888.com, a major player in the online bingo industry, has recently signed two key white label deals that will see its products being used by online bingo players worldwide. The deals send a signal to the industry that that free online bingo is set to expand through 2008 and beyond and the that the major online bingo games suppliers are taking steps to cash in on the trend.

Swedish company Boss Media has already nailed its colours to the mast that is online bingo saying they expect the game to be a major business trend throughout the year. For operators this is good news and a spur to continue investing in one of the fastest growing niches in online gaming.

While the rest of the world economy may be going through tough times, it seems online bingo is here to stay.

Written by John Witherspoon – Become a part of a great online bingo community. Play online bingo chat games at BingoStreet.com

The recent International Casinos Exhibition (ICE) has provoked much food for thought regards the future of bingo online. Though I did not have the time to attend myself, reports from the event suggest free online bingo players and operators can expect a few interesting new products to come our way this year.

Highlighting the impact of online bingo at ICE, Boss Media and Parlay Entertainment have both indicated they are bullish about all things bingo and online (see today’s Bingo Street news for details). Both companies have invested extensively in the online bingo games sector and both expect the market to boom in the coming years.

Another feature of the latest ICE is the extent to which most online games operators are expressing optimism for the coming year at a time when the world economy seems to stumble from one crisis to another. Given that 2007 was one of the toughest years faced by the fledgling online games industry thanks to concerted anti-online gaming legislation in the US, it just goes to show you can’t keep a good industry down.

Online bingo halls have played a valiant part in the overall online gaming industry’s rebound from near disaster following the loss of the US market and events and displays at ICE seem to be proof the industry is in fine shape going into 2008.

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The move by UK interactive TV show Big Box Bingo to employ the services of online bingo games software developer Parlay Entertainment is, in my opinion, recognition by NetplayTV that the online form of the game is where the future it is at with the UK bingo playing population.

Though the show offers beautiful models and an enthusiastic host to spruce up the bingo action, there is obviously a need to enhance interactive TV with a dose of true online bingo options.

This indicates clearly the growing influence of bingo online in the minds of the UK bingo market.  Hats off to NetplayTV for rising to the online challenge – unlike the seemingly static land-based bingo clubs that failed to see the shift into a more online world.

Written by John Witherspoon – How about playing bingo online? The best free online bingo games are just one click away.

In a refreshing bit of news from France, a French court has upheld that country’s commitment to the EU principles of free trade between EU nations. This is good news for those online bingo operators and online bingo halls hoping for access into the French market, one of the most monopolized in Europe.

The Court of Appeal of Versailles has questioned the validity of current French gambling legislation under EU law. My question is why this is not obvious to anyone and everyone that French gaming legislation is simply not compatible with EU free trade principles?

Along with the rest of the online gaming industry, the free online bingo industry has one Didier Dewyn, the ex-CEO of Mr Bookmaker, to thank for standing up to an attempt by French authorities to criminalize him for supposedly organising an “illicit lottery” and “clandestine betting on horse races”. Were it not for him the Court of Appeal of Versailles may not have ever brought to light French legislative inconsistencies.

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I suppose one can understand the frustration Antigua must have in being omitted from the UK’s whitelist of jurisdictions that can advertise online gaming in the UK, especially since they are currently fighting the good fight against the US over that country’s restrictive online gaming policies.

Some might even say it constitutes a stab in the back for the Caribbean nation.

Dr. Cort, Antigua’s Finance Minister, called the omission particularly surprising since a delegation from his country is due to meet the UK’s Minister of Sport to discuss the issue.  According to Dr. Cort, the delegation wants to come away from the meeting with a better understanding of what is hindering Antigua’s process onto the whitelist.

So far I have not been able too find a definitive reason why Antigua has failed to make the grade.  Maybe there is someone out there in the online bingo community who can shed some light on this?  In any case, online bingo operators and online bingo halls with an Antiguan connection must be really giving their current license status a second look.

Written by John Witherspoon – How about playing bingo online? The best free online bingo games are just one click away.

Our two Bingo Street news items today come with a Nordic North theme where the governments of Sweden and Finland are both in the spotlight for their online gaming policies, albeit for slightly different reasons.

In the Swedish case, two exasperated journalists from that country are practically begging the European Commission to take action against Sweden’s insistence on running a state gambling monopoly. Over in Finland, where online gaming restrictions are virtually non-existent, the government is starting to make noises about a growing level of problem gambling and possible underage gambling via the Internet.

The Scandinavian countries are proving to be a growing market for online bingo and free online bingo games have become a popular form of online gambling for the female demographic. I hope the Finnish government does not succumb at this stage to the temptation to introduce restrictive measures on online gaming and that the bingo online market is allowed to flourish.

As for the Swedes, let’s hope they see sense sometime soon and open their market up to all EU-based operators so that Swedish players can enjoy the best in online gaming.

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The Mohawk nation is not happy about its Kahnawake outfit being excluded from the UK’s whitelist of acceptable gaming companies allowed to advertise in Britain. In fact, they are insinuating the exclusion may be an infringement of their indigenous rights under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

There are not that many online bingo halls or operators of online bingo games that operate in the UK under a Kahnawake license, but this exclusion will definitely lessen the amount of future sign-ups.

However, I’m not sure I agree with the Mohawks in their assertion that their rights have been infringed. My hope is that this issue does not become an ugly race issue. Maybe the Mohawks can take some solace in that the Antiguans have also been excluded.

Written by John Witherspoon – Become a part of a great online bingo community. Play online bingo chat games at BingoStreet.com

I am speculating that the adoption of the Euro on the island of Cyprus could make it easier for those online bingo halls dealing in Euros to access the British army bases that have been a feature of that country for many years.

There’s bound to be an online bingo market looking for bingo bonuses wherever you have Brits, especially the wives and girlfriends of British servicemen stationed out there, and now that the Euro is to be legal tender on British bases (the first part of British sovereign territory where this is so), it will be easier to market online bingo games to these people.

This is what I love about online bingo.  It has an amazing ability to go to where the action is with very little setup required.  Hopefully we’ll see some of our servicemen joining the growing UK online bingo community in the near future.

Written by John Witherspoon – How about playing bingo online? The best free online bingo games are just one click away.

News that Parlay Entertainment is to be acquired by a company run by Sportingbet founder Mark Blandford is yet more proof that a wave of mergers and acquisitions is going to typify the online bingo industry throughout 2008.

Parlay Entertainment are a provider of online bingo games software to a number of UK online bingo halls and the company was recently granted a license by the UK government to operate in the UK online gaming industry.

The company that is to acquire Parlay is a Barbados-based operation called PEIC Acquisition Corp.  It’s a company specially set up to invest in online gaming-related companies, so expect to hear more from this outfit as the year progresses – especially since the mercurial Blandford is running thing there.

PEIC obviously have a bullish attitude when it comes to online bingo in the UK to be making this acquisition.  This is a good indication that the online bingo industry is in good shape for the future and we should see more investors turn their eyes in this direction as the year progresses.

Written by John Witherspoon – How about playing bingo online? The best free online bingo games are just one click away.

While online bingo halls like Think Bingo are winning online player votes for best site in 2007 and the online bingo industry leaps ahead into the year 2008, land-based bingo operators are continuing to lobby the UK government for changes to the tax structure in a belated attempt to save their land-based bingo halls.

However, it’s clear that Alistair Darling and Co. appear to have little sympathy for the arguments put forward by the land-based bingo industry and believe instead that its problems are closer to home.  On this level, I agree with the government and believe that even if the land-based industry got its desired reforms this would be no magic formula for changing its fortunes.

Free online bingo games operators are the way of the future for bingo and players are flocking to online bingo halls in droves where they know they can check out the latest games and enjoy value-added benefits that land-based bingo simply cannot deliver.

Anyway, at this time I think Alistair Darling has far more pressing concerns than the fate of land-based bingo.

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