Wink Bingo is another site attracting a lot of industry attention at the moment, and their viral ad campaign is now being heavily circulated via email and shared links, bringing in more interest and players than ever. Only launched in Feb of this year, Wink is proving to be a strong competitor with many players taking up residency there after the sign up period.

Those of us who enjoy Internet bingo love it so much we spend around £600 million on online bingo tickets a year. These figures are based on the amounts returned to players in jackpots over a year and take into account the 15%-20% an operator will keep for itself. This estimation of the figures has been so far widely accepted although the site admits it's not the whole picture as operators are loath to give out definitive numbers. In the light of this, we thought we'd take a look and see what these figures are and what they mean to our members.

Just a few days ago one of the UK's most popular online bingo software creators, Parlay took their new platform, Parlay 5 for its industry debut at the Third Annual Online Bingo Summit in London. In demonstrating the new software's capacity for international game play Parlay have shown that once again they are breaking new ground for operators and players alike.

Since announcing its launch Bingo Hideout have given ITV's Bingo Night Live a couple of weeks to settle into the new format before reviewing it. We like to be fair at Bingo Hideout and since we believe this new way to play has huge potential and could - with the right audience share - make the move onto prime time telly we have held back. Unlike other sites that were quick to judge and jumped on the slightest failing of the first few shows, we wanted to be able to give this fledgling project a chance.

This year Bingo Hideout was represented at the 3rd Annual Online Bingo Summit and it has to be said it was a truly excellent event, I will be back again next year!

Bingo Hideout is sad to confirm that the 2008 Bingo Caller of the Year Competition has been suspended. Although the National Bingo Games Association has said the competition is to be reinstated as soon as possible in 'an exciting and further-reaching format', this is little consolation to those who were in the running this year.

We've been checking in with Ruby Bingo this week to see what they've got planned for June and the Summer months, and, true to form they have some fab choices of promos and games to keep us all feeling the heat. In fact this download site has so many specials and games on promotion every time we look that it's hard to know where to start, but here goes…

This week, we've been checking up on Dream Bingo to see how the summer heat is getting to them....

With the issue of fair games featuring in our forum this week, we’ve been investigating what measures online bingo sites have in place to make sure players get a fair game every time.

A game of chance?

This week we've written a follow up to the Bingo Hideout forum thread about negative reviews for online sites. We have been looking at whether bad reviews are generally from players whose noses have been put out of joint by not winning who now want something for nothing. As suggested by Bingo Hideout Member Mellymoo we have also looked into the uses of joining the Bingo Players’ Union.

The benefits

As part of the Bingo Hideout commitment to keeping our members on top of all the best of online bingo we've taken a look at the best promos for June on our highest rated sites this week. In order to make sure you get the most from your game, we compile these promo overviews regularly and include site offers that run outside of monthly tourneys, so you can still play for the best prizes at a later date if you're not already a member.

Join the Bingo Jetset

There's loads going on at 888 Ladies this June, including a contingency plan to surprise your man by joining in with all the football mayhem this month. 888 Ladies have taken the sensible notion of “if you can't beat ‘em, join ‘em” to the Euro Championship and are encouraging their players to do the same - after all who needs to be a footie widow, when you can get away with a few extra bingo games with your brownie points?

A day at the races

June sees Foxy's third birthday celebrations in full swing and with the chance to win a Fiat Punto or a Caribbean Cruise, there's everything for loyal roomies to play for.

One of our favourite community-orientated sites, Foxy has made a landmark decision on its birthday, which should have a positive affect on all of its loyal players. The choice to cease vying for new players in the ever increasing 'sign-up wars' is an example we hope other sites will follow - and soon.

Short term perks, long-term losses

No matter whether you prefer playing online bingo games or slots we've something for everyone in our monthly round up for June. Let's kick off with one of our favourite ways to play this month over at Game Village Bingo . This tourney is so easy to join in; players simply play either Dingo or SuperGems for points to win some amazing prizes.

Moon Bingo is another brilliant site hosted by Cassava Enterprises, and as such offers all the amazing bonuses and promotions you have come to expect from an industry leader including a £1 million coverall every Friday -minimum payout £2,000 - and daily progressive jackpots to rival even the biggest names around.

Over the moon with bonus fun

The live bingo industry is facing so many problems at the moment that we at Bingo Hideout are wondering whether the surprise announcement by Gala Bingo is the first sign of a turning tide for those companies with a lot currently invested in the live bingo industry.

The latest results at the time of writing indicated that on the CM of the Month leader board the lovelies at Bingo Liner had made a remarkable recovery moving up 6 places in the international CM leader board to 1st place.

As one of our members’ favourite sites, the CMs at Bingo Liner are always hugely popular and are recognised across the board to be some of the best online at the moment, but what is the factor that marks the difference between a good CM and a brilliant one who moves players enough to vote for their performance in their room?

This fab site does exactly what it says in the strapline and with the Elvis caricature always on hand to watch the scores day or night, he makes sure the site truly does Rock Around the Clock!

With Gala bingo shares having risen recently for the first time in a long time, the Gala Bingo company still seem to be reviewing their position on the live bingo stage and their latest shock announcement seems to be a manoeuvring of their stance to reduce outlay without losing their big name.

Whether you're looking to save for your summer holiday or just want a little more put aside for Christmas it's sensible to draw up a strategy of how much you want to spend on a monthly basis on your online bingo games rather than hoping against hope that a big win will sort out your finances.

Most sites ask you upon registration what your estimated expenditure will be so they can monitor any potential problem players before things get out of hand but if you've changed your initial amount, a simple call or email to the admin should help you re-arrange your set amount.

In terms of making the most of player friendships, sites such as Game Village Bingo and Foxy seem to have taken the initiative to get players together and arrange mass meets so that their roomies can get to know each other a little better.

Finding the right payment method to manage your bingo games online can prove to be the turning point in choosing to play for the first time or helping you to manage your monthly outgoings. Most of the bigger sites offer a good range of payment options, so that no matter whether you're nervous of paying online using your bank details, or haven't got access to a bank card you can still enjoy the world of online bingo along with all your roomie mates.

Since the sociable side of online bingo is its biggest draw and in our opinion its best feature, this week we have been taking a look at how different sites choose to invest in its players and their overall social experience.

Every site is different with the features varying according to what the players want from the site and the money invested in the site itself. For example, some sites do not appear to have a community outside of basic live chat, whereas others such as Think Bingo and Foxy have developed a multitude of ways to you to communicate with fellow roomies.

All of the bingo news feeds and portals have been buzzing with all the latest from Wink Bingo this week in light of yet another massive £10,000 win! Well done to Fairywings who walked away with the huge prize on the 10th May!

The lucky players at Wink know their site is fab due to the rate of huge wins being paid out and the promise of more to come every month.

10K every month

At Bingo Hideout we want the best for our members and as well as offering them amazing prizes, the latest promo updates and free money to play on the biggest sites we also want to keep you informed of ways to get the most out of your game. This week then we've prepared a run down of the best ways to make your game play pay.

Gold – always believe it

Last week there was a reported glitch in the Foxy software that caused a huge overpayment of £50,000 in a simple £500 coverall game. This would have been an excellent turn up for the player in question and although Foxy were kind enough to honour this mistake, it is a rare and unusual event in online bingo.

Bingo Hideout have been looking 888 Ladies up and down this week to see what our favourite and most bountiful lovelies have in store for the next couple of weeks.

Sex and 888 Ladies

As promised Bingo Hideout are keeping an ear to the ground over the next couple of weeks so our members are kept up to date as and when the new reforms to bingo as promised by Gerry Sutcliffe emerge.

Despite having promised 'positive' measures to help the world of live bingo out of its current decline last week, the Government have declined to remove VAT on bingo play. This move by the Government is not seen as a great help to a flagging industry and we at Bingo Hideout are wondering how such a move is in any way 'positive'.

Here's our latest guide to the best in chat games currently featuring on Bingo Hideout's recommended sites. Getting involved in chat games is not only loads of fun but can also win you bonus points as well as prizes - and gets you in the running for player of the month at sites such as Bingos.co.uk. Get playing in chat on your site today and see what extras you can pick up just for saying “hi”.

£3000 at Chit Chat

Sidegames are all the rage on the big sites at the moment with massive investments being made in familiar formats to keep players interested. We take a look here at the choice of sidegame suites available from the two of the biggest names, Mecca and Gala , to see what they offer players aside from distraction and additional chances to win.