Bingo.com to offer real money play

25.04.2005

One of the largest online bingo sites, Bingo.com Limited has engaged Canadian turnkey provider Chartwell Technology to supply its cash gaming system.

With a player base claimed at over a million online bingo fans. Bingo.com says it attracts over 30 000 visitors each day, signs up 800 new members every 24 hours and has served over 4 billion cards to date on a play-for-fun basis.

The bingo specialist says that due to recent positive regulatory developments such as the UK Gambling Bill it has decided to take advantage of its brand and dominant position in the free online bingo industry and enter the play for cash bingo market.

Under the terms of the license agreement, Chartwell will provide Bingo.com with its gaming system, offering players the experience of flash based 75 and 90 ball bingo games, complete with chat features and the opportunity to play a full suite of soft games which are offered as side games or intermission entertainment.

"We are delighted to have been selected as the software provider to one of the world's largest online bingo companies", Darold Parken, President and CEO of Chartwellsaid in announcing the deal. "Community based gaming has become one of the fastest growing segments of the gaming industry and the launch of Bingo.com's play for cash offering gives us a strong industry partner and represents a significant step towards positioning the Company as the leading bingo software provider to this exciting gaming market segment.'

While still in its infancy, online bingo has already attracted more than five million players with a demographic profile that differs significantly from that of online casino and poker players. This suggests that bingo will make a significant contribution to the growth of the online gaming industry, expected to generate revenue exceeding $18 billion by 2010, according to Christiansen Capital Advisors. Therefore the growth of online gaming as a whole has the potential to significantly exceed published forecasts.