Bingo & the Law
Bingo is a form of gambling and as such is regulated by the government under The Gaming Act 1968. For those of you interested in this side of the game then the following links may be of some help.
According to the Department of Culture website "cash bingo is primarily a commercial activity and is regulated by the Gaming Act 1968". According to UK law, bingo can only take place on licensed and registered premises the bingo players taking part must be on the premises at the time when the gaming takes place. To counter this, many online bingo games open to UK players operate outside of the UK and therefore avoid legislation problems.
The Gaming Board of Great Britain is the regulatory body for casinos, bingo clubs and gaming machines. Their website covers useful aspects of the law involving bingo, although the site does look dated.
If you're interested in the bingo industry in the UK, then the Bingo Association website is the home of "the trade association of the licensed bingo industry in Great Britain, representing the proprietors of bingo clubs licensed under the Gaming Act 1968". You'll find a wealth of industry information, press releases, facts and figures about bingo and the latest news.

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In 1986 the National Bingo Game was launched. This new game resulted in changes to bingo legislation in the UK to allow games of multiple bingo to be played. Approximately 500 licensed bingo clubs link up every night of the year, except Christmas Day! Visit National Bingo Game for their latest press releases.
Bingo in Britain was revolutionised in June 1986 with the launch of the National Game - which required Parliamentary legislation and a new Bingo Act.
The National Bingo Game is played every night of the year except Christmas Day, with two games on a Saturday - in the afternoon and evening. Since the National Game began, £615 million has been paid out to lucky winners (as at 04.12.2000).

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The total weekly pay-out on the National Bingo Game is now more than £1 million. The top prize most evenings is £100,000, plus Regional prizes of several thousand pounds for a 40p bingo ticket. On Sunday night the National prize is £200,000 with the bingo ticket costing 50p.
On Tuesdays and Saturdays the National prize is £50,000 with a ticket cost of 25p. About 550 Clubs in the UK link up to play the National Bingo Game, through a dedicated computer system in a £2million state-of-the-art Game Control Centre at Dunstable in Bedfordshire.
The National Bingo Game is the country's second largest computer controlled game - after the Lottery. |