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UK Bingo Hall & Club Finder: Nantgarw - Castle Bingo

Castle Bingo
St David's Close
Treforest
Pontypridd
CF37 5UR

Tel: 01443 843000

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Your Comments And Reviews Of Castle Bingo, Nantgarw

Have you played at the Castle Bingo in St David's Close, Nantgarw? Tell us about this club - send your comments about the staff, prizes and general atmosphere of the club to share with fellow Bingo players, don't forget to give it a rating out of 5. Submit your comments here.

A Great Job

Not the best in the "Castle" group, but not the worst either (that dubious honour goes to Castle, Canton Cardiff, which I've recently reviewed). Nantgarw: A middle of the road bingo club, pleasant enough inside with the standard Castle Leisure fixtures & fittings. A good sized car park, though it can be difficult to get out of at the end of the evening. The cooked food is always hot and good sized portions, the drinks are keenly priced, and the light refreshment bar in line with the other clubs has a varied choice.

The staff pretty much keep themselves to themselves, they're not rude, but not outgoing either, and have to be prompted for any kind of warm response. Admittedly, we're not there to be friends with the staff, but a little bit of friendliness wouldn't go amiss. (All clubs could learn from the staff at Bridgend about their customer skills, though the new manager there (Serena) needs a lengthy customer relation course herself).

Back to Nantgarw: The mini bingo callers tend to get ahead of themselves quite a lot, and are often 3 numbers in front of those displayed on screen. The mini bingo prize money is usually half the stake money, but I've seen occasions when the prize money barely reaches 30% of the stake, and this is common practice with all Castle Bingo clubs. The main bingo prize money does seem above average for Castle clubs, but this may be down to seating capacity. By far and away the biggest negative I can give this club is the use of GameMate machines.

I've said this about the other Castle bingo clubs I've reviewed, and sadly this one is no different. On the nights I've played there, there can be 35% virtual books in play via GameMate machines (therefore 65% paper books) but the GameMates take the biggest prizes throughout the session by 3 to 2. It's easy to see why all Castle clubs push GameMates as heavily as they do when you consider that a GameMate could have 4 sets of books in play, but only one bum on the seat, so we have to ponder the thought that the computer greatly favours GameMates over paper books, a growing number of people are suspecting this is happening, and question why ANY bingo club allows their use, what's the problem with marking a paper book fairly with a pen/dabber?

The GameMates generate more money so the win ratio appears biased in their favour, the worrying thing about this thought is that despite subtle conversations with staff about GameMates, NONE of them actively deny anything underhand is taking place, their silence on the matter is truly deafening, perhaps worth more than their jobs. I've lost count how many times THE SAME GameMate wins several prizes throughout the session, and this is quite regular, I can count on the thumb of one hand how many times I've seen any paper book win more than once during any session. To improve fair play at this and indeed any Castle bingo club, I'd like to see one or two nights a week where absolutely NO GameMates, PETS or Bingo Bee's are in use. Only Average marks for Nantgarw Castle Bingo.
Submitted By: K Ballantine (March 2011)
Rating: 3/5

A Great Job

Nantgarw is the friendliest club I have ever been to, and I've been playing bingo for 40 years. Well done to Anthony and all his staff. You are doing a great job.
Submitted By: B Turner (August 2008)
Rating: 5/5

Money Hungry

I tried the Nantgarw Castle Bingo last week. I used to go to the Newport Road club, but atmosphere has gone. Mini Cash Bingo in Nantgarw is designed to make you spend more than you may intend as you cannot get 20p coins any more, only 50p or £1 coins. Also there is no "buzz" there, it was my first and last visit, as I feel the management got greedy and cut the paper Bingo in favour of more mini cash and link games. Therefore in this economic uncertainty I and I suspect others simply cannot afford to go. Cut down on the mini cash and play more book Bingo! But this will not happen as the no smoking has scared management and they make their money on the Mini Cash Bingo so that is that.
Submitted By: S Nicholson (May 2008)
Rating: 3/5

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