The news circulating around here today is of Christopher Biggins new single “Biggins Bingo Wings” that was released yesterday!

The single, recorded with RubyCupids, makes many a reference to bingo phrases, and is supposed to be an anthem for the larger sized population in an atempt to say “bigger is better”!!

You can see the music video on youtube and, if you so desire, buy it from any of the high street music shops!!

Well all i am wondering is how long before Christopher Biggins is the “new face” of one of the many bingo sites out there?? My bet- not too long!

Platinum Play Bingo’s ”Ball for Life” is only eight weeks old, yet it has already paid out £7,000 and has had 12 Jackpot winners.

mumto4boys, whose lucky number 11 has been the lucky Ball for Life number called to complete a Full-House win seven (yes seven) times, three of which came within the same week!!

The Jackpot is up to £2,000 this week, and will increase to £3,000 if it is not won by Monday.

Platinum Play Bingo players can select their lucky bingo number by; 1) choosing it for themselves or 2) completing a ‘Bingology’ quiz, a funky questionnaire to help them decide on their bingo ball ‘identity’. This then becomes their permanent Bingo Ball for Life number. Any player who completes a Full-House on their lucky number can win up to £50,000 cash.

I think the form so far shows that it may be a while before the jackpot gets anywhere near £50,000! The most it has gone up to so far is just £2,000!!

Ian Burke, the chief executive of bingo group Rank has hit out at Labour’s “myopic and inconsistent policy-making”, criticising Gordon Brown’s Government.

In a letter to the Telegraph, Mr Burke said “At Rank, we too have suffered from the present Government’s inconsistent approach to regulating and taxing leisure businesses and believe that our financial pain foreshadows a deeper and more damaging societal impact,”

He went on to say “……our primary aim is to bring excitement and enjoyment to the lives of our customers in social and safe environments outside the home. We employ more than 8,000 people, who take pride in what they do for a living and we generate significant revenues for the economy, at both a local and a national level.”

In 2007, Rank’s operations, which include over 100 bingo clubs as well as 32 casinos, generated £166m for the Exchequer and local government in VAT, gambling duties, income tax, national insurance and local business rates. Despite such contributions Mr Burke said: “In recent years our industry has found itself under increasing financial pressure as a result of government policies.

“Since the start of 2007, 59 bingo clubs in Britain have been forced into closure by heavy-handed regulation and the oppressive ‘double taxation’ system”, with bingo the only mainstream gambling product paying both gross profits tax and VAT. The creation of new jobs through further investment in this sector has been stifled by myopic and inconsistent policy-making,”.

This morning the bingo vine is buzzing with the story of a woman who has stolen over £60,000 from her employers to fund her bingo addiction.

Jailed for six months for the theft, Sandra Preston stole the money from the Total garage where she worked using a payment system, meaning she transferred money directly into her bingo accounts.

The money was used to credit accounts at Mecca Bingo and Foxy Bingo,  and amazingly it only took her two months between August and October 2007 to steal the £60,000.

The question on everyones lips seems to be “how did no one notice?” This is an incredible amount of money to 1. steal and 2. deposit- did no warning flags go up with the great amounts that she was depositing? Most sites these days will have a system of making sure players can afford to make large deposits. But this was obviously not hte case here.

Congratulations goes out to Fortune Affiliates who have picked up the first eCOGRA “Affiliate Trust Seal”.

ECOGRA is an independent, non-profit standards authority of the online gaming industry. The new eCOGRA Affiliate Trust Seal recognizes affiliate operators that observe standards of fairness and excellence. Fortune Affiliates was awarded the Seal after a thorough audit and on-site inspection.

A spokesman for Fortune Affiliates said “We are extremely honoured to receive the very first Affiliate Trust Seal. The process was a tough one, but as our Affiliates have always known, we have always held ourselves to very high standards.”

To receive the Trust Seal, affiliate programs need to demonstrate that their program establishes, enforces and monitors best practice standards. Specifically, they must show that they calculate affiliate revenue accurately and make payments promptly, and that they have controls in place to accurately link players to affiliates.

Details of the Fortune Affiliates program are available at http://www.FortuneAffiliates.com

Details of the eCOGRA Affiliate Trust program can be found at http://www.ecogra.org/affiliates

There have been a few stories today all relating to a court case involving a Florida businessman’s bingo halls!

The 13 year legal battle had been over a successful chain of bingo halls in Florida that were shut down in 1995 as it was claimed that bingo laws and regulations had been broken.

The two businessmen, Gordon Paget and Philip Furtney, were brought up on racketeering charges in a legal battle that has cost over $250,00 in fees. The outcome however, has been an award of $13.5m in damages paid to Paget and Furtney.

This award is bitter sweet for Philip Furtney though, as he died last year, just one year shy of turning 70.