Archive for the ‘Latest Bingo News’ Category

England coach Fabio Capello's future is still up in the air following England's early departure from the World Cup, and there is still a week to go until the FA make its decision.  Well the nation (or we should say the women) have decided!

888ladies.com surveyed 2500 women across the UK to find out who they believe could do a better job than Capello at getting England back to top form in time for 2014, and Davina McCall came out on top! Read more

Bingo, yoga, cooking classes, movie nights an learning how to dance are all activites you would expect to find onboard a cruise ship, right?  Well these activities are part of a new programme to be introduced in American detention centres for illegal immirants to try and make them more humane. 

The proposal wants detainees treated with more respect, and also includes having access to legal materials, emails and phones, as well as receive computer training, and be able to learn arts and crafts, play bingo and exercise.   Read more

This weekend in Saskatoon, Canada, bingo is bringing sexy back with Naughty Bingo.  Naughty Bingo numbers will be called out by members of the Rosebud Burlesque Club who will be dressed in corsets, and there will also be live performances by the local drag community and Free Flow Dance Group.

Founder and artistic director of Free Flow Dance Centre, Jackie Latendresse said "we've sort of taken the blue hair out of bingo".  After attending an event in Toronto ten years ago Ms Latendresse brought the idea back to her home town.  Naughty Bingo is now in its sixth year in Saskatoon and it is the most popular event through out the year for the centre.  Traditional bingo as we know it gets turned upside down for one night only.  It is designed so "adults" can let their hair down and really have some fun.

Ms Latendresse will be the host for Naughty Bingo, which always sees the centre completely packed out with players.  Bingo prizes up for grabs include lots of "adults-only" items such as womens lingerie, adult toys, chocolate body products and even lessons from the Rosebud Burlesque Club.

Sounds like a fun and entertaining night!

On 3 July last year, father of one Craig Stephenson travelled from London by motorbike to a Norwich Mecca bingo hall where he held a woman hostage at knife point in a frightening armed robbery.  He has now been jailed for four years.

At 8:15am Stephenson entered the building armed with an 8 inch knife and took a young woman hostage.  Stephenson then led the terrified woman into the main hall and came face to face with the building cleaner Lee Marrison.  Instead of laying down on the floor as he was ordered to do, Mr Marrison boldly faced up to the attacker and chased him out of the building.  Stephenson fled the scene empty handed and the young woman wasn't hurt.

Following the attack police quickly tracked down the attacker and key DNA evidence to ensure successful prosecution.  During the trial the court heard that this had been a "well thought out robbery" as Stephenson had used the getaway vehicle, his motorbike, to drive to the bingo hall the day before to case the building and area.  This aroused suspicion for staff at Mecca after they recognised the motorbike on the day of the robbery.

While this story was very traumatic for the young woman who was taken hostage, we can be confident knowing that our world is a better place because we have courageous people like Lee Marrison within our communities.  Mr Marrison made a daring move which unquestionably saved the young woman, and resulted in no money being stolen from the bingo hall.  Now that's what I call a hero!!

Headlines across the world were made recently when an online bingo website started a campaign to to enable them to keep the traditional bingo calls, and has gained a great deal of support from their fans. The campaign aims to save phrases such as "legs eleven" and "two fat ladies" which are under scrutiny due to the fact that they may offend larger ladies. It has been has requested that bingo callers refrain from using such phrases to avoid offending any of their players!

This, of course, has shocked bingo players everywhere in retaliation so fans and players have been asked to sign up to a petition to show their support. Site officials argue that bingo players have been using these sayings for generations and the words "two fat ladies" add to the fun of the game and is part of bingo heritage. They hope any bingo playing ladies of larger size take it all in good spirits and will not take offence.

With this petition we hope they'll be able to prove that the players vote in favour of keeping these phrases!

This article about bingo in Baghdad really warmed our hearts.  You would be forgiven for thinking bingo would never be played in Baghdad given the wars over that the last 10 years and ongoing security concerns within Iraq, or maybe because certain religions do not condone the game.  However it turns out now that Iraqis feel a growing sense of security, bingo is going through a massive resurgence and is the trendy thing to do.  Although this is only a tiny snapshot of Iraq, bingo is becoming the game that is bringing people from all religions together - now that is music to our ears!

Saturday night is bingo night and at Baghdad's 85 year old elite social club, the Alwiyah Club, the parking lot gets packed as hundreds of people of all ages arrive, pop music blasts over the lawn, and the atmosphere is decidedly secular. A large outdoor bingo screen is lit up and a man calls out the numbers and letters.  Women on Baghdad's streets usually cover their hair, here young women in blue jeans and snug-fitting blouses mingle with the men.  Previously under Saddam Hussein's rule alcohol was banned, however those times are long gone and it is now served in the bar.

This is such a fabulous example of the fun and positive aspects of bingo and how it brings people of all ages and religions together.  The big jackpot or bonus in all of this is the fact that bingo nights can actually now safely happen in a country where the people have suffered so much - how wonderful must that feel!

Read more here

An assistant manager of a Felixstowe bingo hall received the shock of her life when she won a £1m lottery jackpot after she was sold the wrong scratchcard.

Audrey White, a 58 year old cancer survivor from Suffolk in England, purchased the lucky card from a supermarket near her home. Audrey said, "I asked for a £2 card and she pulled out the £5 one by mistake. I'd won £5 on another scratchcard so I decided to have a go."

Becoming a millionaire overnight is a far cry from only three years ago when due to a row with her bank over an old overdraft she actually faced the prospect of her home being repossessed, and has also fought cancer.

This lucky mother of three is not planning on giving up her job at the Palace bingo hall any time soon.  Instead she plans to use some of her win to pay off her mortage and treat herself to a new conservatory.