Nothing beats the feeling ? scratching away at the silver foil to reveal an array of icons, cash rewards and endless thrill and a relaxing buzz. We’re talking about scratch cards! However, an increasing number of people in the UK have discovered the latest form of scratchies ? electronic scratch cards in online casino parlours and bingo websites! It may seem a little strange, but make no mistake ? online scratchies are simply irresistible.

Unfortunately, web technology doesn’t quite have the power to make a 3D scratch card jump out at you from the screen (not yet anyway!) ? but the digital cards most certainly look good enough to reach out and grab, with stunning colours and designs that put some of the ‘real’ scratch cards to shame. Many online games include digital coins that rub away at the foils just like a traditional scratch card!

Of course, web technology also delivers its own array of extra scratch card goodies, such as moving card icons and sounds that bring every card to life before your eyes. It’s like mini fruit machine packaged into a scratch card.

Check out some of the other advantages to rubbing away on the web, compared to offline scratch cards………

Scratch away 24/7
There’s no need to ever feel down, thanks to online scratch cards. Whether you’re stuck at work and stressed, or bored at home ? just log on for a couple of online scratchies! They’re always instantly available and with hundreds to choose from and frequented new themed releases ? it’s scratch card paradise.

Budget scratch cards
Traditional scratch cards are great for an occasional lotto treat, but at ?1 or more a go, they can get a little expensive (especially if you go through a long run without a winning scratchie ? grrr!). However, web gamers can play scratch cards from 0.10 or lower, offering the chance to play hundreds of cards with a small weekly budget. Don’t worry though, if you’re a high roller, you can find some seriously high value jackpot scratch cards!

Serious scratch card jackpots
With a massive range of scratch card values, online scratchie payouts range from pennies to mega thousands! Most online cards deliver payouts based on coin number and value. For example, a scratch card jackpot may be 1000 coins, but if you played with a coin size of 0.10 you’d win 100.00, but would scoop 10000.00 playing with a 10.00 coin. Online scratch cards typically payout between 95 and 99%, on average.

Scratch to suit your style!
Online scratch card websites are packed with cool features to make your scratchie experience unique to your gaming preferences. If you’re the kind of person who likes to indulge in the scratch card moment by slowly scratching away the foil and teasing yourself with suspense ? then manually rub away the foil. In contrast, if you like fast, furious, high bankroll gaming, by hundreds of cards are fire them out instantly with auto-scratch!

The online scratch card experience can only be truly appreciated by trying out some of the card for yourself ? the good news is it can be tried for free with no-deposit bonus offers or free-play casinos.

• UK Bingo industry may yet be saved (0)
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After a long year of falling revenues and closing halls, it seems that the UK bingo industry has been thrown a rope.

Hit hard by the smoking ban, the continuation of double taxation, and a rising interest in online bingo, many land-based bingo clubs have closed down in recent months. Many communities have lost their town’s hub of activity, and a cherished meeting place.

The latest credit crunch has also affected bingo halls, since most people have less money to spend and are generally being more careful with their cash. Of course, the economic climate could also work the other way, encouraging players to splash out on more bingo cards in the hope of winning a big prize. And with two recent winners taking home over a million pounds from a bingo night out, it’s surely worth a shot!

When the budget was announced, bingo bosses were hugely disappointed that the Chancellor decided not to make any changes in the taxation law for bingo, keeping the double taxation, which puts bingo halls at a disadvantage compared to casinos and poker rooms. While all gambling activities pay gaming duty at 15%, bingo clubs pay an additional VAT charge at 17.5%. The combination of the two is proving crippling for bingo, and seems blatantly unfair.

This week, the Sports Minister, Gerry Sutcliffe, spoke at the UK Bingo Association’s annual general meeting and said that he was aware of the difficulties faced by the industry and was willing to help. With the support of the Prime Minister, Sutcliffe is considering how best to help the ailing bingo scene. Clearly realizing the benefit of bingo to communities, the time has come to do something about it.

This announcement gave hope to many and even pushed up shares for the Rank group, one of the biggest in the bingo industry.

The bingo industry argues that, in contrast to casinos, bingo clubs are often seen as a community amenity and are a lifeline for older people who live alone and have few social outlets or ways of meeting people. They have asked the government to look at the community costs of losing more clubs, and to bolster the industry.

It remains to be seen exactly how the government plans to help out and industry insiders are holding their breath in the hope of a reprieve from the extra VAT charge, which could just save British bingo.

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