This whole website exists because of that place, and the time I spent working there as both a bingo caller and floor walker circa 1989-1993. To say that shabby old cinema has long been an ingrained part of my psyche since my teenage years is an understatement. I still chat to former ex-colleagues from my time there 30+ years ago. My recent and ongoing Confessions Of A Bingo Caller series, all about my time there are occasionally popping up in the feed here (when I get the time to add them). I’ve also written about the place for other sites in the past – here’s my love letter to the Gaiety which I wrote for the old Roath Cardiff Net site in 2016.

To this day, I still get the odd dream where I’m there in the bingo hall, wandering the corridors looking for a good place to sit and play the game, or marveling at the interior and big space of the old hall. Sometimes in the dreams I’m working, awkwardly trying to figure out where I should be at that point in my shift, and other times, I’m there as a player, looking for which ticket to play first. Sadly though, that’s all they are now, just dreams. This hall, like the grand hall in Splott, are now expunged from the fabric of my old home city, replaced by more shabby flats stacked and squashed in to what were once impressive and ornate spaces filled with laughter and joy, silent witness to 1000s of Cardiffians seeking a brief respite from the stresses of the world.

My sadness has given way to a sort of relief given the long demise of the place. No more wondering if it could be saved, or even if it should, no more watching the graffiti grow, nature trying to reclaim its once gaudy facade or the slow rot of an abandoned building. It’s gone now, for good, as all things do eventually. But I’m not going to wallow, I’m going to continue to celebrate the place and the times I had there. My best friends would often come and meet me and sit in the hall for the last session before we headed out in to Cardiff’s night life, a quick ride on the bus from outside the hall. My family would also be there often, which was always nice as well. I remember laughing, often and heartily, be it with the customers or fellow staff members. Definitely some rose-tints to me glasses, but it really was a great place to work and exist in a period before mobile phones, electronic terminals and online bingo.

So, here’s to you The Gaiety! Thanks for all the great stories I’ve been able to tell, and those that I am yet to tell, all down to your part in my life. There may be some dreary flats set to replace you, but for everyone of us that had the pleasure of your company over the years, dwindling in numbers as we may be, your contributions are noted and appreciated. Until the next time we meet in a dream, thanks again!

The post So Long Gaiety, And Thanks For All Those Memories appeared first on Playing Bingo.

Given the state of its fast deteriorating structure, I can’t see things ending well for the old Gaiety building on City Road. I hope I’m wrong and it can be saved from its current sorry situation, but I fear it might go the way of its sister in Splott and be another victim of a convenient mystery fire (a fate that befalls many old Cardiff buildings that have been deserted and left to rot) or demolition to make way for yet more bland, faceless housing units.

It wasn’t always that way though. Given its current dereliction it’s hard to picture the vibrant place it was through most of the 20th century. You’d daily see large queues waiting to enter for one of the many leisure purposes it served over the years, looked over by its distinctive stately twin domes. Built as the Gaiety Grand Cinema and opened in 1912, it was initially able to seat 800 patrons and I believe also featured a roller rink. In the 1930s it was enlarged and given a balcony, and then continued as a cinema up until the big drive to bingo hall conversion in the 1960s. You can read more about its cinema history here. 

I know it best for its time as a bingo hall. I think it was a Coral Bingo Hall for a period, then in 1976 it became a Top Rank Hall with a capacity of approximately 750 people. I worked there whilst it was a Top Rank club from 1989-1992. Afterwards it continued as a Mecca Bingo club up until 1998 when it breathed its last as bingo venue. Its decline as a bingo hall can be directly linked to the new big bingo halls that opened up around Cardiff in the late 1980s, early 1990s and offered bigger prizes thanks to their bigger capacities (Castle Bingo’s Newport Road and Canton halls especially were drawing customers away).

I think it’s fair to say the rot set in when it gave up its purpose as a bingo hall. Up until then it had been your typically old style cinema with a balcony and large seating area on the ground floor. When Spin took it over in 2001 they made major changes to the interior, adding a floor where the balcony was to create a bowling alley, cutting the hall in half horizontally, and gutting lots of the features that had been there since its bingo days. You can see the interior photographed in an urban exploration and get an idea of the damage done here. 

Spin never worked out, and the building’s been suffering since they closed and the shutters went up. With squatters taking residence, a rainforest sprouting on the outside of the building and graffiti all over it, many are now calling it an eyesore. Me, I think it’s still beautiful: the building is an inseparable part of my DNA, as is the old Globe Cinema that stood on Albany Road, and the Splott Bingo Hall. These grand palaces continue to fascinate me and often sneak into my thoughts, reminiscences, work and dreams. You just need to mention their names and my eyes mist over and my heart swells. These buildings had character, and they filled me with joy both from the events there and their aesthetic appeal.

As for the Gaiety, my earliest memory of the building was sitting in a pram there, I think it was a Saturday afternoon circa 1975. I don’t know what I was doing there, if my mum was visiting someone, playing (were people allowed to bring children to bingo in the mid 1970s?) or passing through. The tyrannies of early memories mean I can’t be sure, but the one thing I remember is the cigarette smoke making me feel unwell. Then as time went on, the Gaiety made its presence felt in my life in other subtle ways. Parents and grandparents would often disappear for a few hours, then there were the excited tales of wins, and we’d always have a surplus of bingo markers for childhood art projects, all of which can be directly linked to the hall.

Through my teen years it took on a new significance as I got a job there, and suddenly everything was bingo. It was just a menial job to start with as a floor walker and change giver. The uniform was ghastly, bright yellow and blue and itchy nylon, but the hall was great to look at and a great space to move around. The work was hard at times, but I was always able to have a good laugh with the members.

As time went on I was trained to call the party bingo games played in the intervals and then moved up to the main stage and games. I don’t think I was a particularly good caller (monotonous if truth be told), but I got on with it and often ended up covering for the main caller Jack on his nights off and holidays. Calling main stage was always a bonus as I got a nice little pay rise for the sessions I did as the caller. I think the busiest night I called was one of the party nights when there were about 700 people in, all eyes on me and murmurs murderous when I didn’t call their numbers.

During the three years I was there I was also studying art at Howard Gardens (another great building gone). I’d occasionally use the place as grist for my creative activities making photos and sketches around the place. It’s fair to say nothing I made there was particularly impressive, but I do have fond memories of spending one Christmas Eve up in the dark in the closed off balcony section, sketching the building and the neon lights. As a source of inspiration the Gaiety reared its head several times in my creative output from writing to art to photography. There’s some very poor photos I took during that period, circa 1991, of which more can be seen here. 

I had a real fondness for the characters at the club, the die hard regulars who came to play no matter what, and usually sat at the same tables lest someone got there before them in which case there were sour faces all night! Upstairs by the edge of the balcony where I’d often steward were Pat, Hilda and Helen. We’d often have a good moan about proceedings, and I’ll never forget when Pat had an early call on the National Game that meant she potentially could have been in for a big win, but only got the regional. She gave us each £2 as if to say, there that’s all you’re getting.

Cardiffians might remember the late local legend who went by the name of Shaky Hands Man. Well, before he got the shaky hand reputation, he’d turn up at the club with his brother and brother’s wife who’d sit in their usual spot up on the balcony. He wouldn’t play bingo, but he’d sit with them whilst they did. For us callers he was a nightmare as he’d nod off to sleep, then wake up mid game with a start and shout out aloud, causing numerous false calls and stoppages in the game.

Downstairs there were so many regulars that I could name and tell stories of but we’d be here for days. Instead I’ll just mention some of the more familiar ones to me. The best known was Lil, she’d always be there in the same place just by the stairs mid way down the ground level. She was always with her friend whose name slips my memory (Betty?), but they were a scream and we’d talk for hours. Often near to them would be Gary and his partner. I’d bump into Gary many times over the years as he became a respected casting director and we both worked at the BBC together, but back then he’d tell me all about being an extra on Pobol Y Cym and the other acting work he did. Sadly he died last year, way too young.

Then there was Veronica, whom I think was one of the luckiest women in Wales, she literally had a win most nights. It was incredible, every time she called house you’d hear a collective tutting come from the rest of the audience. She’d often play with her friend Sian, who despite being twice our age at the time was a woman my best mate had a major crush on. He’d often come to the club to meet me, but I suspect it was as much to dream of ‘what if’ with Sian.

But there was one gentleman who was there pretty much every night that I will never forget. He’d sit in the same seat every day, often afternoon and night. His name was Mr Price, an elderly gentleman tall, thin and full of character. He made such an impression on me that at one point I made a short story pretty based on him and his tales and mannerisms. You can read it here. 

As well as the customers, there were many a staff member that demanded a mention. Fellow teenager and party animal Rafiq, we’d wind each other up and often walk home together, a true gent. Then there were the party bingo girls, whom I mostly worked with. We’d often hide out together in the back office during the main sessions counting the 10p pieces that had been pumped into the party bingo and drinking Southern Comfort. Ann, Jeanne, Debbie, Pat and Val – we’d literally have a scream backstage for 30 minutes, then hit the floor to manage the party bingo games for the punters.

And on the other side were the girls who sorted the main stage bingo prizes and book sales – Uma and Sue. I’d share many a bus ride into town with Uma, and would often call out the racists on Cardiff Bus that called her the P word, idiots. And Jack, the mainstage caller. I wish I could recall his surname, but he was legendary (at the club at least). He’d be decked out in his swanky calling tuxedo (I never got to wear one), and command the attention of everyone in the hall with his suave demeanour. There was an ongoing legend at the club that the old derelict projector room held a mattress that Jack would have for personal use in the intervals (nudge, nudge). However, I never saw Jack disappear with one of the female patrons so can only assume it was rumours and nothing more.

And then Eunice, queen of the bar and canteen. Sundays I’d work all day following a Saturday night spent at Radcliffe’s Square Club on Westgate Street in town. Usually I wouldn’t eat from tea on Saturday till tea on the Sunday as I would be back late, fall out of bed Sunday lunch with only enough time to get to work and little else. But when I did eat on that Sunday after the afternoon session, it was always chips, two sausages and gravy, supplied by Eunice. It was literally the best meal of the week. Every. Week.

So now I look at photos of the place, and literally my heart hurts. If I was a millionaire, I’d snap it up. I’d rid the building of the fauna and graffiti, I’d restore the balcony seating and cinema layout. I’d weatherproof the building. I’d stop the rot. I’d paint it. I’d love it. I’d give it a new lease of life and make it a place people once more queued up to get into. But I wouldn’t burn it, or demolish it, or turn it into flats. I’d make it something the community could once more use and enjoy.

But that’s the problem. I’m not a millionaire, so I can’t save it, which means I have sit by and watch it rot. It could be the Chapter of Cardiff East, and I’d be well behind that. What a great way to keep it breathing. But that’s for the council and money people to decide, which sadly means yet another Cardiff temple of pleasure is doomed to the annals of history. Such a real shame.

The post Remembering the Gaiety appeared first on Playing Bingo.

So, let’s get a bit salacious here, and I will tell you about the secret room that was ‘allegedly’ the love den of staff at the club. For the sake of clarity, and the removal of all doubt, I was not that Lothario member of staff (as much as I maybe wished I had been). From what I could piece together, the events in question happened a long time before I started working there, and I’m not sure which people were involved. It’s probably just as well as whoever it was, there was a definitely a seedy air to the tales I heard, very Carry On film…

The Gaiety itself was a distinctive building, it had originally been a roller rink in its earliest days, then it was extended upwards and turned into a cinema, before being converted into the bingo hall that I knew it as. This meant there was the old fashioned cinema style layout of downstairs and a balcony level. At the top of the balcony level was the old projector booth. You can see the filled in windows that the projector beam would have shone through on the photo here.

So the old projector room was tucked away at the back of the hall, with an entrance at the rear, if memory serves, it had its entrance away from the public areas of hall. It wasn’t used for anything during my time, except maybe storage. But the room had life before that, and from the tales I heard, it was a bit of a love nest.

The stories varied depending on who was telling them, and as I said, they maybe should have been taken with a large pinch of salt. I was told that the room at one time held a mattress, and not much else. Well, a mattress you say, could someone have been sleeping in there? How do I put this politely? No, not sleeping, but that other horizontal activity that is helped along with a good mattress. Yes, in the past, the Gaiety had its very own knocking shop…

I was told that the main session intervals would see members of staff and customers disappearing for a little bit of alternative fun with bingo balls (groan). It was explained to me by longer serving members of staff that the caller and managers had a rota going on who got the room next. It sounded like it was a veritable conveyor belt of illicit rendezvouses and dalliances going down in that makeshift boudoir. Given the average session interval was about 15 – 20 minutes, things had to be happening at a hell of a pace…

Now, you have to wonder what the attraction of the caller and manager were that they had the need for a secret room. Did customers think they’d get the numbers called for them to win? Was their minor celebrity status (in the club at least) enough to woo the ladies? Who knows, and as these were different times, it’s hard to picture those sort of shenanigans going on in one of your modern mega clubs. I suppose there could be a spare broom cupboard in action somewhere across the country…

The post Confessions Of Bingo Caller Part 3 – The Secret Room appeared first on Playing Bingo.

Prior to that, there was a small website I put up as a simple guide on how to play the game for my workmates that I was taking on a bingo night. There were no sections, news, hall guides, etc. In the early 2000s, I was making websites as a hobby, and then as a job. I made little websites about lots of different things, from Welsh music to sites about weird auctions and strange events. Nothing gave me more pleasure than building websites, so making one about bingo just came naturally given my background.

At the time, I thought it’s easier to build a guide for the 10+ people I was taking to play, rather than try to explain to them separately. So, in June 2005 I bought the domain, set it up on the webhost and made the site. The first version was literally a one or two pager that had none of the ideas of what the site eventually grew into. It was made in basic HTML, had the same beginner’s guide to bingo that’s still in the guides section, no fancy stuff, with a garish design, as you can see below in the later version on Way Back Machine…

When I’d first launched the site my focus was firmly on the retail game and bingo clubs, I had no idea about online bingo. It was still very much in its infancy, with only a handful of sites up and running the game. I was blissfully unaware, until I started getting contacted by people asking me to run adverts for the bingo sites. Eventually I signed up with a couple of affiliate sites, and placed a few ads on the site.

At the same time, I started trying online bingo, intrigued by the idea of playing the game online. It was a bit of a wild west back in those days, sites flew up and just as quickly disappeared. The bingo networks were still in their infancy and the retail landscape was booming, the smoking ban a distant blip on the retail game’s radar. The site started growing, new sections being added, a new logo added, new layouts, and then the first big change came in late 2006 when I dropped the garish colour scheme, and shifted to a new and simplified layout. I added a news section that was powered by Blogger.com, and the rest of the site was hand built. It looked like this:

New sections were added by myself as and when I could. The first year or so of running adverts on the site proved fruitless, with no money coming in. In those days, it really was a labour of love for me, as it remains to this day. The income was always a secondary consideration. As the site grew, and traffic grew, I started to see earnings that made running the site a nearly full-time consideration. I added the Club Finder, the first (as far as I’m aware) that combined all the UK clubs in one finder. I also added the Lost Halls section, an archive for all those closed clubs that we were at risk of losing all contact with.

The income from the advertising made it possible for me to add more and more content. I was able to bring in people to write content for the site, like our caller of the year Brett Hyrjak and academic Dr Catherine Downs, and take on our very own Bingo Queen Nickie Shute. Around 2010 the site’s new feature died, due to Blogger changing how you were able to use its service, and it wasn’t until 2012 the the site returned, a hybrid of old-fashioned HTML pages and a new fangled WordPress blog. That version looked like this:

As the site grew in size, it grew in traffic and reputation, helped by the excellent work of the various writers and contributors. We had a number of competitions, photographic commissions and collaborations that strived to celebrate the world of bingo in the UK, its rich history, heritage and culture. At our peak we were getting in excess of a 1500 visitors a day. Things were good, the site continued to grow, but there were rumblings in the wider bingo world that we weren’t prepared for.

I’ve never had access to the resources that some of the big bingo related sites out there had. It was always a personal endeavour, and the money made from the advertising at the site went into paying the bills and wages of those involved. That meant I had never really considered the technical side of the web as I should, the move to mobile, the apps, the dominance of social media and the horrific SEO that other sites could put their money into to boost the prominence of their sites in search results.

This meant things were starting to fall apart here, lagging behind our competitors in size, traffic and technology. In 2018 the strain took its toll, and I was forced to let go several members of staff that kept the site going, amidst the development of a brand-new look site that should have addressed the technological issues that I saw at the time. This was happening at the same time as a down-turn in affiliate marketing, with various big brands ditching their affiliates and closing their programmes. Over the years we’ve lost literally 100s of partnerships with brands that have closed, or stopped working with affiliates.

In early 2019 the new-look site was set up on a staging server and the process of moving all the pages began. It was down to myself to move everything over to the new site – a massive job that took an age to complete. Finally, in late 2019, the new site was ready to go. The previous version of the site only had the blog running on WordPress, the rest of the pages at the site (the vast majority in fact) were flat HTML pages running on various templates I had built from scratch. As the site was now fully WordPress, all the old content needed to be copied and pasted manually, with each new page being constructed anew, an arduous task.

The content was all moved and is here, but even 6 years after the move, there are many pages that need attention, updating, formatting, moving, expanding, etc. By my reckoning, it would take me the best part of 6 months, working full-time to update everything, to get all the info I wanted for the site up to scratch. I would love to be able to do this, but sadly, I just don’t have the time bandwidth, or the financial resources to do it.

I know, it’s not ideal, the club finder is out of date, lots of clubs have changed hands or moved to lost hall status. It breaks my heart that I can’t do this as my other commitments (work, family) have not allowed me to devote much time other than the odd update. The lost halls archive is especially important to me, and I want to do a deep dive and update all the pages, as there’s a lot more info out there which I can use to add to the pages. I did start, during the Covid lockdown – which was the last time I was able to update the Club Finder (remember all the closures?), but even with the joys of furlough, I ran out of time to do the work I wanted.

So, for the time being, the site is not as I’d like it. Over the years, I’ve been offered lots of money to sell it to bigger affiliates and people operating in the space. I could have sold up a long time ago, but as this site has always been an important passion project for me, I have refused to let go. For now, I’m having to leave it in a bit of a limbo. It’s not forgotten about, or abandoned, or unloved, anything but. I fully aim to one day update everything, but for now, I have to leave it to bumble along with the odd blog post and addition of a review.

It’s been a ride though, the 20 years since the site’s inception. I’ve met a ton of interesting people at conferences, bingo events and awards ceremonies. I’ve been able to get expert help and unique content for the site, much of which has been unique to us (until everyone started stealing it – I see you…) I’ve got to work with many talent individuals who wrote for the site, helped promote it, partnered with us and agreed to talk to us about their time in bingo. Furthermore, I’ve been outspoken, I’ve ruffled feathers, I’ve made friends, and a few enemies along the way. And that’s brilliant, all down to this little game that I stumbled into as a teenager working part-time in a bingo hall. The memories stay with me, and continue to entertain me to this day.

I’m forever in hope that things may change, and I can get back to working on this site full-time. It needs a lot of love, I know. But for now, from myself, I wish you all the best!

The post Happy Belated 20th To Playing Bingo appeared first on Playing Bingo.

So let me set the scene for you, and the events that transpired on the fateful evening of “the missed call from hell…” It was one of our regular busy nights, the club would be full to bursting and the prize money was big. As usual, it was all hands on deck and there was barely an empty seat in the house. I was on main-stage duty, which was unusual for one of our busy nights, as Jack would always be there for them. However, for whatever reason that escapes me now, it was little ol’ 19-year-old me in the hot seat for the evening.

This was around 1990, well before the days of electronic terminals and smoking bans. One of the big draws to the club was our link game. The prize money was typically £1000 for the house (around £20 by today’s standards), a not unsubstantial sum at that time. Around 8.15pm, after the interval and National Game, we played the linked game – we dialled in to several clubs in south Wales, if I remember correctly it was us, The Gaiety in Cardiff, Splott, Sketty, Newport, Blackwood and another Swansea club playing the link with the combined prize money.

One of the other clubs was calling the numbers, so as was the technology of the time, every caller in the clubs not calling the numbers would listen to the calling club, and manually enter the numbers on their own calling system. As the caller had to concentrate on hearing and correctly entering the numbers being called (to display on the screens around the hall) the manager would also stand on the stage, at the microphone, ready to hear any shout and stop the game.

That was the usual, but this night, through a number of contributing factors, it didn’t quite go to plan. So, from my vantage point, I’m sat on the stage high above the floor with a commanding view of the hall. Bill, the manager at the time, is stood to my left on the microphone, scanning the hall. Just to reiterate, the hall is absolutely crammed, and there’s a background buzz of the people playing the game. The game has begun, the voice from the calling club is distorted and a bit thin, as you’d expect from a call done down your typical analogue land-line.

All is going well, I’m concentrating on putting the numbers in as they’re called, and then the line goes in another club. The win is validated, and we move on to the big prize, the full house. The numbers roll by, no claims, we get past 40 numbers called, and my anticipation is heightened, the winning call can come at any moment now. The numbers keep coming, I put them into the system, I look at Bill, he’s scanning the hall.

Then it happens, and it’s burned into my mind ever since. I hear a very faint shout from the very back of the hall. I’m still mid-number entry and look to Bill, but he’s still looking out, he hasn’t heard the faint shout. A second after the first faint shout, there’s an almighty noise from the back of the hall as the regulars realise the first shout was missed. Bill hears the second kerfuffle and stops the game. However, that extra second of time was enough for the caller at the other club to start the next number. As we know, if the next number is started, it has to be called.

Not only does it have to be called, but a shout of house is heard from one of the other clubs. There’s a load of confusion at the back of the hall. I look who is holding up the ticket, and it’s a lady who was a regular at the club. I remember her well, she was a friendly and chatty lady, who unfortunately was in a really challenging situation. She was in bad-health, wheel-chair bound, and her chair was carrying various bits of kit in service of her medical condition.

My heart sank when I saw who it was. I knew she’d lost the claim, as did all the people sat around her who had raised the second shout following her first one. And let me tell you now, they were not happy, not in the least, and we would get to know just how unhappy they were…

First up, Bill had to silence everyone to figure out what had happened. When he realised the call was on the previous number, he had no choice but to say it was a false claim to the other clubs. The moment he said it, there were angry recriminating shouts from the back of the hall. He shrugged and then the winner at the other club got their ticket validated and won the £1000. The other clubs all signed off, and the telephone link was closed down.

Now, normally after the excitement of the link we’d be straight back into the main session games, with little more than a congratulatory moment had the prize been won at our club. But not that day. Instead, there was angry shouting from the back of the hall demanding the lady in question get her prize. The members were really unhappy about what had happened, as given the circumstances of the lady who’d missed the claim, in their minds she deserved that money. Remember, a £1000 was a really large sum back then.

Bill argued back and fore with them from the stage, he was adamant that was that, she lost the prize by not calling on time and the bingo needed to carry. He wouldn’t entertain the fact he had missed the call and used it as an opportunity to remind the members that a loud shout was essential, especially if you were at the back of the hall. Well, that went down really well, everyone around the lady was kicking off again and shouting. The air in the hall hung heavy with an atmosphere that could be cut with a knife.

Bill left the stage, and it was up to me to get the games rolling again. Sometimes the best way to shut up any kind of nonsense in the club is just to start calling the next set of numbers. I sheepishly announced the start of the new game and began calling. It was in full swing as Bill walked back up the aisle past the players that had been shouting, but it didn’t stop several of them waving angrily at him as he passed. I was now alone with a hostile crowd, and every time the game was stopped with a shout, the anger would begin to rise again at the back of the hall.

It’s fair to say I was absolutely bricking it, as confident as I was to call the numbers, I was not used to dealing with angry customers who felt one of their own had been robbed. The only thing I could do was keep my head down and call the numbers until there were no more numbers to call. When the main session was finished, I hung back at the stage end of the hall, not wanting to walk up past the complainers. As luck would have it, they weren’t staying for the late session and soon left with the main session exodus.

I’ve always felt sorry for the lady that lost out. It’s no doubt that money may have bought her a bit of joy. She loved coming to bingo but would often complain that she never won. That night was the first time I’d known her to shout, and for such a wonderful prize as well. As a result, I’ve often wondered if I could have done more to stop the game on time. I had heard he initial shout, but hadn’t responded to it as I was concentrating on the number entry.

It was the manager’s duty, to stop the game in the event of a claim. It always was on the link. If I’d had the wherewithal to shout at the time I heard the faint claim, I would have. I’ve always felt awful that I didn’t, but like I said, it was the only time as a caller that stopping the game wasn’t my responsibility. If I had been calling a normal game myself, I would have stopped at the slightest hint of a shout, much like the one I’d heard that evening, just to make sure it was or was not a claim.

I don’t know why Bill didn’t hear the first shout either, was it a momentary lapse in concentration? Was his hearing a bit less honed than my young ears? I had heard it, why had he not? I often replay the event in my head, and whilst it may be the worst thing that could happen as a bingo caller, it certainly ranks as one of my nightmare events.

But there we go, for me, it was a night from hell, for the lady who lost the money, it was a crushing disappointment, for the other customers it was a night of anger and for Bill, a night of avoiding customers. So, if you take one thing away from this event. Shout as loudly as you can when you get a win…

The post Confessions Of Bingo Caller Part 2 – The Missed Call From Hell appeared first on Playing Bingo.

But recently, it feels like bingo’s heyday in the UK has been consigned to the past. While there were a massive amount of active bingo halls both big and small in the 1970s and 1980s, there are now fewer than 600 traditional spaces. This number is decreasing every month, and it’s not impossible to imagine a world where British bingo fans don’t have any halls to visit at all. The obsession with bingo is certainly fading in the face of an ever-expanding digital entertainment world, but is it really on its way out? 

While the decline of conventional bingo halls isn’t particularly encouraging, it also isn’t the only side of the story. Modern options, like online bingo and a new array of bingo-inspired club nights, are currently helping younger generations get back into this age-old game, so the future remains positive. 

The UK and Bingo: a 20th Century Love Story 

As you’ll see from the various confessions of a bingo caller, bingo was extraordinarily popular in the UK during the 20th century. For many people, it wasn’t just a game, going to a bingo hall was akin to going to the pub or social club. Bingo halls were vibrant community centres, and not just for older people as they have been stereotyped these days. 

Working-class communities were particularly indebted to bingo halls, as they became affordable nights out where friends could bond over a shared sense of excitement, anticipation, and escapism. Millions were playing bingo every week during the peak in the 1970s and 1980s, with the distinctive calls, paper cards, and dabbers becoming institutionalised icons of British culture. Men would often accompany their wives to take advantage of the cheep food and drink, generations of the same family would often play together routinely.

We weren’t joking when we said millions—bingo attracted an estimated 14 million players across the UK across over 1,000 bingo halls in its heyday. Queues outside the venues weren’t out of place, and bingo halls were even more popular than cinemas and pubs in many towns. The Betting and Gaming Act 1960 played a pivotal part in expanding the game’s reach but, as with most things, everything good must eventually come to an end. 

Is Bingo Declining? 

A combination of factors has led to the decline of traditional UK bingo. The online evolution is arguably the most pertinent fact, especially for younger generations, who now have a pretty much bottomless selection of other games to enjoy from the comfort of their own homes. 

Statisticians were seeing a decline in bingo playing as early as the late 1980s, but it was the late 1990s and early 2000s when things really went downhill. Things like the smoking ban were the nails in the coffin for traditional bingo halls—now, there are fewer than 600 left. 

Best Modern Ways to Play Bingo 

Here’s the thing, traditional bingo might be declining, but is the game as a whole on its way out? Let me say this emphatically, certainly not! As the still popular online bingo, retail halls and bingo themed club nights and events will attest to. You can still very easily play bingo in the second quarter of the 21st century.

A Traditional Bingo Hall

Despite the closures of bingo halls in recent times, the traditional bingo hall is still the best way to play that authentic game. Commercial bingo halls continue to offer players the chance to play both on paper and the new fangled machines, and still boasts some of the biggest regular prize pots available to the fans of the game. OK, so they may be spread more thin these days, but you’re never really that far from a club.

Online Bingo 

Playing bingo at the many online bingo sties is a great way to enjoy the game without having to leave the house. You can also play on the move with the new breed of mobile apps. Doing so can unlock bonuses, better accessibility, and more enticing selling points. Also, bingo players love to spin the reels in between bingo games, and there’s even more sites offering online slots that will be familiar to bingo players such as online casino Betway and many other well known sites. Give the wide range out there, Bingo fans are really well catered for.

Bingo Themed Club Nights 

Club nights like Bongo’s Bingo and Bingo Lingo have revolutionised bingo for younger audiences, adding live DJs, dance-offs, quirky bonus rounds, and other features to amplify the excitement. We first reported on these nights back in the 2010s, and they have continued to grow both in size and popularity. Held in clubs across the country, these nights are rapidly gaining popularity among younger generations. Whilst not your traditional game of old, it’s fresh modern take on the game that’s guaranteed to see its popularity grow, and potentially feed new life back in to the traditional clubs.

What’s Next for the UK and Bingo? 

These are strange times for UK bingo. Although there has been an undeniable decline in bingo halls and general popularity, the game isn’t on its way out. Bingo halls are quietly reinventing the generational game for a new crowd nowadays, as well as continuing to server their traditional crowds, and we look forward to seeing how things develop. 

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So, it didn’t take long for them to try me out calling the bingo, which I did very nervously, first as a four square caller, then eventually on the main stage. It would just be the odd early and late session primarily, getting trained by the resident caller who was called Jack. Eventually I became confident enough to do a whole night calling, and would often do so on Jack’s nights off and holidays.

Jack was the regular main stage man, so much so he had his own fancy suit that the company paid to dry-clean. He was much respected by the clientele at the club and a character in his own right (just ask me about his secret cupboard and wife’s washing routine…) but these confessions aren’t about him, they’re about my experiences.

Calling all night became a regular thing for me, and I welcomed those nights, as I got a good pay bump for being the main stage caller. We had clocking cards, and the nights I called, I had to mark an M on my time card to let them know I had done the calling. It was a good third extra on the standard hourly rate, and would help put me through many a drunken night out in Cardiff.

The actual calling itself was tedious, press the button, say the number, listen for a call, repeat. I would often run on autopilot when calling, in my head I was planning what to do after work ended, or singing the latest song that was stuck in my head, in my head. At times I was almost offended when my internal life was interrupted by a shout of house from one of the players.

My tones were deep and monotonous, how I didn’t put the audience to sleep, I don’t know. I sometimes almost put myself to sleep, and there was one regular there who would nod-off, but he was never playing the bingo, just there with his brother. Cardiffians of a certain age would know this man as the Shaky Hands man, but I knew him as the annoying bloke that would wake up with a start that sounded like a faint shout of house, and often interrupted the games.

My calling position when doing the main stage was high above the ground floor of the hall. The Gaiety was previously a cinema, and had the old-fashioned layout of a long ground floor, split over two levels, and a stepped balcony, which covered half the ground floor and was reached by a staircase at the side of the hall. The callers’ podium was about 3 and half metres up, above the café and the bar, on a large stage that covered most of the width of the long narrow hall.

The view from the calling console was ace, I used to love looking back down the rows of seats and up to the heights of the balcony. It felt like you were floating above it all up on that stage, and you also felt protected should one of the players want to give you a clout because you didn’t call their numbers! The staircase up to the stage was quite narrow and grotty, and every session we got a free soft drink to take up with us when we called. I’d enjoy a coke, despite it making the calling difficult when trying not to burp.

I feel I need to set the scene a bit before I launch into the actual confessions, I wanted to give you a feel of the club and what calling the games entailed. Now, don’t be expecting some sort of ribald adventures in these up and coming confessions. They’re more about the disasters, the jokes, the players, and the downright mayhem that occurred working in a bingo club in the late 1980s, early 1990s.

Just to give you a taste of what’s to come in this occasional series about the experiences of working in bingo as a youngster. There’s a potential uprising by the players following a missed call, an attempt by the manager to game the top 40 and turn my band into a number 1 sensation, the plan to beat a casino using a multi-player strategy, cruel pranks, drunken after work parties, drunken in work parties, joke prizes, burglaries, fights, a heavy metal group’s mum, solving murders and the odd death… But that’s for next time.

The post Confessions Of A Bingo Caller Part 1 – Introduction appeared first on Playing Bingo.

There are all kinds of reasons that players pick certain games to play online, whether it’s a familiar brand, eye-catching visuals, or cute characters. Those looking for wins, however, pay attention to the game’s return to player (RTP). But what is a return to player and what does it mean for you the next time you’re looking for some online gaming at the slots?

What is RTP?

Return to player is the term used in online casinos to describe the percentage of money that a game is expected to pay back to players over a period of time.

Some slot games can have an RTP as high as 99%. Quite simply, this means that for every £100 wagered, the slot is expected to pay out £99 in winnings. These aren’t bad odds at all.

However, when it comes to RTP, the game is not just looking at you. RTP is calculated over thousands, possibly millions of spins for a slot. It does not mean that if you wager your £100, you’re guaranteed £99 back in one session. RTP is a long-term calculation and although it gives players an insight into how much a game will pay, it’s never a guarantee of a win.

How RTP is calculated

It’s a very simple calculation to work out RTP despite it factoring in thousands of gameplays and sessions over a period of time.

An average slot might pay 97%, but the reality is the calculation involves much more than one £100 wager. RTP will be calculated across millions of spins. If £1m is wagered across those spins, then an RTP of 97% would result in £970k of that being returned to players. The other £30,000 is the casino’s edge and what keeps them in business.

Players need to remember RTP is not the same for every slot. Game developers decide what the RTP will be and it will vary between different casino games. Higher RTPs are often used to attract more players to a game in the hope of a better chance of success.

How to find RTP information

The RTP of any game should be viewable in the game’s paytable or its information section. Reputable platforms want to publicise this information to players in the interests of transparency. These casinos want players to know all the information upfront so they can make informed decisions about their gaming.

The game description or technical details section on a casino’s website might also provide the RTP information for all games, allowing you to compare games. Trusted sources such as Online Slot UK also provide extensive information on a huge selection of games, including their RTPs. The more information you have as a player, the more informed choices you can make when it comes to gaming.

If a casino doesn’t detail the RTP of each of its games, then the best advice is to ditch that casino and find one that does. Any lack of transparency from a platform could indicate more serious issues, and it’s best to spend your money elsewhere.

Why RTP matters

In a crowded market, RTP can be the difference between choosing one of thousands of slots over another. While it does not guarantee a win, a higher RTP can offer a better chance at one, especially over the long term.

It’s a balance of risk and reward. Volatility can also play a part in helping you decide which games to play. A slot with low volatility, can result in more frequent but smaller wins. Slots with high volatility tend to result in fewer wins but bigger payouts. So, it’s all about what matters most to you, the higher the risk, the higher the reward. Understanding a game’s RTP and volatility means you can choose a game to suit how much risk you’re willing to take.

RTP is also vital in game management and how players manage their stakes. Higher RTP games usually see players playing for longer with the same deposit as they often win back some of their money more regularly. Those playing at lower RTP slots might see their deposit dwindle a lot faster. This is an important consideration if you like to game all evening or if you’re just looking for a quick fix.

Is a higher RTP always better?

How long is a piece of string? Although higher RTPs offer a more favourable return in the long term, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s right for you.

Some players want the excitement of chasing a big win and have the funds to do so. For them, lower RTP games, whether it’s online bingo or another casino favourite, could be the right choice for them.

Lower RTP games, including lower RTP slots, also generally offer more bonus features and even more immersive gameplay. Weighing up all considerations, the bonuses on offer for some of these games might make them more cost-effective due to the free spins or multipliers on offer.

RTP is just one consideration to make when choosing an online game and that means different things to different people. The only one that can make the right choice is you.

Conclusion

Like so many other aspects of online gaming, RTP should be understood and considered by players. It can be crucial for players to choose what games to select and how it could affect their win ratio in the long term if they stick with a particular game.

Whether you prefer the regular returns of a higher RTP game or the bigger risk that comes with a lower RTP game, understanding what it means puts you in the driver’s seat and in control of your gaming.

The post What is RTP and why is it an important factor when choosing an online slot game? appeared first on Playing Bingo.

Since etiquette reflects the rules of the game, this section will highlight the rules of bingo as well as its dos and don’ts. This will help you become a better player and improve everyone’s gaming experience. 

The Rules of Bingo

The rules of bingo are quite simple and straightforward. They are the same in both online and offline casinos and bingo sites. It’s important to familiarise yourself with these rules before you start playing:

• In 90 ball bingo, every bingo card has a total of 15 unique numbers and 12 empty spaces across three rows and nine columns. This means that no two bingo cards have the exact same collection of numbers.
  
• The numbers in every column have corresponding values. The first column features numbers from 1 to 9, the second column features numbers 10 to 19, each following column can include any of 10 numbers up until the last column, which features numbers 80 to 90.
  
• Every bingo card has 12 blank squares with four blank squares across each row.
  
• Players must check their bingo cards for the number called by the caller and daub if off if it is on their card.
  
• Depending on the game, you may need to get one, two or all three rows to win (a full house). The first player to achieve the objective must call bingo before the next number is called.
  
• Whilst playing the paper version of the game, you need to manually mark off the numbers as they are called, however, most online game versions keep track of the numbers called for you.
  

The Dos Of Bingo

We have established the fact that the game of bingo involves a group of players. It is important for you to practise proper etiquette during the game. The do’s of bingo are:

• Familiarise yourself with the rules of the bingo: Different bingo halls have different rules, so don’t assume what goes in one bingo hall is how it goes everywhere else. Learn the rules of each bingo location, the terms and conditions, the lingo of bingo and abide by them.
  
• Respect the caller: The caller is the umpire of the bingo game and must be treated with respect. Do not interrupt the caller at any time during the game. Any interruptions can distract the caller and other players and even delay the game.
  
• Focus on the game: While the game is ongoing, you should listen closely to the numbers being called and daub your cards appropriately. Generally, bingo halls do not like talking and other games being played during the main session bingo.
  
• Be courteous: Whether you are playing online bingo at one of the casino sites listed at askgamblers.com/casino-games/online-bingo or offline bingo at a physical hall, it’s important that you respect the caller and other players. This must be reflected in your language and communication with the other parties at the table. Avoid foul language, do not disrupt the seating arrangement, and obey all the game rules.
  
• Be a good sportsman: Be gracious when you win and avoid gloating. When you lose, don’t talk down to other players or the caller.
  
• Socialise with other players during breaks: While it may be distracting to socialise during the game, you can spend your time between games socialising with other players. You can use the chat room to interact with other players online and get their perspective on the game.
  
• Protect your privacy: This is particularly important in online bingo and casinos. It’s important to socialise with other players but avoid sharing personal and sensitive data about yourself in chat rooms. Strictly follow the bingo or casino’s privacy policy.
  

The Don’ts Of Bingo

Now that you know what is expected of you at a bingo game, let’s discuss things you should never do at a bingo game:

• Overextend yourself with scorecards: No matter how appealing the idea of playing bingo may seem to you, do not use more scorecards than you can effectively manage. Know your limits! Using multiple cards can lead to mistakes and missed calls, which defeats the purpose of the game.
  
• Don’t disrupt the game: Whether you are playing online or offline, do not disrupt the game while the caller is announcing numbers or chat with other players while the game is ongoing. Your comments and conversations can always wait!
  
• Do not make false calls: Don’t daub your card if you do not have the number that was announced by the caller. This is cheating. Don’t call bingo if you have not daubed all the agreed sections of your card. Although it’s possible to make mistakes at times, ensure you listen carefully to the caller and double-check the number you intend to daub before daubing.
  
• Don’t ask for bonuses or loans: Unless the casino offers you bonuses or loans, it’s generally a bad idea to ask for them. It is much worse to ask other players for loans. Don’t do it! It is against the etiquette of the bingo game.
  
• Don’t promote other bingo sites on casino platforms: Again, this is common in online casino chat rooms. No matter how much better you think another bingo site is, do not promote or even mention that site in another casino’s chat room. This is against the rules of most online casinos, and it can easily get you disqualified from the game or banned from the site.
  

Final thoughts 

Bingo is not just about winning; it’s about the shared experience and the connections you create with other players. Bingo etiquette is part of bingo history, and it can make or mar this shared experience. We encourage you to follow the dos and don’ts outlined above. Next time you sit down to play, keep these dos and don’ts in mind and enjoy your bingo game. Remember to gamble responsibly!

The post Etiquette In Bingo: The Dos And Don’ts Of Playing appeared first on Playing Bingo.

But wait; there’s more! Buzz Bingo isn’t going to stop at Cricklewood. They’ve also managed to get a hold of another Merkur venue in Northampton. Add to this collection of fine establishments the third bingo hall recently acquired in Lowestoft, Suffolk—not a part of the purchase agreement—but it seems that these two clubs, bought from the Gauselmann gaming family, really are going to be game-changers for Buzz Bingo. Industry insiders have estimated that the price tag placed on these signatures is between £15-20 million.

So, what’s the grand plan? Buzz Bingo is pumping millions into its estate to realise a revamp, with these new acquisitions being just one part of the process. The goal is to breathe new life into these venues and transform them into something even more vibrant and appealing than ever, to turn these spaces into buzzing hubs of excitement and community.

The chain is also looking to strip back it’s high street bingo offering. We’re not exactly sure what this means yet, so we will have to keep an eye on the chain. It shows a renewed confidence in retail bingo, as this is a clever, calculated move. Consumer confidence is reported to be high within the leisure industry, hence Buzz Bingo are expecting to yield high revenues.

It’s fair to say Buzz Bingo is betting big on the future. With a consumer base slowly dipping its toes back into leisure activities, this could be nothing if not good timing. The purchase of the Cricklewood and Northampton clubs sends an emphatic message that Buzz Bingo is a brand that isn’t just surviving but booming, growing, and grasping in more share in the bingo landscape.

Investing into these venues we can assume Buzz is thinking about the introduction of new formats and ideas to service the traditional bingo crowd, as well as to appeal to the new breed of players brought up on a more nightclub like form of the game. The colossal club in Cricklewood reflects their commitment to maintaining the grandeur and community spirit of bingo. Meanwhile, high street locations reflect a modern, flexible approach to ensure the needs of changing consumer preferences are met.

What does this mean for us bingo lovers? More options, more excitement, and a revitalized bingo experience. Whether you love the electric atmosphere of a huge bingo hall or something more handy on the high street, Buzz Bingo ensures there’s something for everyone. So here’s to some positive changes in the world of Buzz Bingo, high fives to reviving bingo in the UK. Watch out for these refurbished venues and get ready to scream “HOUSE!” louder than ever.

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