Bingo & Lottery iGaming rise sees big names like Pragmatic Play, BetVictor, and Heart Bingo joining forces while the UKGC maintains control. (Photo by Photo by Waldemar Brandt on Unsplash)
Bingo and lotto often go hand in hand with both games traditionally about lucky numbers. One thing is for sure, these traditional ‘numbers games’ are growing in number and popularity on the iGaming scene.
We are seeing new live casino lotto and bingo games, new jackpot bingo titles, Slingo hybrid lotto/bingo video slots, hybrid table games mixed with Bingo, and of course a rise in themed bingo games. And with the growth of these sectors, we are seeing more software providers and more games, resulting in more news coming from this sector.
This week we saw news of Pragmatic Play’s Drop Pots Jackpots, and the brand is now back after saving Hear Bingo. We also have a story from the UKGC showing just how well regulated the lotto sector is after a serious breach of the rules by the EU Lotto resulted in a large 6-digit Sterling penalty.
The latest news stories join other recent news in the bingo-lotto sector including Evolution’s release of its brand new Cash or Crash live lotto game that joins its live bingo Mega Ball title while over at TVBet, another new lotto title is about to hit in the form of Mega6.
Pragmatic Play Saves Heart Bingo at BetVictor
The Heart Bingo brand is back. BetVictor has brought the popular bingo brand back online and into the iGaming industry courtesy of Pragmatic Play’s bingo software. News of the partnership between the well-known sports betting brand BetVictor and Pragmatic Play. According to the news report, announced on the Pragmatic Play news page, BetVictor has now taken the entire Pragmatic Play bingo portfolio live along with the brand’s Bingo Blast and the recent release of Drop Pots jackpots. The report also mentioned positive comments from Clarie McDaid, the VP of Bingo at Pragmatic Play and Director of e-gaming at BetVictor, Turlough Lally who both mentioned that Heart Bingo’s brand name is highly recognised amongst UK players and that loyal fans will be please to see that a partnership has been formed to rescue an iconic name in the bingo sphere.
Heart Bingo also comes with some exclusivity thanks to a brand new feature dubbed the ‘Reels Room’. Eventually this feature will roll out to the rest of the Pragmatic Play Bingo network in November.
UKGC Regulating Lottery As it Should Be
Just to be sure that the UK Gambling Commission is keeping an eye on the latest developments within the lotto and bingo vertical. A recent report from the UKGC confirms that the EU Lotto brand has been hit with a huge 6 figure fine on its lottoland.co.uk website. The exact figure mentioned is £760,000 while the saga does not simply stop after payment of the fine. Investigations will continue with an independent audit will look into possible ‘money laundering’ accusations as well as failure to adhere to ‘social responsibility rules set out in the UKGC framework.
In the report, the UKGC has publicly listed some of the failings by the EU Lotto Ltd, which is a registered company in Gibraltar. Social responsibility failings are similar to other cases we have seen in the UK. Failure to spot changes in deposit limits, failure to conduct or request affordability tests, and issues with the implementation of responsible gambling tools. As for money laundering failures, this included not SoF requests, registration of third-party credit cards has been allowed, and no review of bank statements amongst other failings.
The Rise of Lotto & Bingo (A re-emerging Trend)
We have seen new live casino lotto and bingo titles streamed via webcam become a popular addition to the lotto/bingo market, while it seems all age groups seem to enjoy bingo and lotto. We are seeing a huge revolution in online bingo and online lotto sectors with brands like Playtech Bingo, Evolution, BetGames (formerly BetGames.TV), Pragmatic Play, TVBet, and more all releasing new and engaging ways to play. With all this in mind, we expect to see a marked increase in lottery-bingo-based titles coming from all brands mentioned, as well as from newcomers that will inevitably break onto the scene as it continues to rake in more iGaming dollars.
Bingo Back to Its Best: Bingo was dying off in places such as the UK and USA where the game originally made its way into mainstream markets. However, technology has seen less people visit bingo halls (not an issue lottery has due to its ticket-based buying system). Yet, today bingo parties are regularly organised, small bingo nights at local bars are not uncommon, and the online bingo scene is growing fast!
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