Yet another bingo hall nearly disappeared last week as an electrical fault caused a fire at the Cricklewood based Beacon Bingo hall.  Luckily it was not too badly damaged and players will be able to return quite soon.  It could have been catastrophic for the Cricklewood players as the Mecca Bingo club in Kilburn closed down last year which means they would have had to travel for miles to find another club.  Now we know why an increasing number of players are changing to online bingo.

There’s the hearing in Kentucky later today when they will decide whether or not the state will take over the online gambling domain names (just heard that highrollerslounge.com and luckypyramidcasino.com have been seized by the state and cannot now be accessed by Kentucky users). There’s the bill to legalise online gambling in California and everyone is waiting to see what stand governor Schwarzenegger will take.  There’s the recent EU mission to the US concerning their possible complaint to the World Trade Organisation.  It’s pretty obvious things are in a bad way, but don’t expect any serious decisions until after the election in November.  Everything is politics.

A new casino and resort project in Lyon County, Iowa, costing $90 million has just received the approval to go ahead.  5,961 people (69.7% of the registered voters) turned out to vote.  62% were in favour of the proposed project which will engender employment for 400 people in the area.  The casino will open its doors for business in 2011.  There are already 20 casinos in Iowa.

Germany continues to flout European Union Trade laws, with Lower Saxony being the final state to vote in favour of banning non-German online gambling sites to operate in the country.  Bwin the Austrian gambling company from Vienna tried unsuccessfully to overturn the ban in Lower Saxony in the hope of keeping a door open.  They will now have to decide whether to appeal.

The US got itself into such a state by sitting on the moral high ground on online gambling that they are now finding the situation spiraling out of control.  The official EU delegation that went to the US last week will be advising the EU commissioners of their recommendation in November regarding their possible complaint to the World Trade Organization.

During 2007 over 22 million worldwide online gambling players generated over $9 billion in revenue according to recent data.  In the UK alone 18% of men and women take part in this pastime, 14% of which are between 25-34 years of age.  Despite the vast amount of global revenue in 2007, it is forecast that growth will continue in 2008 and 2009, but will be slow due to the ever-increasing financial insecurity throughout the world.

Vandals set fire to an old disused bingo hall in Glasgow three months ago and asbestos cement was found in the roof of the building by the construction crew clearing up afterwards.  Residents are furious that the local council had not told them previously about the presence of this highly dangerous material and it appears that the council members have known about it for some time.  The motto of this story is that it’s safer to play online bingo in your own home.

Churches and other groups running small bingo games are paying a state tax that take funds away from charities and communities.  This tax is about to be examined with hearings to review the situation due to take place in Washington within the next two weeks.  The small bingo operators will also get their chance to state their case at a public hearing being held by the Joint Performance Review Committee’ on 24th September.

Residents of Inverness are opposing the proposed building of a 96-bedroom hotel on the riverside site of a 70-year old building that used to house a bingo hall.  The developers say the building, not used since 2005, would have to be knocked down to make room for the new hotel because it would not be easy to convert.
Members of the Inverness Civic Trust say the proposed hotel is an ugly building and will do nothing to preserve the character of the area.   A fight for the future.

To some, online bingo might seem like another world and quite frightening.  It’s not, it’s just the same as playing in a bingo hall, the only difference is that you can play in the comfort of your own home, drink what you wish and, perhaps best of all, there’s no smoky atmosphere if you’re a non-smoker!   Just find the bingo site that suits your needs and hope to win.