William Hill Bingo Review
William Hill Bingo Review
The William Hill brand was founded in the early 1930s when it offered people a postal and telephone betting service. As one of the first online gambling operators in the UK (N.B. since 1998), William Hill has gone from strength-to-strength by extending its gaming services to include casino, poker, virtual sports, and bingo. William Hill Bingo is one of the best bingo site .With over eighty years’ experience under its belt, you’d expect William Hill Bingo to be at the top of its game, but is it?
Design & Usability
William Hill is such a distinctive gaming brand that it makes perfect sense for its portfolio of online services to be distinguished by simple colour changes.
This makes the transition between areas such as William Hill Casino and William Hill Bingo barely noticeable, with familiar navigation and layouts greeting you upon arrival.
The menu bar offers you fast access to the bingo rooms, slot games, promotions, community pages, latest news, help, and rewards scheme. At the top-left, there are quick links for new players such as ‘How to Play’, the customer service telephone number, and live chat launch button.
The operator’s “Top Games” are modestly listed down the right-hand side of the page, with the rest of the space occupied by key current promotions, and a bingo schedule.
Customer Support
As we’ve just mentioned, there are prominent links to new player guides, as well as one-click buttons that take you straight to any of the three contact methods (live help, telephone, or email).
Plus, there’s an extensive list of FAQ and player tutorials included under the ‘Help’ heading of the main menu. You can get assistance 24 hours a day, seven days a week, so you’re never at risk of being stranded, and the response times are instant if you use the live help facility or telephone hotline.
So far, we’ve given William Hill Bingo a glowing report which makes us feel a little better about docking one star for the fact that the live help function isn’t mentioned anywhere on the “Help” or “Contact Us” pages – only the clickable icon on the homepage.
For such a major player in the online gaming industry, we’d expect William Hill Bingo to advertise such a popular support method more clearly.
Bonuses & Promotions
If you’d like to get more for your money, the 400% welcome bonus of up to £40 should appeal. However, it’s not as simple as just making your first deposit (of £10 or more) as you must also spend at least £10 on bingo tickets within 31 days of creating your chat name to qualify.
The bonus comes in two parts – a £30 bingo bonus and a £10 games bonus. We feel that encouraging new players to try different game types is a great idea, but would like to point out that the wagering requirements are different (2x for bingo and 20x for games).
William Hill Bingo also offers you the chance to learn the ropes and play for over £3,200 in prizes in its New Arrivals Lounge for the first eight days after you’ve registered a chat name. Another entry requirement is that you deposit and stake £10 on bingo tickets as per the welcome bonus.
The operator updates its promotions page at least once-per-month to make players aware of the latest offers (such as Value Night, Mid-Week Roll On, 1TG Thursday, and All Day BOGOF).
Plus, there are key dates for your diary that you’ll want to make a note of if you don’t want to miss the £25k Prize Night, £10k Monthly Bingo Linx game, and Grab a Grand special.
Software & Gameplay
William Hill Bingo runs on PlayTech software, which was previously known as Virtue Fusion. There are several popular UK games sites that make use of the PlayTech platform, including Mecca Bingo, Paddy Power, and Gala Bingo.
In our opinion, this works in the player’s favour as you have access to site-exclusive rooms as well as the chance to win phenomenal amounts of cash by taking part in linked games. Speed games and themed games include Joker Jackpot, Rainbow Riches Bingo, and Deal or No Deal Bingo.
Due to the sheer amount of game choices available and budget ticket prices, the site attracts players like bees to pollen. So, it’s not uncommon to find 300+ players in the most popular rooms during off-peak hours.
Every room is hosted by a chat moderator whose job it is to encourage interaction between roomies, run quizzes, congratulate winners, and answer any questions.
Device Compatibility
The operator offers iPhone and Android apps which can be downloaded and installed to your device free-of-charge.
If you prefer, you can play directly via your mobile or tablet’s web browser where you’ll find almost every type of game that’s listed on the desktop site.
Both the mobile app and mobile website are delightfully fast and easy-to-navigate thanks to the robust and reliable PlayTech platform.
The only failing is the lack of any mention of the mobile offerings on the desktop site. Again, William Hill Bingo loses one star for this easily avoidable omission.
Safety & Security
The main William Hill Bingo website does not appear to use HTTPS connection security. However, the lobby and registration page does use Thawte secure data encryption to securely transfer your details.
Links to the privacy policy, responsible gaming, and terms and conditions are listed at the bottom of the site which is standard procedure, along with the Gambling Commission logo.
Information regarding fair play is a little harder to find (N.B., we finally located a small paragraph about it in the “How to Play” guide), but all the industry standard features are here.
Variety & Originality
Even though many other operators use Playtech software (such as Paddy Power Bingo), the only non-original, noticeable feature of William Hill Bingo is the networked Bingo Linx games.
William Hill tailors its promotions and room names to portray a strong brand image such as Willy’s 1TG Games, Willy’s Winners, and the Frequent Flyer Daily Scratch Card that are site-exclusive.
There are 24 rooms to choose from that offer 90-ball, 80-ball, 75-ball, and themed bingo games. Plus, there’s a dazzling array of jackpot slots, traditional slots, multi-player slots, number games, scratch cards, and arcade games.
If you like playing casino games and slots at William Hill Bingo, you can also take advantage of over 30 exclusive games at William Hill Vegas.
Payment Withdrawals
You can use Paypal, Visa, Maestro, MasterCard, Diners Club, William Hill CashDirect, Skrill, Neteller, Paysafecard, Entropay, bank transfer, and cheque to fund your account, and the minimum amount you can deposit is £5.
Withdrawal processing times depend on your chosen banking method and can be as fast as one working day.
VIP Programme
While William Hill Bingo runs a loyalty scheme called the Bingo Club, there’s no VIP programme as such. The top tier of the Club – Top of the Shop – is by invitation only but there is no mention of whether gaining membership grants you VIP perks such as a personal account manager or access to exclusive VIP rooms.
Conclusion
All-in-all, William Hill Bingo is a highly recommended site for both new and seasoned players. Its selection of games is extraordinary, and there are countless opportunities to win both modest and life-changing sums of money. That said, we’d like to see the introduction of a VIP programme to run alongside the existing loyalty scheme, and for the operator to offer players a secure URL.
- £40 free