Whilst Canadians playing on Bingo Mega fared even better on the progressive jackpots, with $2,675.75 going to a player in Port Moody, British Columbia, $1,037.49 to Thunder Bay, Ontario, $3,460.26 to Brighton, Ontario, and $1,780.83 to Nanaimo, British Columbia. For the month of January 2007, Bingo Gala paid out $ $1,242,760.72 in winnings to players, with Bingo Mega paying out $ $1,006,260.28 for the same period.
The 75-ball online bingo halls are very popular with Canadian players. A huge 68% of pattern suggestions that were sent via the websites were sent in by Canadians, and out of those 75% suggested static patterns, as opposed to moving patterns. The most loved pattern of all is the blackout, followed by Alphabet letters, missing links, and all things cute. When asked if they had ‘lucky numbers’ a resounding 83% claimed to use numbers from their birthdates, or those of family or loved ones.
European players, in particular the British, prefer 90-ball online bingo halls according to the responses received from the site’s ‘What do players want?’ pages. Bingo Entertainment stated that in line with keeping all of its players happy, it will be incorporating 90-ball bingo halls into all of its brands, and will be releasing new software upgrades in March.
The exception to this is Bingo Mega, which has already released its own software upgrade in December 2006, which has proved to be very popular with existing and new players alike. The upgrade incorporated the game of Keno, which has been a huge success. Also a 90-ball bingo hall was created, and is currently open to play for free before its launch as a pay game. It will then see its own separate progressive jackpot, thus making three progressive bingo jackpots available on Bingo Mega alone, with one in the Nickels Hall, and another in the Quarters Hall. “We are confident the addition of the 90-ball bingo hall will be a great success” said Harry Christodoulou, a Bingo Entertainment spokesperson.
Bingo Entertainment also revealed another interesting statistic, in that nine out of ten of their players who had won or purchased a bingo caller plush toy, claim to keep it on or next to their computer for luck. “Each of our brands has its own unique bingo caller, and these are often given as prizes in certain site promotions, incorporated into a goody bag of other popular items such as mouse pads and mugs” continued Harry, “ They are much sought after by Bingo Entertainment’
Harry said that the bingo goody bags proved immensely popular on the 2006 Bingo Cruise, to which Bingo Entertainment are Platinum Sponsors. “I was over-wealmed at the demand for our bingo callers, mouse pads, and magnets, which we gave as complimentary gifts to the Bingo Cruise winners, as well as voucher booklets. Luckily I took some extras with me, everybody wanted them!”
“We are looking to make the next cruise even more exciting for this year’s winners. We will be announcing the qualifying rounds soon on all of our sites, and I have no doubt it will prove to be even more popular than ever. The 19th annual bingo cruise departs on the 1st November 2007, sailing to the Eastern Caribbean with stops at San Juan in Puerto Rico, St Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Isles, Antigua, Tortola in the British Virgin Islands, culminating on the 10th November in Nassau, the lively hub of The Bahamas”.
“There is no better way to inter-act with your players” said Harry, “It’s a fantastic PR opportunity, and on a personal level, it brought me great job satisfaction to hear the praise and compliments from our players, and getting to know them individually. Although statistics are an important factor to follow in this trade, we like to remember that our players are real people, not just an online gaming statistic as some other companies tend to see them. I certainly hope to be there on the 2007 Bingo Cruise to personally meet the winners, and I’ll be sure to bring extra goodies!”
