the claims? Discuss...........

Posted by Brett at 00:09 | Add your comments [0] | Links |

Saturday, 9 May 2009

how low can you go?

What sort of lowlife would go to a social club to steal a pensioners handbag? THIS sort of man would and did. The good news is that he got caught: The bad news is that he got let off with just a community order. Bingo has always been known for being a friendly place where people can relax and enjoy themselves and even get to meet new friends. This pensioner was only being nice to a new face in her social club and was showing him how to play bingo: and she gets repaid by getting ripped off at the first opportunity. The sad thing is that she is going to think twice before trying to help anyone out again......and that's tragic.

Posted by Brett at 19:50 | Add your comments [0] | Links |

Thursday, 30 April 2009

Happy 102nd birthday to the 'oldest bingo player?'

what is the secret to a long and healthy life? A report a few years ago suggested that bingo kept the mind active and improved the brains functions, which could explain how this lady is celebrating her 102nd birthday!!!!!
Anne from Bradford celebrated this momentous occasion by going down to her local bingo to have a game. She has been doing this for decades and frequents the club around five days a week!! Before the club was opened she would travel for miles around on the bus to get her bingo fix.....much to the worry of her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren!!!!!!

Congratulations to you Anne.....and keep on winning. You are putting us 'young-uns' to shame!!

Posted by Brett at 21:12 | Add your comments [0] | Links |

Friday, 24 April 2009

justice in the bingo!!!

A man has been jailed for 4 years after trying to guarantee themselves a win in bingo.....by robbing the place. After an attempt to rob a social club, Shaun Grooby then moved on to his local bingo club in Aylesbury where he managed to gain access to the clubs safe and £25,000 in cash. Fortunately justice has been served swiftly and this thief is now behind bars.

Posted by Brett at 23:36 | Add your comments [0] | Links |

A journalist who has actually been to a club for longer than five minutes!!!!

Check out this meaty article from the local press recently about modern day bingo. The thing I like about this is that the journalist writing the article has actually made the effort to get away from the 'easy' stereotypical view of the bingo industry. It actually portrays a truer view of the industry and also highlights the more positive aspects of the clubs-including the new technology and the new younger players that are visiting the halls. A couple of things in the article stick out a bit though.......the chance to win £3.25million on a link game is a slight exaggeration (maybe the complementary drinks had taken there toll by then!!) but I am just nitpicking really on an article that can only be positive for the industry. Nice one Ingrid!!!!!

Posted by Brett at 23:20 | Add your comments [0] | Links |

Monday, 13 April 2009

you'll never get rid of the dabbers!!!!!

A story has grabbed me this month about a club that has decided to turn it's back on the 21st century bingo.....and is giving the traditional game another chance.

For those of you that are not in the know the bingo world has changed in club in the last couple of years. Go to your local hall now and you will find electronic gaming sections where players can take portable consoles to there seats instead of the 'old fashioned' paper tickets and mark there numbers off with a stylus instead of a dabber. There are even terminals where you can swipe your membership card and play via a touch screen interface, which can even claim for you via a press of a button!

The technology in club is moving so fast in fact that even I don't know the precise details of the latest developments in the playing of the game! Handheld consoles were only just introduced when I left the clubs to join the windswept and exciting world of TV, so this high-tech style of play is something that I am not overly familiar with. I have played in clubs though over the last few months and have become accustomed with the beeps and shouts from people who have won on the these new contraptions and have a certain affinity with what older generations of customers have to say about the new style of playing. Whether I agree with them however is another matter:

When handheld consoles were first introduced in our small club in Bognor Regis, the general consensus was that they would never work (including from myself). Why would you want to tap a screen instead of dabbing the numbers off yourself? Wouldn't it take the fun away from the game? However after a few weeks of them being in the club we were finding that more and more people were opting into this new style of playing: our newer players were finding it easier to keep up with the bingo, especially as the computers kept them informed of when they were waiting for one number, and our regular players were beginning to see the positive sides of playing via this method (you can play more than 6 tickets on these consoles which means more chance of winning)

In today's climate, the bingo world is looking for more and more ways to keep there heads above the water. This new technology not only opens the possibility to generate much needed revenue; but it also captures the minds of the younger breed of players and gets us ever closer to a possible union between the online market and the bricks and mortar halls: Just think about the possibility of playing one EPIC game between players in the hall's, online and on the TV at the same time......now that's a game that I would LOVE to call!!!!!!!

No matter what side of the bingo coin you look upon.......the advances in the bingo world are here to stay......but perhaps the paper bingo is here to stay also?.........As long as there's still a job for me in the long run then I am happy!!!!!!!!

Posted by Brett at 22:57 | Add your comments [0] | Links |

Monday, 6 April 2009

All the 999's, lifesaving time!!!!!!

Nice sweet story in the press this week regarding a woman who's life was saved by an off-duty paramedic whilst down at the bingo. Luckily the paramedic was at the right place at the right time because he was only dropping off his wife at the club and not playing himself.

Heart attacks, unfortunately are rather more common occurrences in the bingo than anyone would like. I think in my career it has happened in club about half a dozen times: There was even a time in a club in Brighton where someone had actually passed away quietly during the session and was not discovered until someone realised that they hadn't come up to get there main session tickets like they normally did!

The weird thing is though, in every situation that I have had with someone falling ill during the session; the bingo still has to be played!!!! I have had to call bingo when the paramedics have arrived and are tending to the stricken customer....which I thought was odd the first time.....until I thought about it and realised that it is better to keep on playing rather than stopping the session and drawing all of the attention onto a very personal situation.

Don't worry though: in all bingo clubs that I know, a first-aider has to be on site at all times; which means that if the worst was to happen you are never far away from help and assistance.

Posted by Brett at 21:00 | Add your comments [0] | Links |

Friday, 27 March 2009

another club closes......

Well, another week, another bingo hall closes........as the recession hits the country big style, a flagship club in Preston has to shut its doors just 2 short years after a big grand opening!!!!!!

What makes it more poignant for me is that one of my bingo buddies and north-west bingo caller of the year Allen is the caller there! (you can read more about him here)

Brownie points to the company involved though as they have tried there best to redeploy the staff to other clubs on it's books, however there are still redundancies for around half of the employees. I know that Allen is going to another club so good luck with that mate.

It just goes to show that no club is safe from this current climate at the moment, lets hope it doesn't happen near you or in your club.

Posted by Brett at 03:27 | Add your comments [1] | Links |

Monday, 23 March 2009

The boy's are back in bingo.

the lads are back in the bingo!!!!.......although in a strictly online sense of the word as this article shows. Apparently there study has found that nearly 1 in 5 players in the online bingo world are now male.....

Now, regular readers of this website will know that we support the bingo playing men of this country; I'm a man myself (last time I checked) and it is pleasing to see that some of the media are beginning to realise that this bingo lark is not 'just for the ladies'. Maybe now, the advertising executives will start aiming there commercials towards a more 'general' audience......and I don't mean getting bleeding Vic Reeves to wear another dress again!!!!!!!!!

Posted by Brett at 12:51 | Add your comments [0] | Links |

Sunday, 15 March 2009

Prize and Party

Was browsing through one of the groups on a well known networking site and stumbled across a topic about Prize and Party and how to generate more income from these ancillary games. It's a topic that is potentially crucial to the survival of the bingo industry; especially when you have to factor into it the governments meddling in the bingo market; increasing taxes and limiting profit making ventures.

For those of you that are unaware, Prize and Party are the games that are played in between sessions of bingo and are faster and quicker than the traditional bingo games. In actual fact, the party bingo style of playing where you are looking for coloured lines/corners/etc is probably most peoples first experience of bingo; as this is the game that is played in almost every seaside resort in the country. You remember? The ones where you played for vouchers and the more you won the bigger the prize that you could claim. (you needed about 1,000 wins for a toaster....etc, etc!!)


Well, Prize and Party bingo is the main source of income for the clubs.......well it was......until the smoking ban came into effect.

Before the ban, it was easy to persuade people to pop a few 10p's into the slot's on there tables and the government had helped out the industry a couple of years prior and made certain P+P games exempt from tax (wow, the government helping us out.......I know!!!) A lot of clubs (especially the smaller independents) were dependent on the profits raised from these games (as the majority of the stakes from the main sessions of bingo would go straight onto the prize board)

When the smoking ban came into effect-first in Scotland, then Wales and finally England the impact was dramatic and immediate. Instead of people popping there coins in for the first full-house game on there boards, there was instead a mass exodus out of the building as 3/4 of the players got there nicotine fix!!!!! Calling Party bingo on that first night was a bit of shock for me I can tell you!!!!! Companies in the first few weeks were throwing money at the prize boards on the party games.....looking to keep the players in and to pop there coins in but with little effect......it seemed the demon weed had beaten the bingo bug for the players!!!!!!

So, any idea's to change the fortunes for Prize and Party bingo? Well some clubs are thinking positively about this to the point that if bingo players are outside then we must bring the games to them. A club in Fenton are one of the latest clubs to provide outdoor P+P gaming for there smoking players. A great idea, but one that can only be limited to certain bigger companies and certain club locations.

One of the great things about working in a club on a holiday camp like I had to do for over 2 years is that we would have to be inventive to persuade the players to part with there holiday cash. We were dealing with BRAND NEW BINGO players every week who would only pop there coins in if they knew what they were playing for and how to win it. So we introduced a spate of free prize games at the start of the night....This would encourage our regular players to come in earlier and the other new players would learn the ropes of the game at no cost to them. We would then award the winners of the free games vouchers to redeem at the bar or off the cost of there books.......clever eh? Also we introduced budget games of Party bingo whereby they would get 6 games for a £1 (5x10p and one 50p game) instead of the usual 2 or 3. The prizes were smaller but getting 6 chances to win a prize instead of just a couple, would tempt the players in.

A lot of clubs now have dual boards on the tables. This means that one player can play on two boards at one unit instead of the usual one. What you are finding now is a lot of clubs offer the 'b' board free, once again giving the player an extra incentive to play along as there chances to win will be 'doubled'. With the spate of new technology coming into the bingo clubs in the 21st century you can also play on high-tec units that offer you the chance to play on 2/4/6/or even 8 electronic boards at a time, which claim automatically for you so you never miss out on your prize.

However I tell you what I would like to see though....and that is the return to simpler times in the P+P world. Back in the 70's and 80's the Party games were huge and the prizes on offer were not just cash prizes but also other goods such as food or teddies or electronic items (just like down the seaside) An old manager of mine in the 70's had an entire department of the bingo club dedicated to this where the players would play for there vouchers and collect them so they could win that teasmade that they were after for there mum for Xmas, for example! It was a system that rewarded not only the regular players, but also the company. Some nights nobody would claim anything so monies earned were pure profit....and also the goods on offer were bought at wholesale rate, so when the time came to give some prizes away, they were usually cost price only. This is a way of playing P+P bingo that has been fading away over the past few years...although some clubs still give away prizes of choccies over Xmas and Easter time (which I have a bugbear about; but save that for another blog!!!!)

Also there is a way where a £1 game of P+P can be played for a premium prize (such as a laptop, or a mountain bike) which is underused in a lot of clubs......infact it is something that I was aware of in my club but never did. The fact of the matter is that if I was a smoker in today's bingo halls, maybe the incentive of spending a quid and winning a PS3 or a new TV would out-way my bodies demands to inflict it with toxic chemicals.........

To cut a long and wondering story short, as an old hand at Prize and Party, you have to think inventively to keep your audiences attention. Whereas as a bingo caller all ears are on you....to be a P+P caller you have to be more of a character and a salesperson to stop these players leaving there tables. A lot of companies are looking to the future to keep the players in the building.....maybe they should look at bingo past to try and find alternatives to keeping the players popping there coins in.................

Posted by Brett at 14:48 | Add your comments [3] | Links |

Monday, 9 March 2009

Bleeding eck!!!!!!

ark at this article about a pensioner being booted out of her local bingo club because she was smoking a 'pretend cigarette'!!!!!! Has the country gone well and truly mad; or is it just the bingo manager at this particular club. Apparently the pensioner was removed because it was 'in the best interests of the club.'

Was there a threat of 'pretend secondary smoke', or were the other players envious that they hadn't thought of doing the same thing and complained to the manager.

What next? Somebody is kicked out for wearing a nicorette patch? Someone tells off a vegetarian because they are eating a quorn sausage and 'cheating the system' Bleeding nora!!!!!!!

ADDITIONAL: trust me for not checking out this sites home page first as i have now found out that this topic has already been mentioned. After reading what has been said about the situation it seems that it is another case of the media 'bending' the truth. Although I still cannot see the difference between someone 'smoking' an electronic cigarette to having a nicorette patch or gum or otherwise. The whole thing about the smoking ban was not about the individual, but more about the secondary smoke that impacts on the surrounding area, especially in public places. These new forms of nicotine consumption do not affect anybody but the person involved: If they want to contaminate there own bodies then it is there choice. maybe these new E-cigarettes can be marketed so it is obvious that the customer is inhaling a 'fake' cigarette.....make them blue, put logo's on them.....I don't know!!!!! As the article stated, most smokers prefer the more natural method of fulfilling there habit anyway and will wait until a suitable time to satisfy there needs.

This example however shows that slowly but surely the act of smoking is fast becoming a negative trait in public behaviour................whether it be a real or fake sneaky drag!!!!!!!

Posted by Brett at 01:37 | Add your comments [1] | Links |

Thursday, 26 February 2009

still holding back on VAT cuts

You would think that in a recession the government would be doing everything that they can to maintain the economy and keep people in work. However this still does not apply to the bingo industry who are still being unfairly taxed; with the ultimate result being club closures and job losses. Over 100 clubs have shut in the last couple of years; an average of around 1 a week!!!! It has been announced today that the double-taxation on the industry will continue with the exchequers secretary saying that the woes in the clubs are not to be blamed on the government alone.

Well.................Thanks very much.........

Posted by Brett at 15:47 | Add your comments [0] | Links |

Sunday, 22 February 2009

THE bingo industry magazine has been suspended

Another story that has sneaked up on me is the suspension of the bingo link magazine. For those of you who are not in the know the bingo link is THE industry quarterly magazine. For years it has informed the bingo world of all things 'numbery' (is that a word?.................it is now!) including providing all news on the bingo caller of the year competition. I have appeared in it numerous times and it was one of the first things that I would read when I was preparing for my competitons. The information found in there was a barometer for the bingo industry as a whole. I hope that it's suspension is not another barometer of where the industry is going.....................................................................

Posted by Brett at 03:13 | Add your comments [0] | Links |

Saturday, 21 February 2009

Are you feeling good?????!!!!!!!!

I must admit....with my windswept and interesting life I don't have the time to watch a lot of television. My priorities lie with my new fiancee whenever I get back from London working (Why am I working in London? I shall tell more soon) and my other girls Keely and Kelly (my computer and PS3 respectiviley!!)

However, apparently there is a TV show called the feel good factor which is all about losing weight or something, and some of the bingo world have decided to join in the 'weight-loss' fun!!!!!!

Good luck to them is all I can say. Looking at the article and watching the clip I wish all the 'bingo lovers' great success in getting to there target weight's.

It reminds me of the last great bingo weight loser a couple of years ago.

Charlie Walduck was a bingo caller who was around 40 stone and lost over 25 stone in just 20 months!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Unfortunately he has left the bingo in recent times, but you can catch up on his story here.

Posted by Brett at 02:59 | Add your comments [0] | Links |

Tuesday, 10 February 2009

even more tales of the president's step-mother!!!!

I know I have been harping on about this over my last few blogs but this is another story about the presidents bingo-playing step-mother. (The USA secret service must be getting really peeved looking at this blog again and again!!!)

Anyway, I was flicking through my most favourite of newspapers last Saturday and fell across yet another story about Kezia Obama. This time the journalist involved actually made the effort to go to a bingo club to conduct a section of the interview.

Although I liked the piece as a whole; the one thing that annoys me once again is the tired view of bingo through the eyes of the lazy journalist and I have come up with a theory: These journalists are 'dayworkers'. They get up at 6:30am, travel to there office and work until 5pm. Therefore any story has to be told within this time-frame; which generally means that they visit a bingo hall for a news's story on a midweek morning/afternoon where they experience only 'one side' of the bingo world. It is a valid side and one that is an essential part of the industry.

 However, the more 'vibrant' side of the business is generally the night-time trade where the prizes are bigger and the crowds are more diverse. Why don't the journalist's visit then when they could garner a 'different' opinion of the bingo world? 

I await the time when a journalist actually ventures out after dark and experiences another side of the bingo industry.....one that I have seen on a regular basis: and one that keeps me coming back to this great game!!!!!!!!!!


Posted by Brett at 02:28 | Add your comments [1] | Links |

Tuesday, 3 February 2009

....it's like four seasons in one day.....as crowded house once sang!!!!

Crikey! Have you looked out of the window recently! Its like the north pole out there. What I can't seem to fathom though is how come on Monday the transport system ground to a halt and increased my journey time from London to Bristol from just over 2and a half hours to just over 4 hours; and yet today when the weather is just as bad that they are running a fantastic service!? I suppose I'm just disgruntled as I could have done with a day off work to spend with the missus!

Anyway, the train journey has given me the opportunity to write this and I'm going to talk about the weather and bingo!

I'm going to start with a story about a tornado that ripped through the heart of Bognor Regis about ten years ago (yes seriously! Although when I say 'ripped through' it was really more like 'sauntered through') This was one of those rare occasions where the bingo club actually closed its doors because who in there right mind would risk torrential storms (and tornado's!) to have a game of bingo???........................................................................

....................................................................I think you can guess the answer to that......that's right, bingo bonkers players. The club had to turn away about 50 people that night who had driven, or even worse, walked the distance to the club to get there number fix. From the married couple who always argued throughout the whole session, to the 85 year old who walked the 25 minutes from her rest home to the bingo because the buses had all been canceled (due to the tornado 'ripping' sorry 'sauntering' through the town) This is endearing, if not a little potty, and perfectly defines my impression of the bingo bonkers players that visit every club across the land.

The floods a couple of years ago meant that a club in Gloucester had to shut there doors. But that didn't stop the players as they travelled around 40 miles just to play in my 'drier' club in Bristol!

Even the hot summers, where the clubs lacking air conditioning would reach desert-like temperatures, you would still get the regulars coming, fans in hand!

And now I'm sure that with snow affecting most of the land, players young and old alike will be trudging and slipping to there nearest bingo club to grab a win. Who knows they might even think that with the adverse weather conditions there would be more chance of winning, due to less people being able to make it! And hopefully they will be rewarded for there effort!!! Maybe with a nice hot mug of tea....that is, if the tea urn hasn't broken down again!!!!

Anyway take care guys and see you soon.

Posted by Brett at 13:07 | Add your comments [0] | Links |

Saturday, 17 January 2009

More on the Presidents step mum.......

The last post about Obama's mum was taken from a local newspaper's website...........now she's nationwide baby yeah!!!!!
Appearing in the majority of the papers yesterday was the story of Kezia going to her Step-sons inauguration with various plugs from different companies along the way!!!!!
I hope she has a great time; but one piece of news will delight us lot: She has said that she will never leave Britain because she would miss her 'Sunday roasts' and her 'Bingo'......Good on ya girl!!!!

Posted by Brett at 11:47 | Add your comments [0] | Links |

Sunday, 11 January 2009

The President's mum is shouting (the white) house!!!!

Remember the article I wrote last year about the president of the united states step-mother being a huge bingo fan.........well she is back!!!!!!!!!!!!!

She is promoting a special game of bingo for the Sue Ryder charity which is being held at galabingo.com which is being run around the same time as she jets off to the States to be there for her little boy's presidential inauguration!!!!!!

Hopefully she can persuade the president to visit her in blighty soon so she can take him down her local club for a game!!!!!!!! Now that would put the UK bingo industry on the map!!!!!

Oh and P.S: Are you like me and watch all of those high-tech espionage films where they say that the US government have 'trigger words' that they look out for on the internet so that they can intercept any potential terrorist threats? I'm sure that 'president of the United states' is one of them?!  If so, then........HELLO THERE GOVERNMENT TYPE OFFICIAL PEOPLE. HOPE YOU LIKE THE BLOG.......IF YOU EVER ARE IN THE UK THEN VISIT A BINGO CLUB ONE DAY.......BUT BE WARNED: IT IS A LOT QUICKER THEN THE U.S VERSION........DON'T WORRY THOUGH, THE LADY ON THE TABLE NEXT TO YOU WILL HELP YOU OUT. HAVE A NICE DAY!!!!!!

Posted by Brett at 05:24 | Add your comments [0] | Links |

Monday, 5 January 2009

eh? customer complains over winnings fiasco.......

hello and welcome. my first piece of news from 2009 centres around this article . If you don't click on the link basically it is a story of a woman who won a big game at her local club, thinking that she had won £250,000 when instead she had only won £5,000!
To be honest with you....because I haven't worked in a bingo hall for the last year and a half, I can't be sure who to believe here.......my first theory was that it was the National game and she called it quick....but not quick enough to win the jackpot prize, or that it could be the bingo companies own link based game. The main question is though; why was the customer not told on the night her true winning prize?
For those of you who rarely visit the halls, when a game like the National is played, there is a specified amount of time a club has to wait before being told the results. (a lot like the national lotto game where the early results are announced an hour or so after the draw has been made) Now I remember loads of occasions in my time where a customer has won the National in a fast amount of calls (45 or less usually) who has left the club (usually to catch the bus!) before the results have come in!!!! Maybe something like that happened here. If your 6 numbers come up on the Lotto and you don't bother to ring the claim line straight-away, you could be running around thinking that you have won £5million when in actual fact you are splitting the win with 20 other players!!!!!
Anyway, to cut a long story short the article does not make it very clear what the story is here and reeks of a lazy journalist not being able to understand the situation and just capturing the bullet points. Also it smacks of an upset customer who is not pleased with there change in fortune and has told the manager of the bingo club that they are going to the press to humiliate the club!!!!! As long as this story does not end the same way as the story of the customer who shouted too late then I will be happy!!!!!

Posted by Brett at 14:08 | Add your comments [0] | Links |

Thursday, 1 January 2009

My review of 2008

hello folks and welcome to 2009!!!!!!!! Just made the effort to stumble out of bed and get on my blog before having to go to work and pretend to be happy and joyous for 8 hours! (how many of us have to do that today?!?!?!?)

So I am looking back over my blogs and stories over the last 12 months in the bingo world and the recurrent theme seems to be 'DOOM AND GLOOM' Lots of news at the start of the year about bingo clubs closing ,not to mention the constant pressure by the bingo association to abolish the unfair double taxation on the industry..........before ultimately failing to get the government to listen to the industries pleas. These two pieces of information tally, because without this tax relief on the bingo clubs, more and more clubs in the country had no other choice but to downsize or shut their doors. Factor in the smoking ban in England and the government changing the way in which fruit machines are taxed/classed and that is the reason that we are saying that there are now around 500 bingo halls in the country as opposed to 600 odd just a couple of years ago! The only ray of sunlight though in this saga is the recent announcement from Rank about getting a rebate of nearly £60million back from the government. If this decision is upheld then expect to see a swarm of other bingo operators taking the government to the cleaners!!!!!

One of the few good points however about the 2006 gaming act is the ability to retain stake on prize money, basically meaning rollover jackpots. This has meant that there has never been a better time to win a life-changing amount down the local club. Countless stories throughout the year about regular people winning huge sums always means good publicity for the industry. But (and there always seems to be a 'but'!) this increased prize potential has also meant more stories about prize money disputes between friends and families. Some disputes have even made it to the national press.....with the story about the brawling sisters fighting over £20k making it to one of the tabloids.

Speaking of money and disputes and the such-like there seemed to be a lot of articles about bingo robberies going on in the press in 2008..........some ranging from customers getting mugged for their winnings, to actual armed assaults on the clubs. However one of the saddest stories involve actual managers and staff being caught with there 'hands in the till'. In-club thievery is something that struck a chord with me and I dedicated one of my 2008 blogs to it to raise some light on the situation.

Obviously the credit crunch has been in the forefront of the nations minds as well and the bingo industry hasn't escaped from it either with plenty of stories about companies downsizing and consolidating there interests to keep the business tangible. However it is pleasing to know that the big companies were announcing a recent upturn in footfall in the bingo clubs towards the end of the year which could signal a revitalisation for the bingo halls in 2009. In my opinion a night out down the bingo is still a reasonably cheap night, especially when you compare it to a night at the cinema at £10 a ticket and £5 for popcorn or a trip to your local pub with drinks at £3 a pint!

One of the more personal pieces of bingo news for 2008 was the 'postponement' of the NBGA bingo caller of the year competition due to the 'climate in the industry'. Even though I am no longer eligible for the contest (due to being on the telly) I was stilled saddened by the news......hopefully all will be sorted this year and the competition comes back bigger and better.

Here are some more snippets from 2008, some large some small, that were my favorites for varying reasons:


The daily mails new bingo site: wowsers....the newspaper that likes to deride the whole gambling ethic, the paper that had more front page 'horror stories' about the initial 2006 gaming act proposals than any other....................opens it's own bingo site online!!!!!!!!!!!! Hypocrisy is a word that seems to have eluded these people! The good thing is though they seem to be centering there attentions on destroying the careers of overpaid TV celebrities at the moment so maybe bingo and the such-like will get a break from them this year!!!!!!

Nice stories of 'sharing' winners: we had a winner sharing £1.2million with her neighbour in March and another winner of over £1million sharing with there sister-in-law. No squabbles. no lawyers, no family break-ups. Just the way it should be.

Robbers set fire to themselves: I never like talking about armed robberies in the bingo (a few years ago this sort of thing was unheard of) but this story cheered me up as the robbers torched there getaway car.....with one of them getting set alight in the process!!!!!!!! HAHA!!!!

Gala link winners/losers: The sadist in me likes this story from December. Although the article mentions the winners I can't help but think about the 1/4 of the players who opted out of the game. Just one question.....................Why?!?!?!?!

Bingo callers take on the Eggheads.........and LOSE: It still grates with me that I slipped up on a question that I KNEW the answer to and that Judith guessed all of her answers correctly!!!!!!!!!!! Still it was a great day and one of my highlights of the year. It was funny as well because I was working on Gala TV the same night it was broadcast which meant that I was on TWO CHANNELS AT THE SAME TIME!!!!! That must have confused some people!!!!!!!

Ahh well.....I hope you all had a fantastic holiday period and are raring to go in 2009. Aim high and enjoy yourselves. See you soon!!!!!!!!

Posted by Brett at 14:23 | Add your comments [1] | Links |

Tuesday, 16 December 2008

How does 'Good King Wenceslas' like his pizza's?

'DEEP AND CRISP AND EVEN!!!!!!!!!!!'



Just wanted to say merry xmas to all my readers and hope you all get everything you wish for..........

Take care and have fun people and keep on supporting your local bingo........

with seasons love from
BRETT, MAX and BOBBY (the dog)

Posted by Brett at 23:10 | Add your comments [0] | Links |

Monday, 15 December 2008

staff xmas parties..........

hello again!!!! At present I am in a crisis with my computer as it has decided to go on the fritz with me and keep crashing for no apparent reason so I am writing this as HYPERSPEED!!!!!!!!!

Inspiration for this article comes from my last visit to a bingo hall last weekend. The bingo finished early because it was the staffs Xmas party......making me think of all the staff Xmas parties that I have gone to since being in bingo!

In every walk of working life there are Xmas parties......my girlfriend works in a doctors surgery and they had theirs last Friday in the centre of town and had a great time.....and its the same in the bingo: however the opportunity to have a Xmas party is very slim in the bingo world. In our industry the doors open at 10am and shut at 10pm (sometimes later) which leaves little time for a few drinks in a restaurant afterwards to celebrate the festive period. Before the late licensing laws came in it was even harder and it regularly became a race to see how much booze you could neck down before last orders!!!!

Bingo managers and operators are aware of this and adjust the situation accordingly. My first three Xmas staff parties were all held in the same place: a local hotel whose landlady played bingo in the club and would let us stay and have a nice relaxing late meal and drinks until the wee small hours. This ensured a good time was had by all. Future staff parties were held in bowling alleys (not literally of course!) Chinese restaurants and even in the bingo club itself. All of them however ran along a similar theme:

Firstly not everyone would turn up, for various reasons: some wouldn't go because of the late start/finish; these would be the people who had family at home, or who couldn't eat and drink that much that late at night, or had to go into work the next day......secondly in my experience the party gets segregated very quickly. Bingo staff turnover is very fast and I guarantee you that about half a dozen people at the event have been working with the company for less than 4 weeks (mainly due to the manager hiring more staff in the run up to Xmas!!) My first Xmas party was just like that. I had been working with them for less than 3 months and at the venue I was put on the 'kiddies' table whereas the more 'experienced staff' all sat together. (The annoying thing was I had two more Xmases with the same company and I was ALWAYS on the kiddies table with the new staff.......I wasn't that bad was I?!) Next off the generation gap would be exposed. The young staff would be on a mission to see who could get drunk and cop off first whereas the more mature staff would quietly enjoy there wine and turkey before leaving five minutes after dessert! Then there would be the managers and there assistants who would be wavering between the 'gotta keep the professionalism' and 'wheres the tequila?' One of them would always break and end up dancing on the table and snogging the girl that works on booksales.....only to regret it the next day when the staff would show him there mobile videos!!!!!!

Some of the Christmas parties were courtesy of the company.....but some however were also paid for by the staff themselves. A little cheeky I always thought when you had to fork over £20 for a three course meal that you wouldn't normally eat, especially at 11o'clock at night! but I 'm sure that I am not the only bingo employee who has been in this situation. There was even a year when we had to have our party in the bingo club, because our budget could not afford a proper do.....so we brought in our own nibbles and drinks....and to be honest with you, we had a cracking time!!!

This year is the first time however that I am missing out on a christmas celebration courtesy of the bingo. Working in the TV bingo world means that someone has to work every night till 2am and this year it was my turn whilst everyone else enjoyed themselves!!!! Ah well better luck next time.

Please feel free to leave any stories about your xmas parties here for me to have a chuckle over. Maybe you did something you lived to regret.......or even regretted something you never did!!!!!!!


oh and P.S. anyone that is a whizz on computers let me know.....I keep on getting the BSOD and it is driving me nuts!!!!!!!!





Posted by Brett at 12:40 | Add your comments [0] | Links |

Thursday, 4 December 2008

off to bingo.

hello there. Not much happening at the moment.......but I am going to my local bingo club in a moment for the first time in ages so it will be nice to see if anything is different and how busy it is etc..........

will report back later!!!!!!!!

.........Well I never bleeding won which is the first thing!!!!!!!!!!! The place was a bit quiet, but the prize money on the board was still tasty for the price we paid (£17 for the tickets and £100 houses earlies and first half and £400 houses in the second half) They were finishing early though because it was the staff xmas do and they wanted to be out by 9:30pm (which has given me inspiration for my next piece!)
Plus I was also pleased to see that they were doing a xmas do for the customers (however it was a cabaret and not a 'staff show')

Overall a good night out....as it always is down the bingo......just give me a win next time please!!!

Posted by Brett at 04:43 | Add your comments [0] | Links |

Thursday, 27 November 2008

3/4 of the club celebrate..........1/4 doesn't!!!!!!

Great article this about a club in Brighton winning the Gala Hi Five jackpot and winning around £700,000. Half that total being given to the winning ticket holder and the rest being dished out to all the other participating players in the hall who took away over £1000 each!!!!!!!

The thing that makes me chuckle in a totally malicious way however is the fact that out of the 320 people playing that afternoon session of bingo, 81 people (just over a 1/4) did not receive a penny because they did not choose to play the extra game!!!!!!!!! I bet a few of them had a whinge at the manager afterwards as well (nobody told me if I wanted it...etc....etc.....etc) The bottom line is they have only got themselves to blame.

It would be interesting to see how many other clubs have the same amount of people who 'opt out' of these big money games?

If I was playing in a Gala club I would opt into the Hi Five game every time-especially now that the National game is not available; it is the only game that offers such a life-changing amount; and 239 people in that club are going to have a fantastic xmas and new year.........WELL DONE!!!!!

I

Posted by Brett at 23:41 | Add your comments [0] | Links |

Sunday, 23 November 2008

re:bingo night live

After reading about the end of the ITV bingo show I can't say that I am surprised about the news. It was a great idea and an excellently produced show, but it had a lot of things going against it:

Firstly the show was obviously an hour long advert for ITV online. Anyone winning one of the smaller prizes were nudged to spend there 'winnings' on the website to avoid a long and drawn out process to actually recieve the money in their hand. I wonder how many people kept on playing on the website after there winnings had been spent?

Secondly the show did not require you to actually 'play' the game. Once you registered your tickets for that nights game any wins would automatically be sent to your email address. I think I must have played the game about 30 odd times during the shows run....and I probably watched about 3 full episodes playing along with the games........and I'm sure I am not on my own.

Also I feel that the show missed out on a perfect opportunity to actually make some money on a national tv channel. Bingolotto on Virgin tried this not so long ago and failed; but a huge company like ITV could have made a 'paid' bingo game attractive to players all over the country.....especially if it was given an earlier start. If the 200,000 players all paid £1 each for one massive game of bingo (via the website, or SMS, or phone) then ITV could have taken half and still put £100,000 on the prize board to be guaranteed to be won in no matter how many calls. I know I would play THAT for a quid!!!!!!

Finally, and I know it is just me (and every other bingo caller in the land-I hope!) but some of the calling was absolutely pants!!!! especially Anthony and his double numbers: '4 and 4.........fourty-four'!!!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!? when was the last time you were in a club and heard a caller say that?!!!!!! They could have at least 'entered' a bingo club and spoken to a caller to get some advice on how to call the game.

Hey, I still think they should have got a REAL caller to do the games.........maybe someone who was once the best bingo caller in the country.......around 2006/07............balding............yet still smouldering and intriguing........hmmmmmmmm!!!!!!!

Posted by Brett at 17:37 | Add your comments [0] | Links |

Sunday, 9 November 2008

National bingo caller time of the year........well it would have been!!!

It is around this time of year when normally this site and my blog would be full of news about the National Bingo caller of the year competition: but as the contest is suspended this year this months rambling piece will be more reflective on my experiences as being a contestant and a former title holder!

The first thing I noticed when I got through to the final rounds of the competition in the first year is that I am not the only one who takes this whole calling thing seriously. From the regional heats, right through to the weekends grand finale in London, every caller that I have met has been as eager as I have about the industry. Its an unusual feeling to be having conversations about bingo with people without thinking that they are bored and have no connection with what you are saying. Most of the time in the 'real' world when you go to parties or events you generally meet people who work in IT, or in a shop. When you tell someone that you are a bingo caller the first question they normally ask is 'ahhhh and what else do you do?' Closely followed by 'haha legs eleven and mmmmmmmm 69!!!!!!' (wheres my baseball bat!) In the competition however, when you are speaking to someone about Dotty who always has to have 5 tickets from the top and has to sit on table 122 facing the diner, you know that the person you are talking to have gone through the same thing in there club. That is the first thing that I think will be a detriment to the abandonment of the contest: Before the competition the only other callers I have ever spoken to were the other people who called in my club: and the majority of them never wanted to call the numbers in the first place (and you could tell that by the bored tone in there numbers which would emanate across the club and destroy the session) the contest fueled my interest in the game and made me believe that being a caller was more than just 'calling the numbers' because there were people out there who were just as obsessed as me!!!

I think of the caller of the year in two ways: Firstly as an intensive attack on my nerves and abilities over the course of the contest. I remember my very first regional final when I had butterflies in my tummy about 2 days before the actual event and I remember banning my girlfriend from talking to me the night before as I had to memorise my routine for the 'entertainment' stage of the competition. This sort of unreasonable behaviour was more or less there in every final since: including the year I won, and after speaking to other contestants i was not on my own in the nerves stakes.

The other thing I think about is the media and press coverage garnered from the contest. The main thing about the whole event is bringing bingo to the masses-and throughout the whole process of the competition, from regional to national final i suppose you feel like a celebrity: You and your club are contacted by the local press, radio stations and sometimes the local TV about getting interviews. The main reason that the final of the competition is always held in London is because that is where you can achieve maximum exposure from a media perspective. Sky News have been at the event for the last few years and last year even though I was not a contestant I still had about half a dozen interviews with reporters and TV stations. In terms of hard cash, £652,000 is the total you would have had to spend if you wanted to pay for that kind of publicity in the 2007 competition!!!!

Obviously none of this is going on this year due to the competitions postponement and the person I feel sorry for most is the current champion Blake Robson: Of course he has the title and the prize money and the fantastic holiday (all good things) but its the other things that he will be missing out on like being a judge and experiencing other bingo halls across the country; not to mention the media opportunities that pop up during the course of the contest. Hopefully when they revamp the competition Blake will get the opportunity to experience those perils!!!!





Posted by Brett at 14:45 | Add your comments [3] | Links |

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