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Think Bingo Com - Playing Bingo Review

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Solid But Disappointing Offering From ThinkBingo.Com

Think BingoVisit: www.thinkbingo.com

Site rating: 5 / 10

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First Impressions & Ease Of Sign up

Think Bingo are one of those sites that have been around in the market place for a long time. They are part of a small network with the sites Think Bingo Plus and Bingo Scotland. They were the first UK online Bingo company to advertise on TV and have maintained a constant presence both on the web and in other media.

Arriving at the site can be a little off-putting though. The site looks a tad dated with it large spinning balls which to me bring to mind A-Level art projects of spheres over checkerboard floors. Whilst it stands out against other online Bingo sites, it's not in a good way. Annoyingly, only one of the balls is clickable, despite the hand appearing on all four of them. Clicking around the various sections of the site, it's not long before the realisation sets in that the site is powered by the Globalcom platform.

However, unlike many other Globalcom sites, Think Bingo have done much to improve the look of the site and sections. They also have their own forum for members and display their members testimonials on the site. This is encouraging, as many Globalcom powered sites / skins completely ignore this side of the game.

The important info is easy to find, and covers everything you need to know about funding your account, the bonuses and using the software. Sign up is fairly easy to do. One little worry is that the sign up page is not padlocked like it is on many other sites. I think the security aspect of the submission page is handled in the PHP, but it would be nice to see a security warning on the register page.

Sign-Up Bonuses

Currently the site is offering a simple 100 % match bonus on first deposit up to £100. All following deposits get a 50% match bonus on a minimum deposit of £10. It's pretty standard, and Think Bingo are one of the few sites around not offering a free trial of any sorts, but if you keep an eye out, occasionally you can pick up a few free games via promotions on other sites.

Ease Of Use

The site itself is all very straight forward with little to go wrong. Funding the account is done via Aquapay, and appears in your Bingo account straight away. Things all work fine, but once you fire up the game window, things fall apart a bit. My dislike of the Globalcom software is well documented, so I won't dwell on it here. Think have done some work in improving the look of the software but the same fundamental flaws are apparent.

The chat window is much improved over the other less customised Globalcom software I've tried. You get an automated message at start up, followed by the CM repeating the same message, which is a bit strange. Purchase feedback is still lacking, and the ever changing value of the games means you need to concentrate on not blowing your deposit on games where the tickets are £1 each (as in a strip of 6 for £6!) - as it never tells you how much you are about to spend when you purchase tickets, it's easy to do.

I don't understand why these Globalcom sites insist on playing these high ticket games. I find it a turn off. I'd rather see consistent pricing on a per room level than the roller coaster of prices they currently run. This is not just a Think Bingo issue, it affects all the sites who run on this platform. £1 a ticket and even the 50p a ticket games do not offer good value, especially when the prize money stays fairly constant between a 10p a ticket and a £1 a ticket game. If you tried to play a game in a UK club as £6 for a strip of £6, there would be a riot.

The caller is particularly annoying as well, his pre-game announcement reminds me of George Daws off the old Vic Reeves quiz Shooting Stars. The mute nice and easy to find which is an improvement on the old style Globalcom offering where you had to squint for a tiny blue button on a similarly toned green background. The games do pause for a second between wins, which is good - other Globalcom sites rattle through to the end without a pause so you can note that the line or two lines has gone.

Annoyingly, the 3TG, 2TG and 1TG only work on the full house, which is something that could be improved. The card sorting doesn't seem to work properly either. Personally I like these features as I then I can concentrate on the chat or other windows. The chat window is nice and big which is also a great improvement. The actual layout of the software is really good, but the way the tickets look with heavy borders makes the difficult to follow, especially as the card sorting isn't working.

It's also worth noting that Think Bingo has a minimum withdrawal limit of £30. Given the low levels of the prizes, it could be tricky to actually ever get money out unless you have a number of wins. I know not everyone that deposits is worrying about withdrawing, but I firmly believe the minimum deposit and withdrawal levels should be equal.

Community Spirit

The chat rooms are very vocal, and there's the usual blend of chat games being played. I don't like the boilerplate repetition you get when you first login, but that aside, the CMs are very helpful and quick to respond to any queries you put their way. Outside the Bingo there's another great community asset in the forum, but that's not without its issues either.

I don't like that the Forum requires a separate registration, it would be good to see that sort of thing integrated into the whole site experience. It's also a shame that Think Bingo have closed the forum to opening browsing. For one it would be a great way of perspective members getting an insight into the community spirit of the site, and two, with all that unique user generated content, it would go down well with the search engines for ranking them.

Prize Money

The times I have been in there have been between 30 - 70 players. The prize money has been consistent with those sort of levels, although it is a little disappointing to see the prize money stay pretty close between a game that costs 10p a ticket and £1 a ticket. With around 60 in on a 10p a ticket the money's roughly £6 a line, £9 two lines and £25 a full house. There are usually less in for the more expensive games which explains why the money stays fairly level.

Security

I've already mentioned that the sign-up form doesn't seem to be done through a padlocked page or anything like that. Whilst the actually payment pages are handled in a secure environment, I'd like to see the same happening there. Unfortunately, they do send you both your password and username in an email, which suggests they are not storing passwords encrypted. If they were hacked their end details could be taken, as could your email if it's ever intercepted. It would be a lot securer for them to offer to reset a password and never email it to you rather than send you the details. Once again, this is another flaw in the Globalcom platform, and not just a Think Bingo issue.

Overall Feel At ThinkBingo.Co.UK

Despite all the pitfalls, Think Bingo has a great community and does offer a viable alternative to the bigger sites. If you don't mind the limitations of the platform, then it's a good alternative stop for you. Personally I would like them to push for either improvements in the software to address the issues I've mentioned or better still, dump the platform and get a decent one like Virtue Fusion or St Minver. Drastic I know, but for me, despite all their good intentions, I think they will not be much more than an also ran. Overall rating - 5/10 (October 27th 2007)

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Visit: www.thinkbingo.co.uk

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