Bookies to Bingo – A Closer Look at Top Bookmakers Bingo Sites

Amongst the swathes of bingo sites out there, there are a number with names you’ll instantly recognise from the high street. Known more for their work in the bookmaking and sports betting industries, these brands have also taken up a position in the saturated online gaming market. With their brash, branded logos and overly masculine reputation, it’s interesting to look at how they still fit comfortably into the ‘softer’ world of online bingo. Here’s a closer look at three of the biggest brands, their histories and the success they’ve enjoyed since their creation.

William Hill

Founded back in 1934, William Hill remains one of the UK’s largest bookmakers and in fact, it was founded whilst gambling was still illegal in the UK. Considered the UK’s largest operator, William Hill still take up around 25% of the UK betting market and have extended their influence into the online gambling and bingo markets.

Their online operations have become more popular, initially developed to offer sportsbook betting but furthered into online casino, poker and of course bingo. Their bingo site offers regularly updated promotions and as part of the Playtech network, huge jackpot prizes across both slots and bingo games. It’s not all been plain sailing as the company has seen themselves up against the Advertising Standards Authority on a number of occasions but this can be said of many of the brands out there.

Ladbrokes

Ladbrokes is one of the oldest betting companies in the UK, founded in Worcestershire in 1886. Within six years of opening the company moved all operations to London but currently has headquarters in Harrow. In their early years as a bookmaking company they served mainly the upper classes and aristocracy. Surprisingly and very unusually for the time, Ladbrokes leading representative and the face of the brand in the early days was Mrs. Helen Vernet. A woman present on the racecourses in such a capacity was an extremely rare sight at the time and she remained a representative of the company until her passing in 1956.

Betting shops were legalised in the UK in 1961 and Ladbrokes took this opportunity to develop their high street chain. They are now considered the largest retail bookmaker in the world but have moved into online gambling successfully. Drawing initially on their sports betting success their sites have developed to include casinos, poker and of course bingo. Their bingo site replicates their high street stores with the bright, bold Ladbrokes logo and provides plenty of gaming fun to its members.

Paddy Power

Paddy Power Bingo is a much newer company than the others, created in 1988 as a merger between three leading Irish bookmakers. Their high street presence in the UK is lower than that of other big brands but they are the leading high street bookmakers in Ireland and since 2011 are in fact Europe’s biggest bookmakers. They’re known for offering odds in controversial and novelty markets to attract more publicity to their brand and it has definitely worked in the past. They’re currently offering odds on everything from who’ll play the lead role in the film version of erotic hit Fifty Shades of Grey to the name of the recently announced royal baby.

Their online operations have grown beyond all expectations, with the online betting, casino and bingo sites proving much more popular than their betting shops in the UK. Their bingo site is much more similar to other solely bingo gaming brands, with a softer approach and a bright interface with rounded edges. It’s clear the Paddy Power team researched their market in depth before stepping into the online bingo world.

It’s not all good news for Paddy’s though as they often court controversy with varying success. They’ve found themselves under fire for their controversial markets and risqué advertising but this in turn attracts more attention, so perhaps draws in more customers in the long run.

A bookmaker moving into the online bingo world doesn’t seem like such a huge leap. Already experts in the gambling industry and ins and outs of how everything works and many of the brands, like those mentioned above, have significant history and experience in the industry. With their thousands of happy customers and a great array of games there’s no reason you can’t enjoy as good a bingo experience at these sites as any other.