Bingo Street visitors who regularly read this blog will know my views on the future land bingo versus the growing market for bingo games online.  It’s my opinion that there is a wholesale change in gaming habits taking place amongst player that is taking them away from traditional bingo halls and casinos and on to the Internet where online bingo still remains one of the fastest growing niches in online gambling.

I’m stating my opinion again because major financial heavyweight JP Morgan has recently come out with a depressing series of predictions for the Las Vegas land gambling sector.  According to analysts at JP Morgan the banking giant sees the second half of 2008 as being particularly difficult for the land casino operators.

JP Morgan analyst Joseph Greff said: “We expect this summer to be one of the worst on record, with meaningfully discounted room rates and special discounted package deals.”  He further noted that reduced airline capacity and high oil prices are affecting land gambling at a bad time for the Strip.

To me the evidence just mounts up.  Better to play bingo online in this current economic climate and better to be an online bingo games operator than involved in anything to do with the land gambling sector.

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

Barney Frank’s valiant attempt at injecting a bit of sensibility into US online gambling policy has failed.  Regulations forcing banks to police online gambling transactions in the US will go ahead and we will all be the worse off because of it.

I would say this is a disastrous decision – not necessarily for online bingo – but for the US policy making process as a whole which fails to see that regulated online gambling is the only civilized way to ensure a fair, safe and responsible industry.

One of the most impressive things about bingo online since the hated UIGEA law came into effect has been its ability to expand into new, friendlier markets.  There is no doubt that your average online bingo games operator would love to see the return of access to the lucrative US market, but that is obviously not to be.

Oh well,… let’s just sit back here in the nicely regulated UK, play bingo online, and watch as financial transactions and the banks that run them in the US get more and more convoluted – as if US banks at this time needed even more crap to have to deal with.

Written by John Witherspoon – Come and play online bingo at its best! The best bingo games online are one click away.

Well, we got the announcement everyone was expecting regards the government’s attempt to help the land bingo industry by upping the number of jackpot slot machines in bingo halls.  They now can look forward to a whole eight machines instead of the four – should double their profits, that!

I think this is pretty ‘scraping the barrel’ stuff for land bingo which is losing customers hand over fist at the moment.  Some blame the smoking ban and the tax laws – I blame a wholesale attitude change by people who want to play bingo online instead of in some tired musty old hall.

In the online bingo industry we don’t need to substitute bingo games for something else to succeed in bingo.  Our players can play slots if they want, but the real attraction at any online bingo hall - as any Bingo Street visitor will tell you - is the actual bingo action!

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

It’s considered by the online bingo industry as one of the most important pieces of proposed legislation aimed at halting the regulations governing the notorious Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), but the Payment Systems Protection Act (HR5767) looks like it will be delayed in being presented before the House Financial Services Committee.

Obviously not a high priority for the Committee, the Barney Frank and Ron Paul sponsored HR5767 legislation is being closely watch by online bingo operators who were burned badly by the implementation of UIGEA in late 2006.  US customers who play bingo online were effectively banned from accessing non-US online bingo halls due to UIGEA, which impacted badly on the sales figures of online bingo games operators.

Wednesday now looks like the most likely time the influential committee will look at HR5767.  Let’s hope they can see the sense of supporting its proposals and hastening a return to an equitable market for bingo online worldwide.

Written by John Witherspoon – Visit the best UK online bingo site. Bingostreet.com is your ultimate source for the best bingo games online.

The poor-old land bingo hall model of playing bingo may be in for some relief this Wednesday after a series of blows that has left the sector staggering in the face of smoking bans cutting down their memberships and double taxation bleeding away their profits.

This Wednesday, the government is likely to announce a relaxation on the amounts of slot machines a bingo hall can have.  Slots are a real money spinner for the faltering land bingo halls, but legislation limiting the number of slot machines at any one club was aimed at stopping bingo halls effectively becoming slots arcades.

Online bingo halls, on the other hand, have no limits to the amount of online slots they can operate on their sites.
In my humble and very biased opinion, such relief for the land bingo industry is only a small blip in the downward spiral the land bingo model finds itself in.  I have always maintained  that bingo online is the future of the UK’s favourite gaming pastime and that online bingo will continue to take away land bingo’s customer base as more people go online for their entertainment needs.

However, I can’t help think that what land bingo operators see as welcome relief really translates into an industry that has lost its way.  Obviously, people who are playing slots are not playing bingo,… and isn’t playing bingo what it’s all about?

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

Bingo Street once again proves that it’s ahead of the curve with the establishment of its own Spanish language version.

Why?

Because it looks like Spain is about to change its online gambling licensing system in favour of a nationally regulated system, and this means more Spanish people who play bingo online will be able to play at Bingo Street’s favourite online bingo halls.

It’s expected that Spain will introduce its new system some time early next year, so we should see a jump in the amount of Spanish patrons visiting Bingo Street by then.  What’s the bet we soon see a new online bingo site called Bingo Olé.

Written by John Witherspoon – Need the best online bingo games? BingoStreet.com collected the best online bingo promotions and free bingo games online.

The issue of the price of fuel could be seen by some in the online bingo games industry as a boon – fewer people driving means more people at home looking to be entertained.

A study in the US claimed all the way back in 2005 when the price of gasoline at $3 per gallon that there would be a  marked downturn in people wanting to make the drive to Vegas if petrol rose to $3.50.

Jim Medick of Precision Opinion made the claim that as fuel prices rose the percentage of drivers deciding not to make the trip to Vegas would increase – by the time fuel cost about $5 per gallon, the percentage of non-starters would be 90%!

If I were a titan of the Vegas Strip I would be keeping a very close eye on the price of oil.  I would be afraid,… very afraid. . .  I would think that many of my customers would choose to start doing their traveling via the Internet where online gaming, particularly online bingo, is growing in leaps and bounds.

As we lurch into what increasingly looks like a Mad Max oil-less future, online bingo halls become more and more attractive to those who can’t afford to trip around.   In the end, the only street I want to be driving down is Bingo Street.

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

Bingo Street favourite 888ladies.com recently posted an interview with the winner of a £125,510 prize.  The lucky winner, an online bingo players by the name of eibbed57 is a mother of two from Lancashire.  I guess that takes care of the kid’s education. Ha!

eibbed57 won her thousands playing on the multiline ‘Sand of Fortune’ slot machine and claims she can’t believe her luck.

“It was unbelievable! I was just playing bingo, as I do regularly at 888ladies, and thought I would bet an extra big stake and then the jackpot suddenly spun in! I was absolutely gobsmacked and still am! I feel absolutely fantastic!”

I can’t believe her luck either, because this is not the first time eibbed57 has walked away with a substantial prizefrom this particular online bingo hall.  She has already won £30,000 playing at 888ladies.com’s machines!
“I play them a lot. I’m a regular player at 888ladies and it turned out to be worth my while!” said lucky eibbed57.

Will it be third time’s a charm?

Written by John Witherspoon – Need the best online bingo games? BingoStreet.com collected the best online bingo promotions and free bingo games online.

It’s no secret that the land bingo industry is going through some pretty challenging times, what with smoking bans and double taxation policies eating into their member counts and profits.

However, a US study is saying casinos are one of the main reasons for the downturn in land-based bingo profitability. Professor Robert P. Strauss of the Carnegie Mellon Heinz School of Public Policy, claims the study shows land bingo does not give punters the ‘fancy, glamorous appeal’ of casinos.  He went on to say a big part of this trend is that casinos are now much more common and a lot closer to customer’s homes.

Professor Strauss needs to consider the effect of online bingo games and online bingo halls as part of his study, in my humble opinion.  I say this because there’s enough evidence out there to show that land-based casinos are hurting too, whereas online bingo continues to be online gambling’s fastest growing niche.

And as far as ‘glamorous appeal’ goes, Prof. Strauss may want to take his study for a trip down Bingo Street – if you can’t find glamour there, you’ll find it nowhere!

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

The Online Bingo Summit kicks off today in London with some of the biggest names in online bingo in attendance.  If you have not been able to make it, don’t worry, Bingo Street has there spies everywhere and we’ll be bringing you news from the event as it happens.

Besides a host of industry experts giving talks on the current state of the online bingo games industry, there is also the chance to see some of the latest bingo online software developments about to be launched onto the market.

For me, the most interesting thing being discussed at the Online Bingo Summit will be the future of online bingo in the European markets.  There’s a lot at stake for online bingo operators over the next year in whether or not certain European Union member countries will be relaxing their cherished state-run gambling monopolies to allow private operators access to their markets.  So far, the trend looks positive, but it will be interesting to see how others see this important issue.

For those who simply like to just play bingo online, there’s always the exhibitions of the latest bingo software from company’s like Parlay Entertainment who are showcasing their new Parlay 4 offering.

Keep you posted.

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