Gala Bingo is a well-known and popular brand outside of the internet, claiming the title of the "UK's Number 1 Bingo Operator" and with over 175 offline clubs and exceeding 5 million members it's easy to see why. Gala Bingo online at galabingo.co.uk is marketed as their online "club", as a place where "you can still have fun winning" even when the offline clubs are closed. Fronted by Sharon Osbourne in a series of well-known advertisements, Gala Bingo may be the first bingo operator online that comes to mind, but is it right for you? In this guide the type of games, bonuses, prizes, chat rooms, how easy and clear the site is to get around, customer support and any exciting and interesting features that Gala Bingo offers its online customers come under the spotlight, helping you decide for yourself whether playing Gala Bingo online is the right choice.
Gala Bingo Games
Boasting bingo 24/7 day and night, you'll never be without a game. Keeping it simple and fun is a key theme with the bingo on site, without over-the-top confusing themes or patterns. Gala bingo offers:
75 Ball Bingo
80 Ball Bingo
90 Ball Bingo - The most popular bingo on the site, with many games in many "clubs" happening all the time.
Galatv Bingo - A TV bingo game you watch as you play, with a live announcer and presenters.
The clubs add a splash of variety to the games, with themed rooms and interesting names. You may meet new friends in certain rooms, and pick a favourite, meeting the same friends from all over the UK each time you play for a chat and words of encouragement or congratulations!
The ticket prices for bingo start from only 2p, so there is no need to break the bank.
Just Bingo?
Gala Bingo has a vast range of real money games online to play, including slots roulette and lotto, as well as a large list of bright and colourful classic and new games, such as:
Keno
Blackjack
Goldenballs(based on the popular tv show)
Themed Scratchcards - Such as the Deal or No Deal card, a Sharon Osbourne card and a variety of Astrology themed scratchcards.
And many, many more.
Prizes
Subject to ticket sales, Gala Bingo pays out an incredible £28 milion pounds in bingo prizes per week, making it a very popular choice. It also promises a "winner every 10 seconds" with a bar at the bottom of the main Gala Bingo website showing the user icons, names and amounts won by players "as it happens". Cash prizes depend on the type of bingo played, with full houses paying out less for the lower ball bingo and certain "clubs" offering higher prize monies to it's luckier players.
Other prizes include VIP days at the races with champagne and spending money.
Bonuses
Gala Bingo offers it's customers 2 Nectar points for every £1 spent on the site, the very same Nectar points collected in supermarkets, petrol and online shopping, and can be redeemed to spend on special offers off and online.
Also they offer a Refer-a-Friend Scheme where if you refer a friend to the site that joins and deposits you will earn £10 per friend towards your bingo account.
Chat
Every online Gala Bingo club, 15 in total, provides chat to its members, with games, activities and puzzles also provided by the moderators as you play your bingo or wait for the next game. Each of these moderators has their own illustrated portrait and webpage about themselves, letting you get to know them.
Chat games include:
Quiz Trivia
Riddle This
Blankety Blank
Name That Tune
Famous Lines
Site Navigability
The Gala Bingo site is tabbed for all its sections using different colours and clear navigational bar to click at the top of the page. All text both in the site and in games is clear, and although the site is busy and vibrant, with many things going on at once, it is tricky to get lost. Joining a bingo club is easy, and clicking the "Play Bingo Now" link brings up a seperate pop up window that fills the screen and lists all clubs and games available. The Bingo clubs have memorable names and are listed in a simple and easy to read screen as you pick, well spaced and uncramped.
Customer Support
Gala bingo offers 24 hour free phone support 7 days a week, an insite messenging service called an "E-Message" to its members, email, fax and a call back service if you wish an operator to ring you back at the earliest available opportunity.
Extra Features
An exciting extra feature that Gala Bingo offers is "Gala TV", this is a live television channel you can watch while you play on the top of your browser in the bingo tv club room, making your game and calling the numbers as a part of the feature every night from 6pm-2am. As well as this, for two days a week on Monday and Thursday in June Gala Bingo is offering it's members free bingo games twice an hour with the chance to win up to £500 in cash, games consoles, holidays and plasma televisions