Tag Archives: private
Gala Bingo Considers Rescue Plan
It is no secret that land based bingo in the UK is in real trouble financially. The draconian national smoking ban hit bingo clubs hard and then came a rise in taxation. For some reason bingo is taxed at a higher rate than any other form of gaming. For gaming companies that operate internet bingo websites the passage of the internet gaming ban in the US caused a drastic drop in revenue and a serious decline in publicly traded gaming stocks. A recent Reuters report states that UK bingo industry giant Gala Coral Group is presently saddled with about 2.7 billion pounds of debt.
Gala was forced to let hundreds of valued employees go and close many of its popular bingo halls across the UK. In 2009 reports of gala bingo club closures became common in the press. Gala also operates a highly successful internet bingo website. Without private investment Gala faces a bleak future indeed. A few years ago when reports said Gala was foundering US gaming giant Harrahs made a bid for shares of Gala. At the time Gala was able to repel any hostile takeover.
In November it was reported that private equity firm Blackstone made a £300 million pound bid for 40 to 60% of the shares. Despite denials from Gala it has been reported that Gala is actively seeking private equity investors to stave off collapse of the company. A recent report from news agency Reuters said the bingo giant had been approached by US private equity firm Apollo. Apollo submitted a plan to Gala which said Apollo would pay 250 million pounds ($405 million USD) for half of the company. The conditions of the Apollo deal say that 250 million pounds would be paid to Galas senior lenders and junior lenders would receive the other half of Gala.
Gala has entered the world of internet bingo with some success. Gala provides players with a generous bingo deposit bonus and free play options. Gala also offers a bingo sign up bonus to players. Like most other UK based bingo sites Gala has increased the size of its bingo bonuses to compete with others in the internet bingo industry.
Galas situation highlights the troubles of the brick and mortar UK bingo industry. Internet bingo, on the other hand, remains a thriving and growing industry. Internet bingo has defied the global recession and remains profitable for internet bingo providers. Gala may want to consider focusing on its online operations.
Private Freeroll Tournaments – A Great Bankroll Builder For New Poker Players
A freeroll is a poker tournament with free registration. There is usually a real money prize pool but sometimes there can also be other prizes such as entry into other tournaments. With freerolls you can play exciting real money poker for free, with no deposit needed. It’s a great way to start learning poker and to increase your bankroll.
Freerolls with Open Registration:
Free tournaments are very popular in the online poker rooms as they are used to attract new players. Some tournaments are open to everyone and are held on a regular basis. For example Pitbull Poker hosts free tournaments every hour for all of their members. Some poker rooms have special tournaments that are reserved to new or loyal players. For example Carbon Poker has a $50 Freeroll for all new players which runs 4 times a day. New depositing players at Carbon receive 14 days entry into their $500 Freeroll which runs once a day. To reward loyal players, Carbon has a $50,000 Freeroll that is open to all players who earn 5000 comp points during the month.
Most of the tournaments which are open to all members will have a lot of registrations. This can lead to very long tournaments, and often frustrating because it is difficult to finish in the money. In fact freeroll tournaments with many players involve a lot more luck then regular buy-in tournaments since the players have nothing to loose. The play is usually more aggressive and you will see a lot of “all-ins” in no limit games. Some “freerollers” play in as many free tournaments as they can. You will notice these players quickly as they play with no fear (and no skill) trying to raise their stack quickly with many “all-ins”.
Private Freerolls:
The registration for these tournaments is either restricted with some password or with a list of players. Private freerolls are usually offered by affiliate sites that promote the poker room. The tournaments help to send more players to the poker room and also give the players a better experience once they have joined. Playing in free tournaments is good way to try out a poker room before making a deposit. Since private freerolls have fewer players than those with open registration, the tournaments are easier to win and the skill level of players is usually better. In order to gain entry, you usually need to be a member of a certain site or community. Very often you will also need to meet other requirements before you can gain access to the passwords. The idea of private freerolls is to reward loyal visitors of the site, and that is why most sites do not give an easy access to their passwords.