And The Nominees For The Bingo Awards Are
Published On 20th May 2022
This week one of the biggest portals in online bingo, Which Bingo, announced the launch of their awards for 2022. This is the 9th year that they've held their awards which are widely recognised as the "biggest and best" within the industry. Players are invited to cast their votes in a variety of categories including Best Bingo Site, Best Slots Site, Best New Bingo Site and Best Chat Team. In addition there are four judged categories where brands can nominate themselves for the chance to be named Best Mobile Bingo, Best Customer Service, Best Live Streamed Entertainment and Most Socially Responsible Operator. Awards can be an emotive subject and in our view don't always create an accurate reality, especially when it comes down to a simple popularity contest but there's a few other points that no one else will probably mention.
Best Bingo Site
There are 38 brands shortlisted in the 'Best Bingo Site' category and these include plenty of heavyweights such as Gala, Mecca, Jackpotjoy and Tombola. But these are joined by a load of make weights like Bingo All Stars, Two Fat Ladies and Zeus Bingo. Maybe we're missing something but why the heck are these brands even within this illustrious group? On paper this section is a shoe-in for Tombola because quite frankly they are the best UK bingo site - best games, best value, unique, innovative etc - but the award will actually go to the brand which manages to motivate the most of their players to vote. A number of brands like to encourage voting by offering free bingo games and/or special bonuses. In short the whole thing gets skewed. This means the award doesn't always end up in the hands of the best bingo site, but the best bingo site that encouraged the most voters.
Best New Bingo Site
We'd love to know what the criteria is for qualifying for best new bingo site. Although to be fair given the current state of online bingo this category must have been a hard one to compile. It comprises 11 brands such as Quizingo, Prizeland Bingo and Blush. Double Bubble is nominated but isn't really new having emerged from the embers of Heart's move to Pragmatic (although Heart isn't nominated), as is BOGOF Bingo which relaunched also on Pragmatic. Joining them is Bonnie Bingo which essentially became the new name for Zinger and Prize Land which replaced the departing Iceland Bingo. The Jumpman platform is represented by three brands - Onlinebingo, Daily Record and FreeSpins - and as they're all identical you'd assume if one won then so should the others. It'd be a travesty if any of them did. A similar argument can be made for BetVictor Bingo who are just another Pragmatic platform (and yet Heart is a better site). Finally the piece de resistance is the inclusion of Quizingo - a brand that launched in December 2020.
Best New Slots Site
Whilst new additions to the bingo world have been limited, new slot brands have fared a lot better. However in amongst the 20 or so nominees you'll find the Gamesys brand, Megaways Casino which was relaunched as a new name for Star Spins. There's also Masked Singer Games which is a rebrand of PlayOJO. How do these therefore qualify as "new". A large number of the remaining newbies in this particular category are on the Jumpman platform and therefore identical to each other. If someone can explain to me how Site X which offers exactly the same as Site Y can be differentiated then let's be hearing it. Interestingly a Jumpman brand, Rainbow Spins won this category last year. Kudos to them - and of course to all new sites in both categories - but it's a sorry reflection on the gambling industry when there's not one brand in the two sections we'd suggest are "stand out". By that we mean are totally brand new (not a revamp/relaunch) and doing something unique.
So Who Will Win?
When it comes to relying on player votes it's impossible to know who will come out on top. But just for fun we're going to make a few predictions ahead of the results ceremony which will be taking place in Amsterdam later this year. Best bingo site should be Tombola although Sun Bingo may well retain their title simply because they know how to bag the votes. Best Slots Site is impossible to call as it could be any of them - and none of them stand out - so let's say PlayOJO who also won in 2021. Best New Bingo Site should be cancelled based on our reasons above. Double Bubble Bingo is the best of the nominees but it's not a new site and no one can tell us otherwise. Interestingly BOGOF Bingo are nominated for Best Dragonfish Bingo Site even though they're on Pragmatic Play. The "best" Dragonfish, Pragmatic Play, Entain and Playtech categories are all too close to call but we'd suggest Wink, Heart, Gala and Mecca for these respective awards. The really interesting awards are the judged categories - and in our view we'd actually like to see more judged categories over those chosen by player votes.
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