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Castle Bingo Co Uk - Playing Bingo Review

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Stylish, Fun & Great Value - Castle Bingo.Co.Uk

Castle Bingo Co UkVisit: www.castlebingo.co.uk

Site rating: 8 / 10

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First Impressions & Ease Of Sign up

Castle Bingo are my local chain, so I was pretty excited to see they finally got an online offering. Their old site was quite useful, with info on the clubs and where to find them - I was a bit miffed when that disappeared - but thankfully, a lot of that info can now be found on the .com domain - you get a choice with the big splash screen when you visit.

Knowing the brand's quality and appeal in the real world, I had high expectations of their online offering. The site itself is one of the better looking Bingo sites - it's well laid out and continues the themes of the clubs offline branding. It's a very modern design - lots of Web 2.0 touches.

Finding out the important stuff is a breeze. All the FAQs and terms are easy to get to and easy to navigate. Sign up is nicely managed, with their step by step guide and it didn't take long to get things up and running. The site is part of the St Minver network and running on Parlay's software - this means the players are combined with players from other sites like Chit-Chat and Littlewoods.

Sign-Up Bonuses

The great thing about Castle Bingo is, you get a free pound to play with before you've even given them credit card details. This can be a great way of testing the waters if you're a little nervous. There's the fairly standard 100% match bonus on your first deposit - up to £125 when you actually decide to deposit and play for real. As is normal with the match deposits, there's a number of conditions on qualifying the bonus and withdrawing - standard conditions apply.

Ease Of Use

Once you've registered, you need to fund the account (or try your free pound) - you register a card and a security word and it's all nice and quick. The funding options are a bit more limited than some of the other sites - but, it's all bank and credit cards which means for UK folk, it's straight forward to fund your account and play. Withdrawing is nice and easy as well - the minimum deposit and withdrawal are the same and there's no hidden fees like some other providers. I like that.

When I got into the game I was pleased to see Castle had gone with high class providers Parlay. I know from the off the user experience would be good. For my money, the Parlay software comes closest to getting you into the swing of the real world game. It's intuitive, easy to use and well laid out and plays great.

It does have some issues in the way lines are announced, but that's fairly common across online Bingo providers. I like to hear them announced as line, two lines and full house - but in this implementation - there's no call to action at the start of the game, but there is a pause so you can mentally make the preparation to move on to the next prize.

The redundant claim button is there - a feature I like despite it's uselessness, and all the options are instantly apparent. Buying games is a breeze and it's easy to buy games in advance should you require the option.

The default options for the software makes it easy for new players to see what's happening and not loose the flow of the game. If you want to turn off the autosort and highlighting and play along yourself, it's easy to achieve in a couple of clicks. All around, a good implementation of the Parlay platform, and the familiar colour scheme carries over into the game.

Community Spirit

The chat room is a busy place, as there are members from a range of St Minver's Bingo sites. The chatroom is opt in, so you're not thrown in without actively doing so. First time I was in, the CM was helpful with my queries, and a few of the players asked after me. I soon felt at home. There's a great range of the usual chat games going on, and I soon slid into the fun and games.

There is also a community page at the site where you can submit photos and stories and stuff - it's a bit empty at present - but as the club is still fairly new online, I'm sure that will improve over time. It all helps to build a great community feel at the site.

Prize Money

The prize money was strong - I initially played in the late evening - there were around 220 players, and the money was around the £10 line, £15 two lines and £90 full house. In the afternoon the games were around £10, £15 and £35 with a 140 players. At 10p a ticket, these games represent great value for money.

There are also more expensive games at 25p a go in the afternoons with set prizes of £10, £30 and £100. The games are varied, keep an eye out for one of the more expensive games as you may not want to steak more - but with the excellent prizes - it's worth jumping in.

Security

All the standard security features are in place. The areas where you'd want to see a padlock are, and they take the extra precaution of not emailing you both your username and password, unlike some other providers.

Overall Feel At CastleBingo.com

Ok, I'm a little biased here maybe - I have a fondness for Castle Bingo having visited their clubs many times and can tell I will be doing the same with their online offering. Objectively - the site is a perfectly good implementation of the St Minver network with much to commend it. The sign up bonus and free pound are added pluses and the overall look and feel of the site is strong.

It's fair to say it still feels a bit new. The empty community section could do with a pep up and getting some content in it - these things help to build the buzz of the site and community. I'd also like to hear the calls to action as well whilst playing the games with the caller on. Really though, these are minor niggles, easily fixed. For its range of games, excellent value and ease of use, I'm more than happy to give the club a top recommendation. Overall rating - 8 / 10 (October 24th 2006)

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Visit: www.castlebingo.com

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