Investigators believe that the fire in the bingo club was caused by an electrical fault. Damage to the front of the building was the main problem, but fortunately the gaming area, seating area, and much of the building was not affected. It is hoped by all that the bingo hall will not be out of business for very long. A spokesman for the Riva Gaming Group who operates the bingo club confirmed this.

One good thing is that the Beacon Bingo hall will not be closed for ever, it is very difficult for residents to travel long distances to another hall, and with so many clubs being closed in the UK, another one would have just been no good.

Online bingo players are fortunate in that they have instant access to as many bingo sites as they please, 265 of them in fact. If one went up in flames (figuratively speaking that is), it would be no problem to switch to another.

But the group stood their ground, selling a small, almost negligible share to a Malaysian operator and fending off any other offer.

There has been talks about them transferring their pension fund and the bingo and gaming operating company has done just this. The reason for the transfer of the pension plan is that the Rank Group will no longer have to make regular scheduled contributions of £30.8m to the pension plan and they will also be given a cash payment of at least £20m which will surely make a difference to their bottom line in the long run.

If nothing you have to take you hat off to rank group for remaining loyal to their UK employees and putting up the fight to keep their bingo clubs open. Their recent petition to Government regarding unequal taxation is proof of the fact that they seriously consider their bingo business to be something special.

She started going to the bingo last month in an attempt to spend time with her mother who has been playing bingo for years. Her mother recently underwent a liver transplant operation and she and her sister Patricia, thought that taking her out to the bingo would be a good way to get her out of the house and into the swing of things again.

Pauline who is a mortgage broker, plans to pay off the majority of her mortgage with her bingo winnings, taking note of the penalty clause and cleverly leaving £1 in the bank so that the penalty clause won’t apply. She then intends to fulfil her plans to return to the place where her and her husband honeymooned last year, Cyprus, where they plan to spend her husband, Kevin’s, birthday.

Talk about, beginners luck, well after all that is what bingo is, a completely random game, you never know, you could play for fifty years and never win, or like Pauline on your second try, you break the bank!

Why anyone would report that Mecca Bingo is taking its last dying breath is beyond me, because, lately the group have enjoyed a large investment from Genting who have been aggressively pursing investments in the UK gaming market, and another approach by from Harrah’s, who most certainly would not be pursuing the group for a share in the company if it were not going to be a wise business decision.

With speculation over the future of the Mecca Bingo group on the increase and rumours floating about by the dozen, it is going to be very interesting to see how this saga pans out in the end. But one thing seems certain, Mecca bingo is holding its own and if they can survive all the rampant scandal mongering, will probably come out tops at the end of it all.