I love Argos. Oh, I know, you can say what you like about it, but there’s something about that ridiculously fat catalogue of theirs. I like to sit down with it on the sitting room floor and page my way through it, checking out all the stuff I need, the stuff I want, and the stuff I didn’t even know that I wanted.

It’s like some mystical journey through the Valley of Shiny Objects. Is there nothing they don’t have?

In fact, this last point makes it one of the perfect ways to get Xmas presents for the people on your shopping list. If you know what they like – or, let’s face it, what you’re prepared to get them – chances are you’ll find it in the mighty Argos catalogue.

Anyway, Paddy Power Bingo knows this too, and as it’s the season of general merriment and Yuletide celebration, they’ve rolled out a very festive promotion called Christmas Comes Early. Up for grabs are 8 gift vouchers to the value of £500 that the lucky winners will be able to spend on anything they like from the Argos catalogue.

I’d start in the electronics section – total gadget freak, me. And £500 gets a lot of fiddly gadgets at Argos.

So, how does one go about getting their hands on such appealing loot? Just by playing a few cards of everyone’s favourite game – online bingo!

Paddy Power Bingo will be making two draws every week in November. To be eligible, all you have to do is play 10 games during the week, and your name will automatically go into the hat to be drawn out on the following Monday.

So if you play 10 bingo games between Monday the 10th of November and Sunday the 16th of November, you’re in the draw that takes place on Monday the 17th. The only other requirement is that you’ve got to play games worth at least 5p or more.

If you’re really keen to win, Paddy Power Bingo will give you a second entry into the competition if you stake a quid on at least 5 of the other games they offer – perhaps video poker, or slots if they take your fancy. Any of their casino games, really.

So play a bit of bingo at Paddy Power Bingo, and with any luck Xmas will come early for you too.

Like other online casinos, online bingo sites have different features to offer their customers.  There are a number of online bingo sites that also offer sports betting.

Going Out of the Box

Although betting is primarily on a variety of sports, there are also special betting events.  These events are based on entertainment and current events.  Gamblers will find themselves betting on not just ports but also other events that are headlining newspapers.  One of these events is the presidential election in the United States.  Bookmakers have taken advantage of the recent hype around the presidential election, and many gamblers are now betting between presidential candidates, Barack Obama and John Mc Cain.

Online Bingo Sites Opening Betting for the USA Presidential Election

Betting is common among peer groups. Most of these are casual and relatively cheap, but they can also be taken in a more serious level with bigger stakes. There are a number of things you can bet on, not just sports. Online bingo sites are aware of this, so apart from the usual sports betting, they have added special events to make things more exciting. The news that’s been headlining these days is the presidential election in the United States as Barrack Obama is the first African-American to run for president, and this has kept everyone on their toes. His rival John Mc Cain is not far behind.

Last September, the competition has been fairly even.  But as the campaigns from both sides continue, there has been a rise among Obama supporters as well as a number of celebrities endorsing Obama. The list includes Oprah Winfrey, Robert de Niro, George Clooney, Matt Damon and Natalie Portman, but they are just a few of the many who are campaigning for him. Many of the bookmakers are also backing Obama, with some claiming that they have already paid people who made bets earlier this year. Others have also opened books for the 2012 election, and other candidates are also included such as Hilary Clinton, Sarah Palin and Mitt Romney.

These political gambling events are hosted by operators in the United Kingdom and Ireland, where, in these countries, political gambling is legal. Many online bingo players are well aware of the US presidential election, and some of them are even well versed in American politics. Online bingo sites, such as Bet 365 Bingo and Paddy Power Bingo, give their bingo players the opportunity to place their bets and make their predictions.

Bingo is not like traditional online gambling.  A video poker machine or slot machine has a certain amount you play per line. You also have the poker tables that require a couple of bets during the game. When you play bingo online wagers you have an entrance fee into the game. Once you get into the game you are required to spend a little more to get the bingo cards you will play. Let’s break this down a little further to help you understand how to chose your bingo wagers.

Under the 75 ball bingo section you might find 5p, 50p, and up to £1 in order to gain entrance into a bingo game. These are the bingo wagers you must pay and this is the area you have some control over how much you spend while you play bingo online.

You may already have worked out how much money you want to spend in a month on bingo wagers. This is often figured out based on your income and expenses that you have in your daily life.  The bingo wagers are extraneous money you put towards hobbies. In a month you might have £100 left over after all expenses are paid. You decide of that £100 you want to spend £20 a month for online bingo, plus some of the winnings you may earn. For example you might decide to play 20% of any winnings you earn and keep the rest.

If you have £20 to spend and you know you want to play at least 2 games of bingo online each night, then you can’t spend £1 a game, you’d need to wager 50p or less on your bingo games. In fact the 5p game might be more to your liking because you can play more than 62 games of bingo online each month at this rate.

Of course you still have your online bingo cards to purchase. This is different from the money you spend to get in to the game of online bingo. Typically you have a range from £1 to £15, depending on the bingo website to buy 1 bingo card.  We will say that a bingo site charges £6 for 6 bingo cards. The entrance fee was 5p and you just spent £6 pounds – you now have less than £14 in your bingo budget for the rest of the month – unless you hit the bingo jackpot!

The amount of money you want to spend will determine the online bingo wagers you make, but more than that you want to choose bingo wagers that will help you get the most out of your bingo budget each month.  The lower priced games usually have smaller jackpots, but then again you might have a better chance of winning or at least playing more games of bingo online.

Written by Charlene Grey for BingoStreet.com – the top UK resource for bingo online and bringing you the best bingo promotions.

It’s that Wink Bingo thing again, just can’t get ‘em out of my mind. Had some big fun last night and I wasn’t even playing bingo! Most of the time I was playing the Wink Bingo Scratchcards in their Instant Games section and I’m not going to say how much I won (you never know when the taxman is looking) but I did surprisingly well!

I know all the bingo online games at Wink Bingo backwards I play them so often, of course every now and again they’ll slip in a new bingo game and catch me by surprise but I’m usually right on the bingo balls! But yesterday was the first time I had a real go on the scratchcards and they did me proud!

Normally I stay off these types of games as I much prefer to play online bingo games, but I just got the urge last night and it paid off well!

Oh by the way, my mate Charlie, he runs the online Bingo Forum, asked me to ask you lot why you’re not submitting your Wink Bingo stories for the Free Pink Laptop competion? You’ve only got until Nov 20, and everyone seems to be leaving it to the last minute! You bingo bunnies, always on the hop!!!

You can read all about it here BingoStreet Pink Laptop Giveaway – and get your entries in soon otherwise the laptop stays with me!

Written by John Witherspoon for BingoStreet.com – the top resource in the UK for online bingo and the best bingo promotions.

One of my personal faves when it comes to bingo online is 888ladies – they’re also pretty hot among the rest of you Bingostreeters too!

888ladies are offering a turbo-boosted first deposit bonus of 200% up to an incredible £200 FREE for all new bingo players who register from Bingostreet in November! You’ll need to use the special code: bingostreet when you register.

The regular first deposit bonus is 150%, so it really is super boosted. Deposit £100 into your bingo online account at 888ladies and you’ll get £200 on top of that – I’d do it but I’ve already made my first deposit, and a few on top of that too!

Don’t forget of course that new players get £10 Free which is another plus, as you can try all the bingo online games for free before deciding if you’d like to play for real money. IMO online bingo sites that don’t offer some kind of freebie generally suck. Try before you buy is an important concept in the UK, and the same rule applies to bingo online.

You might also want to check out the 888ladies Xmas Raffle promo – just started today. £1000 each in xmas spending cash for 5 lucky bingo fans – and the best thing is you just gotta do what you love most – play bingo online at 888ladies Full details are in our weekend newsletter, you can also see the latest copy in our Bingo Newsletter archives.

So enjoy a cool weekend of fun and games doing your bingo thing at 888ladies, and maybe see you there!

Written by John Witherspoon for BingoStreet.com – the top resource in the UK for bingo online and bringing you the best bingo promotions.

The world of online bingo has a lot to offer a person. Most people play bingo online for the possibility of winning one of the huge jackpots on offer. There’s also an increasing variety of side games available on bingo sites, giving the player more freedom of choice in slots, casino games and even virtual scratchcards with even more jackpots.

But there is much more to bingo online than the impressive jackpots. In the morph from bingo halls to online bingo, the chatroom feature that you’ll find in every online bingo site worth its salt, encompasses the strong social community that is built around the traditional game of bingo.

The chatroom feature allows real-time interaction between online bingo players and the hosting site’s bingo CM’s. Quite apart from the fun community and social aspect of the chatrooms, if you’re serious about playing bingo online you can pick up a lot of hints and strategy tips from just mooching around in the bingo chatrooms.

Whether you sign up for a real money account at an online bingo site, or just register for fun, you’re usually granted access to the chatrooms. Some bingo sites won’t allow you to interact in the chatrooms unless you become a depositing player, which is fair enough. However you can read the chats of other players, and if you’ve got a good pair of eyes (bingo buddies type extremely fast) then you might just pick up some worthwhile strategy hints.

There are also many bingo forums that talk about bingo, and the best ways to play, the probability of numbers, how to choose your bingo cards etc., so pick a Bingo Forum and start scanning the posts for useful information. Some of these forum sites also do live bingo chat rooms where the talk is focused on bingo. All the information you gather from various sources can be applied to your style of play.

Bingo chatrooms are a rich learning ground, especially for newbies to the bingo online scene. Of course there’s no guaranteed strategy, as bingo is a game of luck and chance and uses a highly sophisticated random number generator. But with a little work you can adapt your style and increase your chances of winning each time you play bingo online – never a bad thing!

Once you’ve got your personal online bingo strategies figured out, it’s time to sit back and enjoy the chatrooms for what they are, a great place to chat and meet with people who love to play bingo online. The chatrooms offer you an opportunity to mingle with the bingo crowd, chat about anything, and basically have some fun while you daub your bingo numbers and play bingo online.

Written by Charlene Grey for BingoStreet.com – the top authority in the UK for bingo online with the best bingo promotions.

LOL I just love stories like this, the 53 year old lady who played bingo for the very first time down in Torquay (beautiful place by the way) and won almost £50,000! Talk about beginner’s luck, and an absolute bingo virgin at that too!

Great publicity for Gala Bingo, as it was one of their bingo halls hosting the High Five jackpot bingo game. I wonder how I would have felt though, if I’d been down that bingo hall every night for the past 10 years without winning anything big, then a new kid on the block joins the game one night and hits the huge bingo jackpot in one shot!

Wow, well even I would have to be impressed by that stunt. I’m sure I’d feel a little deflated too, possibly a bit envious, and finally would gather my senses and join in the eruption of cheers from the whole bingo hall, and maybe even offer to help celebrate her lucky bingo win?

It can be hard sometimes, especially when you play bingo online and get so close to a huge jackpot and then one of your bingo buddies pips you to the jackpot post – bah humbug! At least you have time to gather your thoughts when you’re playing bingo online, so you can type in a quick WTG!!! in the online bingo chat room while you mumble dodgy four letter words over and over…

If it helps, I know how exactly you feel!

Written by John Witherspoon for BingoStreet.com – Win a super Laptop this month in the BingoStreet Pink Laptop Giveaway!

Online bingo is the latest craze in online gambling. This is great news for those who are not comfortable playing at online casinos.  Table card games require skill and experience, which you don’t need with bingo. Online bingo sites are now available all over the internet. Unfortunately, like any other website, there’s always the risk of customers getting ripped off. Online criminals may take advantage of this latest craze.  Bingo is a big hit among consumers in all ages, so internet consumers are not the only ones paying attention to the latest headlines in cyberspace. Apart from that, hackers can also get into these sites if they are safe and secure from outsiders. Some of these sites may have the best intentions but they are not free from identity thieves, especially if they have mediocre systems.

Verify Bingo Sites

But that isn’t to say that gamblers can’t trust the internet anymore. If they really want to play, there are ways they can use to make sure that they will not fall victim to fraud. First and foremost, you have to make sure that the online bingo site that you are going to register in is real, and it is not just a cover up for scammers to squeeze money out of unsuspecting internet consumers, so players have to check if the website is verified. If you have seen other online casino sites, they have a VeriSign logo at the bottom.  VeriSign is a company that offers security services to internet websites. This makes sure that the payment transactions done over the internet is secure. They also manage firewalls to make sure that the information in the website from customers is hack-free and safe from outsiders. The logo signifies that the website has a digital certificate that the company provides if their services are used. Players also have to make sure that the online bingo site has a privacy policy. This requires them to keep all information provided by their customers private and confidential.

Looking at Bingo Forums

Players can look at bingo forums to get feedbacks from other customers. There are many online gambling forums that players can join to interact with others. Apart from detecting security measures, players should also be careful in sharing their information online. There are many advertisements that are littered all over the internet, and they can also get into your inbox. Internet consumers must make sure that whatever they are signing up for is legitimate and secure.

Although bingo is classed as a game of chance, we’ve got a few pointers for you to increase your chances of winning when you play bingo online. There are two main types of bingo games, in this article we’ll discuss the 75 ball bingo variety and how you can better your chances of hitting those cool bingo jackpots.

In 75 ball bingo, you have a chance of 1 in 75 of getting a ball when the game of bingo online starts. Before we get ahead ourselves though, let’s take a look at how the game of 75 ball bingo is played.

When you play bingo online of the 75 ball variety, your bingo cards or tickets have a random selection of 25 numbers. During the bingo game the numbers will be called out one by one, until a line, full house or pattern is won during play. In online bingo this means that you have several chances to win the jackpot before someone else does. Each time a bingo number is drawn it’s posted on the screen and you can either manually check your bingo cards or use the handy auto-daub feature that most bingo online websites offer.

So if the first number to be called is I 8, you can make the following deductions. You already know that in 75 ball bingo there are 7 balls that end in the number 8. If 8 is on your bingo card, then there are 6 bingo balls left that will end in 8. This means your chance of getting another 8 is lower than for other numbers. Also, because 8 is an even number, your chances are further reduced as the number of remaining even bingo balls has declined.

Online bingo strategy is a way of looking at the probabilities that one number will appear over another. The online bingo hopper you see on the computer screen is run by a Random Number Generator, which means that there isn’t a fixed pattern for the next bingo numbers to be called. So if you are serious about improving your winning odds when you play bingo online, you need to look at the bingo cards you select.

The odds of drawing 25 winning online bingo numbers from 75 bingo balls before anyone else are not that high. However if you pay attention when you select your cards, you can increase your winning chances.

So if one of your online bingo card choices shows the numbers 1 to 5 on the first row, in terms of probability you would do well to leave this card alone, however it’s still possible that these could very well be the winning bingo numbers. You’ll find that the best online bingo players select bingo cards with an even scattering of even and odd, high and low numbers. Some even suggest that as more bingo balls are drawn the numbers left in the bingo hopper will be closer to 38, but this is an unproved bit of bingo gossip.

Choose your bingo online cards wisely and you could find that you’re hitting the online bingo jackpots a lot more frequently!

Written by Charlene Grey for BingoStreet.com – Win a spectacular Pink Laptop in November in the BingoStreet Pink Laptop Giveaway!

Ever had one of those evenings when you’re at home, you don’t want to go out, but you’re kinda bored? Easy solution – spend the night playing bingo online and you’ll find it’s pretty cheap too!

Most online bingo sites have special games, with extra cheap tickets especially during the week, so just have a poke around your favourite bingo sites to see what kind of bingo action is on offer, and you can have a great evening of bingo fun and entertainment – and maybe even hit one of those bingo online jackpots!

Wink Bingo is one such bingo site we’d recommend, as it has tons of action on every day of the week, 24 hours non-stop bingo fun, so you can login and play bingo online at anytime. With plenty of daily, weekly and monthly jackpot games, plus a whole load of exciting Slots, casino and Instant Win games, you’ll never have a bored evening again!

Wink Bingo have regular online bingo games with pretty sizeable guaranteed bingo jackpots, starting from £1,000 up to £10,000 monthly bingo games. When the jackpots are guaranteed, this means that one lucky bingo player MUST win the jackpot in that game and will take home the full prize.

These guaranteed jackpot bingo games at Wink Bingo kick off regularly every month on specified dates:

•    £10,000 guaranteed jackpot – 10th of every month at 10pm
•    £5,000 guaranteed jackpot – 30th of every month at 10pm
•    £3,000 guaranteed jackpot – 20th of every month at 10pm
•    £2,000 guaranteed jackpot – 5th of every month at 10pm

Tickets for all these great bingo games at Wink Bingo cost just £1 a ticket, and can be pre-purchased which is great, because if you have a hot date you can just pre-buy and your tickets will be played for you automatically in your absence. Usually there is a minimum purchase of 5 tickets for these games, but the great thing about pre-purchasing your bingo tickets is that you can allocate a set bingo budget for the month, to make sure you don’t spend more than you can afford.

So, the next time you’re twiddling your thumbs of an eve not knowing what to do, get on down to Wink Bingo and liven up the night with some hot bingo action!

Written by Charlene Grey for BingoStreet.com – where you’ll find all the latest and greatest online bingo action and the best bingo promotions.