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Gala Bingo Co Uk - Playing Bingo Review

Years Of Experience Shows Through At GalaBingo.Co.Uk

Gala Bingo Co UkVisit: www.galabingo.co.uk

Site rating: 8 / 10

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First Impressions & Ease Of Sign up

As the UK's number one Bingo supplier on the high street, you'd expect something special from Gala. They've had a bit of a strange history online, unlike the competition who've been consistant with their offerings. Originally they run a St Minver powered site that disappeared early in 2006, to be replaced by their own Bingo site and software. The move wasn't without controversy as it was done with out warning.

However, from what I can see, the change was a good thing. As a St Minver site it didn't really carry the same authority as Mecca who offered a stand alone solution. Now though, Gala can stand proud and their online offering is unique and authoritative. The design carries through the styling and colour schemes of their bricks and mortar halls and with celebrity endorsements and partnership with the likes of Red Nose Day - you instantly get that big brand familiarity and confidence.

I would like to go on and say sign-up was a breeze. If you are a new player then it should be straight forward. However, I had problems as I had a very old Coral betting account from about five years ago that was still active, despite not ever being used. As Coral is part of Gala, that old account had carried over to the new Gala Bingo, so when I first signed up, I was shocked to be told all my details were already taken. Even more, I signed in with a very old password and found I was already a member, despite having never visited before.

I figured out why - so I wasn't concerned - all the financial stuff in the old Coral account was long dead, and I couldn't change any details as I didn't know my pin number. As I was in the process of moving house I merely set up a new more current account with a new credit card rather than go through the faff of trying to sort the problems with the old account. With a new address and credit card the problem was gone. I didn't try to resolve it with Gala, knowing I was changing address. With 24 hour phone support, I'm, sure it would have been easy to do. As a new player, the process was problem free.

Sign-Up Bonuses

Gala Bingo have one of the least impressive of sign-up deals. No match bonus and no free games. Ok, so this isn't strictly true - unless you visit the site via a special offer link like ours - in which case you can get £10 free for depositing your first £10 and playing £5 of it. Compared to many of the offers out there it feels a bit meager.

When I signed up I did it via typing their domain name into the address bar - so I got the site without the special offer. As a result I didn't receive the free £10. Given how much of a selling point this is for other sites - it could be greatly improved upon. It's not a deal breaker, but it's always nice to get something for nothing.

Ease Of Use

Other than my legacy problems, the rest of the site was fine. The Bingo software is its own, but it seems to be a ramped up version of the Virtue Fusion software. I couldn't find any info on it other than being listed as proprietary software. Whatever - it's a doddle to use and there's a lot of hidden stuff in the options that is fun to play with.

Funding the account was straight forward - and once you've got some money into your account - prepare to be dazzled. You get an overwhelming choice of rooms to play in - 11 of them all with names like Mountain, Castle and Dreams. You may have spotted Sharon Osbourne advertising Gala Bingo, and even she has her own room. All the prices and amount of players are labeled for you to make your choice. Select the room that takes you fancy and jump in.

You get a little ditty as your room begins and your tickets are sorted out. The level of customisation you can do is impressive - right down to setting the colours of the ticket countdown. It's big, easy to look at and smacks of class. The only real flaw with the software is the lack of ability to purchase future games during the one you're playing. It's a feature that they (along with Mecca and Crown Bingo) need to get Virtue Fusion to sort out, as it makes live a lot easier for us multi-taskers. An auto buy feature would also be much appreciated.

Community Spirit

Some rooms have in excess of 500 players, so you can imagine how wild it is. It can be tricky to catch the CM's attention at times, but if you persist they help you out. The chat covers all sorts of topics, and is fun to just watch some times - it's amazing what people will tell each other in a Bingo chat-room.

Prize Money

The great thing about them having so many rooms is the range of prize money you can go for. If you fancy that big club feel, you can jump into one of the rooms with 500+ players and play for massive houses of anywhere between £100 and a £500 depending on the ticket prices. The range is to wide to cover here, but the money is consistently excellent through out.

Security

I have to say their attention to security is also first class. Everything is secured where it needs to be, but if you're worried, you can opt in to having a pin number that you have to enter before you make any account changes or deposits. As well as the excellent cashier and account security options, you're not emailed your password at any time.

Overall Feel At GalaBingo.com

Out in the real world I was always more of a Top Rank/Mecca and Castle fan than Gala, and the same seems to be true online. The Gala clubs I've been to all felt a bit too regimented and mass produced, and this feels the same with their online site. I suspect my own prejudices come into play as to be fair, there's really very little to fault Gala on, other than the issues flagged with lack of future game buy support and poor sign-up offerings.

It can feel a little impersonal at the site, despite many efforts to try and make it not feel so. But Gala were always about big, so that's not surprising. The way ticket prices change can also be a bit bewildering - but other than that, they are an excellent place to play out with the real world presence that inspire confidence and familiarity in world where unfortunately, not all operators are able to deliver such things. Overall rating - 8/10 (April 5th 2007)

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Visit: www.galabingo.com

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