Issue N2, 2008
January 10, 2008
Which Bingo Site is the Best in the UK?
Bingo has always been big news in the United Kingdom and millions of players head for online bingo rooms on a regular basis to enjoy buzzing chat rooms and exciting games. To discover the most popular bingo site in the UK, Which Bingo UK ran a poll among online players to cast their vote on the issue. This week, it was announced that the Site of the Year award was given to ThinkBingo.com, a site that claims to be the first standalone bingo site in the region and was placed fourth in last year’s poll. “More than three years ago, they stepped bravely into the world of online bingo. Now, we are delighted to name ThinkBingo.com as the 2007 Which Bingo UK Site of The Year,” said a statement by Which Bingo.
The New Site of the Year title was awarded to GoneBingo.com, with BingoSKYUK coming in a close second. The sites that followed ThinkBingo.com as the Site of the Year were BingoMania.UK, Crown Bingo and Mecca Bingo, which grabbed the winning title in 2006. More than double the number of voters participated in this year’s survey, in comparison to last year.
INetBet. Comes out Tops
The popular online review site, Oggs.com has announced the winners of its annual awards in the gambling industry. The site judges online casinos, poker rooms and bingo sites from major regions throughout the world and presents awards based on specific criteria, including customer service and software. This year’s unanimous decision for Best Internet Casino Site was awarded to iNetBet.com, powered by Real Time Gaming. Oggs.com mentioned that iNetBet.com has done much to ensure that its players enjoy quality gaming and top customer service, despite being faced with a difficult post-UIGEA working environment. The Microgaming-powered NostalgiaCasino.com came in a close second place.
The judges of the awards ceremony said that VirginGame.com’s “keeps things simple, providing fast cash outs, an expanding choice of games and a brand that is a high street name while at its backend is the WagerWorks software”, as the reason for awarding this site the title of Best UK Casino.
There were two online casino sites that fought neck to neck for the Best New Casino award, but this title was eventually given to GlobetCasino.com, launched as a sister site to its already successful sportsbetting services off the Microgaming platform. The runner-up for this title was the re-launched PlayboyCasino.com site which left Microgaming to partner with Cryptologic. Oggs.com noted Playboy’s excellent customer support and quick payouts as just some of the reasons for the award.
The Best New Slot game was undoubtedly Hitman from the Microgaming suite.
Other sites that got honorable mention were ClubUSACasino.com and Intertops.com for providing a good gambling environment for US players and CasinoLadbrokes.com for its excellent reputation in the UK online gambling market. The Casino Action Group won the award for the best overall casino group, thanks to its lucrative royalty program and customer support.
Poker Room Beats its Own Records
PokerStars.com, who only recently announced that it had broken an industry record for the highest number of simultaneous players at an online poker room, was proud to say this week that its own record had now been beaten. It was only last week that PokerStars beat a previous record of 17,000 players by showing that 3,000 more real-money players were at its site. This week, that number jumped to 22,293 players.
In addition, the site also noted that another industry record had been broken – that of the number of simultaneous players on the site (not only limited to real-money gamblers). In February of 2006, before the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act was passed, the site made the Guinness Book of Records for the first poker room in history to host more than 100,000 players simultaneously. This week, PokerStars.com announced that it had recorded 150,000 simultaneous players at its site on December 20, 2007.
Big Sunday tournaments are thought to be a huge drawcard to the PokerStars site. For example, the poker room’s $1050 buy-in Sunday Million attracted over 1800 players who were trying their luck for the $1.8-million prize pool. Bloggers have described the playing sessions at PokerStars.com as ‘frenzied’ as gamblers bid for the generous prizes.
Greetings from 888.com
Popular online casino 888.com has come up with an ingenious way to improve its referral rewards service. The site is encouraging members to send original electronic greeting cards to friends and family for any occasion including weddings, graduations and birthday parties. The e-cards can also come with special features such as flash clips. In return, 888.com members will be able to stand in line to win a unique $888 jackpot simply for sending the cards. The lucky e-card recipients will also be able to benefit from the 888.com by enjoying an exclusive welcome bonus if they open a real-money account.