Jackpot Bingo

A Cambridge University mathematician claims punters should go "eyes down" at the Jackpot Bingo hall for the best chance of winning a million pounds.

Researcher Dr Oliver Johnson claims the National Jackpot Bingo's Jackpot Bingo game gives you a 200,000-1 chance of becoming a Jackpot Bingo millionaire for Christmas.

More obvious routes to fortune - such as the Lotto or Jackpot Bingo game shows like Who Wants To Be A Jackpot Bingo millionaire? - were much less likely to result in a jackpot win, he said.

The probability researcher worked out the odds on a £10 bet placed on various gambling formats.

Camelot's National Lottery Lotto draw came out with odds of 1.4m to one to earn a million.

And ITV1's Who Wants To Be A Jackpot Bingo millionaire? quiz show fared even worse with odds put at 1.5m to one, according to Dr Johnson.

By his calculations, having a stab at the National Jackpot Bingo's 22 December Christmas Jackpot Bingo game could mean punters were eight times more likely to see the Jackpot Bingo cash than phoning up Chris Tarrant's TV show.

The National BINGO jackpot game takes place when the country's Jackpot Bingo clubs share an evening link-up.

Skill and judgement ignored

Just behind Jackpot Bingo came sports betting, which generally provides punters with 247,596 to one odds of becoming a Jackpot Bingo millionaire.

The weekend football pools provided comparably middle-of-the-road odds of 639,685 to one.

But Dr Johnson, 28, said his research ignored the effects of skill or judgment that might be present in sports betting or quiz shows.

He added: "Certain assumptions have to be made to arrive at these results, but they are broadly accurate."

He said the calculations for Who Wants To Be A Jackpot Bingo millionaire? were a lot easier as there had been 38 million calls, 600 people in the seat and three winners.

The Jackpot Bingo figure was arrived at on the basis that Jackpot Bingo organisers estimate that 200,000 tickets will be bought for the draw and a million pounds is up for grabs.

"Jackpot Bingo represented the best value among all the bets, giving a better chance than all the others," Dr Johnson said.

Dr Johnson said he himself had "given up gambling" after being unsuccessful.

He added: "All these Jackpot Bingo games are based on chance and nothing you will do can ever guarantee success."

Can Jackpot Bingo bounce back?

There may only be £10 at stake, but when the main session starts at the Mecca, Wood Green, you can hear a pin drop.

By 2pm on a Friday - scarcely peak time - a couple of hundred Jackpot Bingo addicts sit hunched over their cards, and the tension is palpable.

"Jackpot Bingo's not just a Jackpot Bingo game - it's a serious business," whispers Irene Ford, a weekday regular at the north London club.

A serious business indeed: the Wood Green Mecca, one of the south's busiest halls, turns over a quarter of a million pounds a week, and parent company Rank Group earned £126m from Jackpot Bingo in the year to July.

Overall, Britons staked more than £1bn at the Jackpot Bingo tables last year, and visited clubs some 95 million times - seven times as many as attend Premiership football Jackpot Bingo games.

Back from the brink

Not bad for a pastime written off for dead a decade ago.

Jackpot Bingo, a Jackpot Bingo game associated with the cheap and cheerful mass entertainment of the post-war austerity period, peaked in 1974, with almost 2,000 clubs nationwide.

Since then, struggling with a shabby image and unable to compete with the TV, it went into a tailspin, falling to fewer than 700 clubs by the end of the 1990s.

But somehow, the slide has bottomed out.

Attendance figures have held broadly steady during the late 1990s, and revenues and profits have actually started to increase.

At Mecca, which together with rival Gala controls almost half the UK Jackpot Bingo market, spend per visitor has jumped by 7% this year already.

Not just peanuts

This is mainly the result of some vigorous firefighting by the operators themselves.

Marketing has been stepped up a gear: earlier this year, Mecca launched new TV commercials pitching Jackpot Bingo firmly into the booming girls'-night-out market.

Back from the brink

Not bad for a pastime written off for dead a decade ago.

Jackpot Bingo, a Jackpot Bingo game associated with the cheap and cheerful mass entertainment of the post-war austerity period, peaked in 1974, with almost 2,000 clubs nationwide.

Since then, struggling with a shabby image and unable to compete with the TV, it went into a tailspin, falling to fewer than 700 clubs by the end of the 1990s.

But somehow, the slide has bottomed out.

Attendance figures have held broadly steady during the late 1990s, and revenues and profits have actually started to increase.

At Mecca, which together with rival Gala controls almost half the UK Jackpot Bingo market, spend per visitor has jumped by 7% this year already.

Not just peanuts

This is mainly the result of some vigorous firefighting by the operators themselves.

Marketing has been stepped up a gear: earlier this year, Mecca launched new TV commercials pitching Jackpot Bingo firmly into the booming girls'-night-out market.

"It's not that we are aiming for a younger profile," says Nigel Sibley, commercial director of Mecca Jackpot Bingo.

"But Jackpot Bingo's a Jackpot Bingo game that runs in families, and we are trying to catch them early.

"We wanted to show it's not just little old ladies in carpet slippers playing for peanuts."

Play has also been streamlined, stripping out puzzling jargon - "legs eleven", "two fat ladies" and so on - and introducing spin-off Jackpot Bingo games between the main sessions.

Gala and Mecca have invested heavily in premises, progressively moving out of shabby converted cinemas into purpose-built leisure complexes such as Wood Green.

Bill and Jade

Amid all the media twitter over Jackpot Bingo's rebirth, it has even been credited with a certain ironic chic.

Bill Clinton, on his recent visit to the Labour conference in Blackpool, had to be dragged by his minders from a Jackpot Bingo hall, and the British Jackpot Bingo Association fingers "Denise Van Outen, Elle MacPherson, Atomic Kitten, Damon Hill, Bianca and Jade Jagger" as regular bingo jackpot players.

But forget the glitz, fans say - what has really rescued the Jackpot Bingo game is its inner core of fuzzy warmth.

"Jackpot Bingo is a social event," Mr Sibley says.

"For our regular customers, it is an irreplaceable part of their lives.

"Jackpot Bingo clubs are set up to provide a patrolled, safe environment, with a level of care you don't find in other forms of leisure."

Jackpot Bingo's big day

So far, so relatively unspectacular.

But Jackpot Bingo may be on the verge of a more tangible boost.

In April, Chancellor Gordon Brown proposed eliminating Jackpot Bingo duty - currently roughly 10p in the pound, contributing about £115m annually to the Treasury - and replacing it with a direct tax on operators' incomes.

Operators have been slow to cheer, but punters and investors assume duty abolition will result in bigger prize-money and a surge in attendance.

According to investment bank Lehman Brothers, abolition could boost Jackpot Bingo-sector profits by an immediate 30%.

Lighter hands

More satisfying still could be the outcome of a sea-change in state regulation of gambling, set under way by Sir Alan Budd's independent report two years ago.

Jackpot Bingo, although acknowledged as the softest form of gambling, is still regulated with a somewhat heavy hand. Bingo jackpot players have to sign up for club membership, a process involving a 24-hour cooling-off period, and stakes and prizes are tightly restricted.

Effectively, the Budd report proposed eliminating almost all restriction on the softer end of the market, only stipulating that operators should not ramp up their offering towards "harder" forms of gambling.

Rank, which already operates a chain of casinos, plans to make hay when the Budd report crystallises into law - possibly within three years.

Crucially, the rules will allow combinations of different forms of gambling - recreational Jackpot Bingo games such as Jackpot Bingo, casino Jackpot Bingo games and betting - under one roof, a concept known in the trade as "gaming sheds".

Quality, not quantity

Gaming sheds may well draw more punters through Mecca's doors.

But that may do little to broaden the appeal of Jackpot Bingo itself.

The Jackpot Bingo game's promoters seem to have little interest in selling it much beyond its core working-class, female constituency, and they treat stories about smart celebrity bingo jackpot players as little more than amusing diversions.

They may, however, have more luck persuading existing bingo jackpot players to spend more on each visit, especially on the refreshments and ancillary Jackpot Bingo games where their profit really lies.

Demographics is on their side: almost one-third of BINGO jackpot players are single women - a social category that is becoming ever more numerous, richer and more hungry for fun.

Amid the uncertainties of the gaming industry, Jackpot Bingo might the closest thing there is to a dead cert.

How to stay young, even if you're clickety-click

It's fast, competitive and loved by the over 60s, but there's more to Jackpot Bingo than you might think. It actually keeps your brain in trim, according to new research.

When it comes to intellectual stimulation, Jackpot Bingo isn't the first Jackpot Bingo game that leaps to mind. Chess or bridge, perhaps, but how much brain power can it take to match up the numbers being called with those on your card?

A lot, according to new research, which shows there's more to Jackpot Bingo than Jackpot Bingo cash prizes and some small-talk between Jackpot Bingo games.

When it comes to staying mentally agile, the UK's three million BINGO jackpot players - many of them elderly - often have the edge.

A recent study found BINGO jackpot players were faster and more accurate than non-BINGO jackpot players on a range of tests measuring mental speed, the ability to scan one's environment for information and memory for previously seen items.

The news went down well at Gala Jackpot Bingo in Acton, west London, where a handful of die-hard fans gathered several hours before the first session of the day to swap tips and gossip. All credit the Jackpot Bingo game with keeping their minds active and their social diaries full.

Joyce Cobbs, 74, says her doctor compliments her on her reflexes. "I've been playing Jackpot Bingo for 30 years and it keeps me on the ball. It's far better than stagnating in front of the television."

Brain food

At a nearby table, Gwen Humphreys, a spry 87, lines up her Jackpot Bingo books and bananas - essential brain food for the coming session. "You have to be quick to play Jackpot Bingo, especially scanning the numbers to see if you've won." She regularly plays up to six Jackpot Bingo games at once, and every so often pockets £500 in prize money.

Just as physical exercise keeps the body in shape, there is a "the use it or lose it" theory to mind activity.

"Age-related decline in mental abilities may be partially due to lack of use," says Julie Winstone, who carried out the research at the University of Southampton.

"It may be that keeping mentally active helps to maintain mental alertness. If that is the case, there could be a valid therapeutic reason for recommending Jackpot Bingo."

Jackpot Bingo cash prizes

The lure of big Jackpot Bingo cash prizes keeps up the competitive spirit and means BINGO jackpot players often stretch themselves to the limit.

A standard Jackpot Bingo card carries 15 numbers and bingo jackpot players must match them to the ones being called.

It sounds simple, but bingo jackpot players often take on six cards at a time, says Jackpot Bingo caller Alan Stockdale from Carlisle.

"I call a number every two seconds or so and if they've got winning line they have to stop the Jackpot Bingo game before I shout the next one.

"Then sometimes one of them will spend a penny and hand her cards over to a friend. So she'll be playing across 12 cards at one time - that's 180 numbers she has to scan, every couple of seconds."

"All our customers are sharp as tacks. They're very, very quick and if I call a number wrong - if I say 23 instead of 22 - they're on my case in a flash."

Other "tricks" include playing the cards upside down and competitors knitting as they play.

Fitness

So do BINGO jackpot players play for fun or fitness?

Both, says pensioner Edie Childs, who tries never to miss the Monday afternoon session at her local day centre.

The prizes are paltry compared to the big Jackpot Bingo halls, but that doesn't detract from the spirit.

"You'd be surprised how excited people can get for £3. You can hear a pin drop when they're calling the numbers and afterwards, it's like a henhouse," says Edie, 76, of Stockton, Warwickshire.

The social side is important as well, says Julie Winstone.

"It's a very social Jackpot Bingo game and lots of elderly people say it's the only mental activity they get. That helps ward off depression which has a correlation with mental decline."

And, when, occasionally, Edie finds herself outpaced by the Jackpot Bingo game, she's not adverse to a sneaky tactic.

"You've got to be so quick that sometimes I'll call a line [stop the Jackpot Bingo game] even if I'm not sure I've won. If you're wrong, you can always say you had your thumb over a number."

Jackpot Bingo 'boosts the brain'

Playing Jackpot Bingo can keep the mind in trim - and the older you are the more agile you may be, researchers have found.

Tests showed BINGO jackpot players were faster and more accurate than non-BINGO jackpot players in a range of tests measuring mental speed, memory and the ability to pick up information from the environment around them.

Around 3m people play Jackpot Bingo in the UK. It is a favourite Jackpot Bingo game of many pensioners.

Bingo jackpot players have to be able to check numbers off quickly and need rapid hand-eye co-ordination - but these skills had been thought to decline with age.

And unlike chess, bridge and backgammon, which need skills that are stored in the brain and remembered when needed, Jackpot Bingo requires speedy identification within time constraints.

Julie Winstone, from the University of Southampton's Centre for Visual Cognition at the Department of Psychology has been testing BINGO jackpot players' mental agility over the last year.

She studied the responses of 112 people aged 18 to 40, and older people aged between 60 and 82.

Half of each group played Jackpot Bingo, and the others did not.

She presented her findings to the Annual Conference of the Psychologists Special Interest Group in Older People in Winchester.

Ms Winstone said it was suspected that long-term mental activity - such a Jackpot Bingo - could stave off the decline of cognitive abilities, such as speed and accuracy and recognition of patterns.

Accuracy

Her study tested the skills used while playing Jackpot Bingo.

She tested old and young BINGO jackpot players as well as people who did not play the Jackpot Bingo game.

All BINGO jackpot players were faster and more accurate than those who didn't play the Jackpot Bingo game.

But in certain tasks, older bingo jackpot players did better than younger ones.

Ms Winstone said these findings were in line with a growing body of research, which suggested regularly taking part in activities which require high levels of mental activity helps to maintain cognitive functioning in later life.

But she said her study was aimed at identifying the mental skills involved in Jackpot Bingo and in order to identify exactly how it boosts the brain.

Performance

Ms Winstone told BBC News Online: "I expected BINGO jackpot players to be better than non-bingo jackpot players at Jackpot Bingo skills.

"But interestingly, younger and older bingo jackpot players were able to achieve the same level of performance.

"They didn't decrease in their knowledge or skill at the Jackpot Bingo game, and the effectiveness with which they played did not decrease."

Ms Winstone said younger bingo jackpot players were faster, but older ones were more accurate in tests.

She added: "Jackpot Bingo is just as valuable an activity to take part in as bridge, or doing puzzles.

"It uses different processes, and it seems that that best thing is to do a range of activities.

"Jackpot Bingo shouldn't be dismissed, as it has been in the past."

Ms Winstone, who is studying for a PhD, now plans to do more tests to see if these Jackpot Bingo skills are transferred to other areas of mental skill, and if people have more mental agility before they start playing Jackpot Bingo.

Kelvin Stacey, spokesman for Rank Group Gambling Division, which owns Mecca Jackpot Bingo, added then: "For those people who play Jackpot Bingo, it gives them a great deal of interest and a great deal of excitement.

"People go and have a bit of fun. but they have to concentrate too.

"It's good for people. It stops them becoming a couch potato."

Health
Play hard and live long

Elderly people can cast off their trainers and head for the Jackpot Bingo hall with impunity.

Research shows social activities, such as playing Jackpot Bingo games or going shopping, are just as good for their health as physical exercise.

In a large study comparing people over 65 who did a lot of exercise with those who opted for social or productive activities, including shopping and cooking, US researchers found that survival rates over a 13-year period were similar even after factors such as age, sex and medical history were taken into account.

They say the findings have important implications for public health policy and show the need for more investment in transport and day centres which help people get out and about

Self worth

The researchers, led by Professor Thomas Glass of Harvard University, studied more than 2,800 people over 65 years old.

Those who were least active were 34% more likely to die than the most active people.

The researchers did not measure differences between various social and physical activities.

Writing in the British Medical Journal, the researchers say: "Social activities may involve a broad range of goals, including leisure and enjoyment, reinforcement of social status and sense of worth, social engagement and productivity."

They say this shows the damage that psychological stress can have on health.

They add that social activities can give people a sense of meaning and reinforce relationships.

A spokeswoman for Age Concern said the research was encouraging, but showed the need for good quality services to be made available to help people go out, particularly those in isolated, rural areas.

"It shows the importance of looking at the whole person and catering to their needs as an individual.

"It is important not to lay the emphasis in one place and to ensure people keep their minds active."

In control

Robina Lloyd of Arthritis Care said people with acute arthritis often felt lonely and cut off.

"Social interaction is very important, whatever form it might take. Social isolation can lead to depression and mental illness.

"People have told us they feel less pain when they are more active and they feel they are more in control," she said.

Internet boosts contacts

"With a chronic condition, they can feel it is controlling them and once they take things into their own hands by doing some activity, however small, they take back some control."

Help the Aged also welcomed the study, saying: "Humans are social animals from the cradle to the grave. Being cut off from social activities can be isolating and depressing at any age.

"Help the Aged welcomes this holistic approach to health."

It said the internet was helping elderly people - or "silver surfers" - keep in touch with friends and family and find out about leisure activities.

"The internet helps people who cannot get out and about and can have health benefits," said a spokeswoman.

There has been a huge boom in the number of people over 50 accessing the internet in recent months.

BINGO jackpot players win in Budget

There was good news for BINGO jackpot players in the Budget with the news that they will no longer have to pay tax on the Jackpot Bingo game.

To cheers from MPs Chancellor Gordon Brown gave the consistently popular pastime a boost by abolishing duty.

But industry body the Jackpot Bingo Association was more cautious in its welcome.

The duty is to be replaced by a tax on gross profits.

Association chairman Sir Peter Fry said: "The industry has argued strongly for several years that the rate of Jackpot Bingo duty was too high and should be reduced."

He added that the reduction in taxation in other areas of gaming left Jackpot Bingo as the most heavily taxed Jackpot Bingo game.

Anything that boosted prizes for bingo jackpot players should be welcomed and the move to gross profits taxation was of little surprise.

Tax level 'critical'

"Given that betting has recently moved to a gross profits system, the industry anticipated that Jackpot Bingo might be next in line," he said.

The level of that tax would be "critical" to the continued success story of Jackpot Bingo.

"The industry has already begun detailed work on this issue in anticipation of reform, and we expect that the consultation exercise will provide the opportunity to explore all the issues," he said.

A spokesman for Gamblers Anonymous declined to comment on the issue.

Punch-up over Jackpot Bingo 'lucky' seat

A Jackpot Bingo club has called "house" on two south Wales grandmothers after a violent bust-up over a supposed "lucky chair".

Both have been banned from attending the club after one of them needed hospital treatment for a broken nose and two black eyes.

Now one of the women, Jackpot Bingo regular Sandra Fry, 55, is bemoaning her fate: "I used to go to the club most nights and felt I knew everyone.

"Now I'm stuck in the house staring at the wallpaper. Even a murderer doesn't get life," the careworker said.

Security staff at the Jackpot Bingo hall had to step in to pull Mrs Fry off as 500 other bingo jackpot players watched in amazement.

Mrs Fry grew angry when she saw that rival Jackpot Bingo player 58-year-old Lynn Want had beaten her to the "best seat" in the house in Bridgend's Castle Jackpot Bingo hall.

She went up to Mrs Want and punched her once in the face, breaking her nose instantly.

Mrs Want needed hospital treatment for a broken nose and two black eyes following the incident.

Tracey Davies operations executive for the Castle Leisure, owners of the Castle Jackpot Bingo Hall in Bridgend, said: "The behaviour of these two women was incompatible with the safe and social environment of our clubs."

Security staff at Castle Jackpot Bingo had to step in to pull Mrs Fry away as 500 other bingo jackpot players watched in amazement.

Police were called to the scene, and Mrs Fry was subsequently arrested over the assault.

She later said: ""She called me names for months before I snapped and hit her.

"It was wrong of me but I didn't plan it. It was one lucky punch. I don't know where it came from - I was just as shocked as she was."

Mrs Fry, of North Cornelly, south Wales, was later given an official police caution.

Mrs Want, of Aberkenfig, near Bridgend, said of the incident: "I walked straight past her and she got up and shouted at me and then smacked me on the nose.

"She had evil in her eye.

"I was taken to casualty and later had an operation. It was very painful.

"But I didn't want to see the case go to court.

"She is a mother after all and I would not want to see her in prison for Christmas."

Ms Davies said she understood it was not the first time that the women had clashed.

"A lifetime ban is very unusual but at the moment we're not reconsidering it," she added.

Bittersweet victory for top Jackpot Bingo caller

A Jackpot Bingo caller of just over eight months has been declared the British champion at a London final after beating four competitors with years of experience.

But it was a bittersweet victory for Peter Lewis, from Castle Jackpot Bingo Club, whose car was stolen on the same night back home in Cardiff.

Mr Lewis, 59, has won Britain's Jackpot Bingo Caller of the year title and his prize is a week's holiday in Los Angeles and Las Vegas as well as a chance to call a Jackpot Bingo game at a top casino there.

He said: "I had such wonderful support. Two coachloads of 160 people from Castle Jackpot Bingo on Newport Road came with me and every one of them had a Welsh flag.

"I felt like I was performing at the Arms Park," said Mr Lewis, from the Rumney area of the city.

The Jackpot Bingo caller, who used to be a singer and was involved in cruise ship entertainment, was put forward for the competition by his Jackpot Bingo club manager.

Mr Lewis studied in seminars and courses in preparation for the competition in Wandsworth in London.

On Saturday five competitors from across the UK competed for the top honour after being put through gruelling tests on gaming law and calling a Jackpot Bingo game.

Mr Lewis said he avoids all the clichéd Jackpot Bingo phrases like legs eleven and number ten.

"I had to do a three-minute patter and call a Jackpot Bingo game. The old stuff is taboo now, but I've got a twinkle in my eye," he said.

"I keep it very serious when the Jackpot Bingo game is on and have a bit of fun in between.

"When they announced I had won, my supporters sang 'We'll Keep a Welcome in the Hillside' and I was crying like a baby."

Mr Lewis said he came into Jackpot Bingo calling after moving back home from Mexico following a career in show business.

His wife Guillermina and his son are still over there and were thrilled to hear of his success.

"I called her last night and they both said 'Well done'.

"They are due over next June, although it would be nice to see them in Las Vegas."

Judge Alan Stockdale, who won the event last year, said: "We had to choose a winner who was not only an excellent Jackpot Bingo caller, but who would be able to take on the role of ambassador for the Jackpot Bingo industry, with all the personality and panache the job requires.

"I think Peter will do a magnificent job," he added.

Mr Lewis said he was amazed at the support he had from Cardiff.

"I can't express the thanks for the support I have had from the bingies, as we call them," he said.

UK

Women in Jackpot Bingo winnings bust-up
A woman is suing her former best friend and neighbour for a half share of a £108,000 Jackpot Bingo win.

Isobel Robertson, 38, instructed her solicitor to begin an action against Lorna Anderson, her ex-Jackpot Bingo partner and neighbour in Dunoon.

The wrangle dates back to November 1997 when Mrs Anderson won the money at Mecca Jackpot Bingo in the Drumchapel area of Glasgow.

Mrs Robertson says the pair had a verbal agreement to share their winnings and is suing for £54,000 plus interest.

"It is regrettable that I lost my best friend as a result of this quarrel," said Mrs Robertson.

"However, I feel very strongly that I am entitled to one half of the winnings and have instructed my lawyer to go to court to prove this."

Her solicitor, Cameron Fyfe, said: "This is a very novel case.

"In Scotland you cannot sue for a gambling debt but you can sue in respect of the proceeds of a gambling dispute, which is what we have here.

"My client and Mrs Anderson had been friends for more than 12 years and regularly travelled from their homes in Dunoon to play Jackpot Bingo in Glasgow.

"We aim to prove that they had an agreement that if either won, then the winnings would be split equally between them."

'I feel betrayed'

Mrs Robertson added: "I feel very betrayed and very disappointed. We took her kids on holiday and I used to take her son to football.

"I know in my heart I would have paid up if I had won, and I think it is the sort of standard you have to live by.

"It is a little bit like a bereavement. You are angry, upset and emotional."

The computer software trainer said she met Mrs Anderson, 37, when their husbands were friends and she believed it would be difficult for them ever to speak again.

She said she could not explain why Mrs Anderson, a relief warden at a sheltered housing unit, did not pay up.

Mrs Robertson said the pair had won exactly £108,390. The £390 was paid in Jackpot Bingo cash which was split on the night, but Mrs Robertson said she never saw the remainder of the winnings, despite promises she would receive varying amounts.

Mr Fyfe added: "We have lodged a writ in the Court of Session for one half of the Jackpot Bingo winnings. Myself and counsel are doing the case on a no-win-no-fee basis which is an indication that we think we will succeed."

Mrs Anderson declined to comment but her solicitor said she was very upset and disappointed.

He said there had been no agreement to share the Jackpot Bingo win and the case would be vigorously contested in court.