MECCA FIRST: MECCA BINGO LAUNCHES ITS FIRST EVER CROSS-CHANNEL SLOTS TOURNAMENT

29 May 2024: On Saturday 18th May, Mecca Bingo welcomed players from around the UK to its first ever cross-channel Slots Tournament, the industry's biggest cross-channel event of its kind to date.

Held at Mecca Bingo’s state-of-the-art club in Luton, the event, sponsored by leading UK games studio Blueprint Gaming, was the first time Mecca has brought online and retail players together in a cross-channel slots tournament

To secure their place at the grand final event, entrants took part in a series of qualifying rounds both online at meccabingo.com and in regional heats at Mecca’s venues.

The 16 successful finalists, comprising eight online players and eight players from Mecca’s clubs, were then invited to take part in the grand final for the chance to win a share of £25,000, including a £10,000 top prize for the overall tournament winner.

Upon arrival, attendees and their guests were welcomed with a drinks reception. The evening saw players enter into a series of head-to-head knockout games, with the winner of each round moving forward to the next qualifier.

While all players were guaranteed to walk away with a share of the total tournament prize pot, each finalist and their guest was also given an extra chance to win big by joining in the evening’s main bingo session.

As the competition came to a close, tension and adrenaline filled the venue. The final two players went head-to-head in the closing round, completing 200 spins each in a nail-biting 20 minute session, until one player was crowned the winner.

Lucky player, Andrew Thorpe, 40, from Norwich, triggered the jackpot winning spin to become the champion of Mecca Bingo’s inaugural Cross-Channel Slots Tournament.

As a regular online slots player at meccabingo.com, Andrew explained that he had seen a promotion for the Tournament and got involved as a bit of fun - never considering he would take home the evening’s jackpot prize!

Commenting on his win, Andrew said; “The whole night was surreal, I expected to go out in the first round as I’m not usually that lucky! Just getting to the final was amazing but seeing my score at the end was a complete shock. I was absolutely buzzing and my heart was beating so fast. It's such a lot of money to win!”

Accompanied on the night by his wife, Kim, the father of seven has already planned to celebrate the momentous win with a huge family celebration.

“I rang my children as soon as I won - they didn’t believe it until I sent them a photo of me and the big cheque! I can’t wait to celebrate with them all. None of them have been on a plane before, so we’re going to splash out on a big family holiday abroad - possibly Spain or Greece!

“Thanks to everyone involved in the Slots Tournament. It was a fantastic evening, really well put together, we met some great people and the win was the icing on the cake!’

Robert Lee, head of Meccabingo.com said: “We were delighted to welcome both seasoned slots players and newcomers at our first ever cross-channel Slots Tournament. It was great to see players from across the country come together to experience the joy of what Mecca has to offer - from slots to bingo!

”The whole team extend their thanks to all that took part. A special thanks to our tournament sponsors, Blueprint Gaming and of course a huge congratulations to our Slots champion, Andrew. We look forward to hosting our next tournament very soon.”

Jack Lawson, account manager, BluePrint Gaming said: “It was a pleasure to be involved with and sponsor the Mecca Bingo Slots Tournament 2024 in Luton.  Well done to everyone involved in making the whole event a huge success. We’re very much looking forward to showcasing more of our product portfolio at events in the future.”

While Andrew was crowned the winner of the tournament, taking home the main prize of £10,000, all finalists enjoyed an overnight stay and walked away with goodie bags, a bottle of bubbly and a free session of bingo the following day in Luton.