What we think

Mecca Bingo

Have you ever heard of the name Mecca? Yeah if you have ever played Bingo in the UK you have for sure. Mecca is the biggest name in bingo, and for good reason. The company not only brought the game to the UK back in the 60's, they now operate 120 separate land based clubs. When you do the math this means that some three million players have signed on for the Mecca version of Bingo in their real world clubs alone. Their founder Eric Morley was very forward thinking and it is his charismatic personality and amazing marketing techniques that helped to propel the company to where it is today. Did we mention he was also the founder of the Miss World pageant? It sounds like this was a guy who knew how to have fun!

With this kind of forward thinking history it is strange that an online Mecca was just a dream until 2005. The doors are open now though and we can't wait to see if the dream can live up to reality.

One of the most important things to keep in mind when choosing a new Bingo home is the company's reputation for security and integrity. When you decide to play with Mecca these things will never become an issue. What that means to you is that you can base your decision simply on how much fun you have during your visit. Our own visit certainly started out on a high note as we loved the design and layout of the site. The colors were pleasing and inviting without over whelming us, and the directions were simple and easy to follow. Even the greenest player will find themselves whipping through this site in no time.

When you introduce yourself to Mecca's Bingo paradise, you will notice several different Bingo choices laid out on the page. These can be a bit confusing as they don't all lead to the games as you would expect. The link you are after is the "Play Now," button located on the ad for Multi-Player Bingo. The "Mecca Bingo,' button will take you to a page depicting their brick and mortar clubs, while the "Bingo World," is just a much longer path to the same game. As great as the home page was, this one feels a bit cluttered, and could use a touch of spring cleaning.

At Mecca Bingo they decided to break away from the norm and use custom software for their hall. This is nice as it gives you access to top quality Bingo that you cannot find at any of their competition. We really like the design and usability of the package, but thought it lacked some of the special touches that would have made it great. Registration proved to be simple and painless, so since there was nothing to download; we found ourselves up and playing in a matter of minutes. Mecca makes a very nice gesture in that it provides freeplay options for several of its most popular games, although not for the 90-ball Bingo. There is a welcome bonus for all new players, but we will get more into that in a minute. The jackpots and chat rooms were both kept hopping thanks in large part to the popularity of the site. It is always nice to see a busy high interest game as it is no fun to play Bingo by yourself.

As some of us around here have crossed over to the dark side and love our Macs, we were really pleased to see that Mecca includes them in the range of systems they support. This is something just not available with many of their competitors. Only problem was, no matter what their claim was, we just were not able to make anything work. Customer Support was very helpful every time we called, and we would recommend you use them if you have any questions at all, but they didn't offer any relief. Even though we faithfully followed their directions right down to a T, it just wasn't meant to be. At the end of the day we were finally told that this has been an ongoing problem that Mecca is working tirelessly to fix. What this hopefully means to you is that by the time you get this message Mecca for Mac will be open for business.

On the promotions front we were surprised to find next to nothing currently being offered. Mecca will match a player's first deposit up to $10 but that's really about it. We realize that beggars can't be choosers and we will take what we can get, but really, we just expected more.

In the UK the name Mecca means Bingo. They have worked very hard over the years to secure their place at the head of the pack. While their online version needs some work before it can claim the same title, don't look for them in last place. Overall the site delivers strong consistent performance on all fronts. And most importantly of all, the Bingo is great!

Click here to play at Mecca Bingo now