We all have the image of the stereotype of an old lady with faded purple hair and, large specks and nurse-type slippers, sitting in a bingo hall marking her cards. This image is slowly changing, as younger females take interest in the activity.

The industry is attempting to refresh its image, offering “student nights” and inviting celebrities like Denise Van Outen and Catherine Zeta Jones to appear as the pay-out figures. Last year, over 8.5 million people played bingo, and a recent statistic shows that there has been a rise of more than 15% in younger players. According to the Bingo Association, half of the players are currently under 45, something which would have seemed impossible before.

One of the largest online bingo companies, Bingo Entertainment N.V is offering their players a chance to celebrate the 20th Anniversary Platinum Celebration of the Annual World Championship Bingo Tournament and Gaming Cruise, which will take place between the 5th and 15th of November this year.

The two lucky winners of this competition will be aboard this year’s cruise. The prize includes a Category A Suite with a balcony and a return air ticket for the winners and their guests. The competition will take place from the 1st of April until the 30th of September, and the winners will be those with the most Cruise Miles.

This past weekend, the Lifelong AIDS Alliance’s Black Tie Bingo event took place, where champagne and openhandedness flowed freely. Almost 300 socially aware people raised more than $100,000 for the local HIV/AIDS non-profit service organization. This fourth annual event was conducted by a local drag celebrity named Sylvia O’Stayformore.

Jack Mackenroth, the Proyect Runway designer, was the event’s special guest ball caller. When he was asked as to why he picked to support Lifelong among the other various worthy non-profits.

A British bingo player from the city of Colchester has just won a whooping £39.000 jackpot (approximately 51.700 euros). The lucky 26-year-old winner, who is a healthcare worker, could not believe it when he found out all the money he had won.

The gambler was enjoying the National Game at the Gala Club located in Osbourne Street where he got not only the £37.152 prize but also the £2.066 regional prize and the £200 house prize.

A 22-year-old employee at an English Bingo club is preparing himself to establish a new world record. The record he intends to set consists of becoming the person to receive the largest amount of San Valentine’s day cards, which is celebrated this February 14th.

Darren Chaffney is the name of the employee who works as a caller in the Bingo, giving good luck to his loyal regular players. Chaffney expects to have the support of the hundreds of women who regularly come to his club to play to fulfill his ambitious goal.

A woman from the city of Weymouth in the south coast of England is still in shock after scooping £15,000 (approximately 30.000 dollars) playing at her local Gala Bingo club.

The prize corresponds to the National Bingo Game prize. The jackpot for that night was exactly £45.000 but two other players completed full house in 41 balls so the top prize had to be shared. The woman’s luck didn’t end there, as she was also the winner of the £30 house prize.

The online bingo operator known as Bingo Fabulous has claimed that, thanks to the approval of the smoking ban imposed in Scotland, the membership to his online bingo site has surprisingly raised a considerable 40 per cent.

The marketing manager of the Bingo Fabulous, Aviva Lange, talked about the phenomenon and said: “Even though there are many factors that may be causing this unexpected growth, as it could be the very heavy promotion of our bingo brand that is taking place in the UK market, we honestly believe that the smoking ban has turned out to be an influencing factor”.

Despite the recent high-profile indictments of the founder and CEO of Internet gambling company BetOnSports, it does not appear that online gamblers in most U.S. states have any reason to fear prosecution - at least not by the federal government, according to an article published by Yahoo.

The exception, says the article, is Washington State, where gamblers could be charged with a felony under recently passed legislation.

The Provincial Institute of Lottery and Casinos has extended the licenses of the 46 bingo parlors in the province of Buenos Aires for 15 years.

The cost of the licenses was one thousand million Argentinean pesos.

The expiration date for the licenses is June 30th, 2021.

As published by ATEOnline.co.uk: “Top Ten Holding's sir Aubrey Brocklebank has spoken about the upcoming smoking ban in England and Wales, saying that the company would be flexible enough to adapt and make room for cigarette breaks.”

The industry grew out of people converting cinemas. So the format tended to follow a cinema format", he commented. "You paid an entrance fee, had a bit of a pre-run and an interval, and then the main feature. We can be flexible; we can have shorter sessions or longer sessions."