Www Gala Bingo Online

Gala's logo

Play Online bingo with Gala Bingo just like if would go to your favourite Bingo Club. Join Gala Bingo today, Spend £10 on Bingo and get £50 Bingo Bonus! And enjoy even more prizes and Free Bonus with in our other promotions. New online customers only. Min 1st deposit & spend £10 on Bingo tickets = £50 Bingo bonus. Wagering reqs apply: 4x bingo bonus. Bonus valid for 1 week after credit.

Gala Bingo is an online bingo and casino offering under the ownership of Entain.[1]

Gala Bingo was created in 1991 as a division of Bass plc. It later became an independent company, and then became the Gala Coral Group after acquiring Coral Eurobet in 2005. After the sale of its 126 clubs in 2015 to Caledonia Investments (who rebranded them as Buzz Bingo in September 2018[1]), Gala Coral retained the online Gala services and was later acquired by Ladbrokes (which was later acquired by GVC Holdings).

History[edit]

The chain began as bingo clubs operated by Bass Leisure, a division of Bass plc. As of 1983, Bass had 22 clubs operating under the Coral brand, and another 24 located in its Pontins holiday camps.[2] That year, Bass purchased a chain of 80 bingo clubs from Thorn EMI for £18.2 million.[2] By 1988, Bass was down to 72 locations, but added another 30 by purchasing Zetters Leisure for £23 million.[3]

In May 1991, Bass purchased Granada plc's chain of 74 bingo clubs for £147 million.[4][5] Combined with Bass's 91 clubs, the chain was tied with the Rank Organisation for the largest bingo operator in Britain.[4] A united brand for the combined operation, 'Gala,' was chosen by John Murphy of Interbrand as a simple word incorporating letters from 'Granada' and 'Coral'.[6] Gala was officially launched on 17 October 1991 when 17 clubs re-branded and launched a new image.

In 1997 a management buy-in purchased all 130 Gala Bingo Clubs from Bass for £235 million.[7]

Over the next few years, Gala began acquiring other bingo clubs to increase their portfolio, including 17 clubs from Ritz in July 1998 and 10 clubs from Jarglen in March 2000. In April 2000, they added 27 Riva Bingo Clubs from First Leisure for £90 million. Gala diversified outside bingo for the first time when it purchased 26 Ladbroke Casinos for £235 million from the Hilton Group in December 2000. In 2001 it added the Jamba Online business for £1.5m.[8]

The owners sold the whole business for £1.24 billion in February 2003 to the private equity firms Candover and Cinven.[9]Permira bought a stake in the company in August 2005, which valued the business at £1.89 billion.[10]

In October 2005, Gala acquired Coral Eurobet for £2.18 billion and changed its name to Gala Coral Group, creating the United Kingdom's third largest bookmaker and largest bingo operator.[11]

The group added another 10 bingo clubs in 2006 when it purchased the County Clubs in Scotland for £64 million.[12] The company spent another £14.5 million in February 2006, when it bought the Leo Casino in Liverpool from Dolby Management Ltd increasing the number of casinos in the estate to 31 (at the time).[13]

Gala Coral won 403 betting licences in Italy in an open market tender in December 2006, under its Eurobet brand. The group formally established an international division in 2007. The group also set up a joint venture to attempt to launch bingo shops in China.[14]

In 2011, a decision was made to move substantial parts of the business to Gibraltar, including almost all of the remote gaming division. The group, through acquisitions and new developments had over 30 casinos and 1,800 licensed betting offices.

Gala's total clubs peaked at around 174, but since 2007 and the introduction of smoking bans in Great Britain, this total declined to around 140.[15] In their year end accounts of 2012, the company reported employment of 4,801 staff in their bingo clubs, along with 10,849 in 1,600 Coral shops, 2,776 in 25 casinos, 276 in remote gambling and 98 in Italy where it had over 400 betting outlets, plus a further 374 in support staff functions.[16]

In July 2015, Gala Coral agreed to be acquired by its slightly larger rival Ladbrokes.[17] The 130 Gala Bingo clubs were not part of the merger, and were sold to Caledonia Investments for £241 million in December 2015.[18][19] The merger was completed on 1 November 2016, and Ladbrokes became Ladbrokes Coral.[20]

Operations[edit]

As of 2008, Gala Bingo operated 137 clubs throughout the United Kingdom, with approximately a 24% share of all clubs and nearly 40% of National Bingo Game ticket sales up until the operator's withdrawal from the National Game in Summer 2008. Gala has around five million bingo members, of which approximately 1.2 million are active players. Gala Bingo has an average of 600,000 admissions per week.

The bingo division began participation in the Nectar loyalty card scheme on 1 June 2007.[21] Nectar points were originally awarded for club admissions, and additionally for slot machine play from 1 September 2007, a first for the bingo industry. Gala Bingo no longer participates in the Nectar loyalty card scheme.

Online

On 31 July 2007, pensioner Pauline Clarke, 62, became Gala's first GBP millionaire, after winning a tie break against another online player.[22]

Gala TV was a satellite TV channel that aired from 2006 to 2011, showing bingo games.

Online services under the Gala brand are operated by GVC Holdings, including an online bingo site, GalaBingo.com, and an online casino, GalaCasino.com.[23]

References[edit]

  1. ^ ab'Gala Leisure to relaunch all clubs as Buzz Bingo with two-year £40 million investment plan'. International Coin Slot. Archived from the original on 29 September 2018. Retrieved 29 September 2018.
  2. ^ abBatchelor, Charles (10 September 1983). 'Bass buys Thorn EMI bingo'. Financial Times. London – via NewsBank.
  3. ^Harris, Clay (7 June 1988). 'Bass pays 23 million pounds for bingo clubs'. Financial Times. London – via NewsBank.
  4. ^ abChurchill, David (11 May 1991). 'Bass reshuffling its gambling interests'. Financial Times. London – via NewsBank.
  5. ^'Granada Tooting, London'. Cinema Organ Society. Archived from the original on 9 June 2013. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
  6. ^Ashworth, Jon (23 September 1991). 'Bass seeks full house in Gala opening'. The Times. London – via NewsBank.
  7. ^'Memorandum submitted by the Gala Coral Group'. UK Parliament. 2007. Archived from the original on 29 November 2016. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  8. ^'Gala will spend £3m to make Jamba pay-to-play'. Brand Republic. 7 November 2001. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  9. ^'Bingo group bought in £1.25bn deal'. BBC. 7 February 2003. Archived from the original on 11 January 2006. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  10. ^'Permira Funds buy stake in Gala'. Permira. 1 August 2005. Archived from the original on 13 August 2014. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
  11. ^'Casino group Gala snaps up Coral'. BBC. 7 October 2005. Archived from the original on 1 August 2017. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  12. ^'Gala acquires County Bingo'. Casino compendium. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 28 November 2016.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  13. ^'Gala buys Liverpool casino for £14m'. The Guardian. 13 February 2006. Archived from the original on 29 November 2016. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  14. ^Annual Report 2007(PDF) (Report). Gala Coral Group. p. 18. Retrieved 1 April 2018.
  15. ^Gala BingoArchived 13 December 2012 at the Wayback Machine galacoral.co.uk.
  16. ^Annual Reports and Accounts 2012Archived 23 January 2013 at the Wayback Machine galacoral.co.uk
  17. ^'Ladbrokes to merge with smaller rival Coral'. BBC News. 24 July 2015. Archived from the original on 26 July 2015. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  18. ^David Cook (27 October 2015). 'Gala Bingo acquisition 'strange', says consultant'. Gambling Insider. Archived from the original on 28 December 2017. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  19. ^'Caledonia Investments completes Gala Bingo acquisition'. Morningstar. Alliance News. 21 December 2015. Archived from the original on 28 December 2017. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  20. ^'Ladbrokes Coral Group – Completion of Merger' (Press release). Ladbrokes Coral Group. 1 November 2016. Archived from the original on 23 April 2017. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  21. ^Gala Bingo joins NectarArchived 17 May 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  22. ^Daily Telegraph, 1 August 2007 Issue Number 47,325 Pensioner is bingo's first £1m winner
  23. ^'About GVC Holdings PLC'. reuters. Retrieved 9 November 2020.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gala_Bingo&oldid=1009756558'
100% up to £35
+
£35 FREE Bonus

As you hunt around the internet looking for a first class online bingo site to play at, then it will always pay dividends for you to track down and play at a bingo site which not only offers plenty of online bingo games but has also vast experience in operating land based bingo clubs.

One such company which you will be interested in is Gala Bingo who have been running a large number of land based bingo clubs for a huge number of years now, and as such they know the game inside out!

You will of course be able to claim a generous new player bonus when you sign up, however it is their many varied bingo games which will interest you, and being Gala some of these games have the biggest jackpots online, and you just know that if you are lucky enough to win a jackpot at Gala Bingo then you will get paid though winnings without any hassle!

Gala Bingo Games

Gala Bingo Game

  • £1million Bingo Games – If you needed proof just how serious Gala Bingo is in regards to the prize money they have on offer, then be aware they have a £1Million guaranteed jackpot bingo game available. This is your chance to hopefully change your life for the better by walking away with that mind boggling jackpot payout!
  • Castle Bingo Games – The more budget minded bingo players out there should make sure that if you do indeed sign up to Gala Bingo that you checkout their Castle Bingo room, as that is where they have their low cost bingo ticket games, and even though the bingo tickets are low cost the prizes on offer can be quite huge!

Gala Bingo Slot Machines

Www Gala Bingo online, free

  • Pixies of the Forest Slot – Pixies of the forest is a great slot machine if you’re looking for a longer session. Offering you up to 99 win lines at the reduced cost of 33 coins a spin and Tumbling reels, this slot may just become one of your firm favourites! Unlike a lot of slots that have pre defined win lines.

    The Pixies of the Forest slot game offers you a Connected Lines feature, whereby as long as the reel symbols are adjacent, whether horizontal or vertical, you win! The Tumbling reels feature means that any win you make, the win is added to your bank and the symbols disappear, dropping down a new set of symbols to help make new combinations.

    There are also wild symbols and a free spins round. The free spins round is triggered when 3 connected bonus symbols appear on reels 1, 2 and 3. You are then prompted to pick a symbol to reveal between 5 and 11 free spins. Throughout the free spins round, there are additional wilds on reels 1 – 4 giving you some really good scope for serious wins!

    Needless to say; if you go down to the woods today, you in for a big surprise!

  • Kitty Glitter Slot – Who doesn’t love cute fluffy kittens? Kitty Glitter comes to you with more than its fair share of the pampered pets. Spread over 5 reels and up to 30 win lines, you have a real chance to win big.

    There is also a Free Spins round on Kitty Glitter, simply spin in to plat 3 Bonus symbols on reels 2, 3 and 4 to unlock 15 free spins. There is also a special diamond accumulator during the free spins round, and should you get a diamond on the fifth reel, this will be stored making various cats wild depending on the number accumulated. So get yourself over to Kitty Glitter and you may just get a purrfect win.

  • Da Vinci Diamonds – For those of you who life your slot to do a bit more than “Dum, Dum Dum” Da Vinci Diamonds may be right up your street. With 20 paylines, tumbling reels, Free Spins and Wilds, this slot is best suited to those wanting a longer playing session.

    The tumbling reels feature, simply put is any win that spins in will be added to the bank, and the symbols that made the win will disappear, allowing new ones to fall in to play.

    The free spins feature is triggered when you spin into play on an active payline 3 or more Bonus symbols, this will then trigger 6 free spins. These can also be re triggered in the same way that the initial spins were triggered. So if you have some time to kill, or just want to try your luck, we really recommend Da Vinci Diamonds.