We are Meeron Limited, whose registered office is at Lexham House, 75 High Street North, Dunstable, Bedfordshire LU6 1JF (we, us, Meeron).
We are licenced by the Gambling Commission and we organise games of bingo for participating licensed bingo clubs.
These are the Meeron Linked MCB Players’ Rules issued by Meeron in November 2020. These rules apply to the playing of linked games of bingo organised by Meeron and played under the Gambling Act 2005, that allows players the opportunity to win a house prize, a nationally available jackpot prize and where advertised instant or bonus prizes. These rules supersede and replace all prior versions of the Player Rules for the playing of the Game.
In these rules, where we refer to you, we mean each person who buys a board to play the Game and your shall be interpreted accordingly.
The club from where you play the Game will also have its own arrangements and rules applicable to your attendance at the club and the playing of other games in club and the purchase of boards or tickets to play bingo. These rules cover the playing of the Game in all clubs and supersede any house rules that might otherwise apply to the playing of games of bingo in your club. However, they do not affect any other arrangements or agreement between you and your club including those for the sale and purchase of boards to play the Game.
Players should always gamble responsibly and play the Game within their limits. For more information and advice visit www.begambleaware.org.
1 Definitions and interpretation
1.1 In these Players’ Rules the following words shall have the following meanings:
Board: means an MCB board specified or approved by Meeron on which a player may play the Game.
Claim: means a claim made by a player that his or her Board is a winning Board that entitles him or her to receive a prize on that playing of the Game.
Club Manager: the persons with overall responsibility for the day to day operation of the club at which you are playing and / or any members of staff at that club appointed to perform management functions. Members of Club Management may include one or more club manager from time to time.
Club Prize: a prize designated by Meeron to be a club or a house prize offered on a playing of the Game.
EBT means the electronic bingo terminal on which you may play the Game.
Game: means the game of bingo organised by Meeron and known as Red Hot Jackpot or other variants. The Game is a full house game of bingo but may be offered for a different game configuration specified by Meeron.
Game Price: means the amount charged to purchase a Board to play the Game.
Jackpot Prize: means a jackpot, instant or bonus prize designated by Meeron to be a Jackpot Prize for the playing of a Game. Jackpot Prizes can be won in more than one club. For the avoidance of doubt, a prize can still be designated a Jackpot Prize even though, by virtue of the random generation of numbers, that prize could only ever have been won in one club.
MCB or Mechanised Cash Bingo: means mechanised cash bingo equipment used for playing real bingo games.
Stake: is an amount equal to the price of the Board (as set by Meeron) less the participation fee allocated to the price of that Board. The Stake is collected to fund the Club Prizes and Jackpot Prizes on that playing of the Game.
2 Minimum Age to play
You must be at least 18 years old to play the Game.
3 Boards
3.1 The Game can only be played using Boards supplied for the playing of the Game by the club at which you are playing.
3.2 You must pay the Game Price for each Board that you wish to play the Game with. The Game Price includes an amount known as the participation fee and the stake.
3.3 You may purchase Boards up until the lockout call number has been called at which point you will not be able to purchase additional Boards. Once purchased a Board cannot be cancelled or otherwise returned.
3.4 Before the Game commences you should check that any EBT that you are intending to play with appears to be operating properly. If you encounter a problem with either you should immediately contact a member of staff at your club and return the EBT before playing of that Game commences.
3.5 You must operate your EBT in accordance with the user instructions and any directions given in your club so that it will properly mark off the numbers called on the display.
4 PRIZES
4.1 The club from where you play the Game will:
4.1.1 display and/or announce:
(a) win criteria for all available prizes offered on that playing of the Game; and
(b) an estimate of how much the prizes will be for that playing of the Game.
4.2 If there is more than one winning Board for a Jackpot Prize and unless Meeron have notified your club otherwise, each of the winning Boards will win the advertised prize fund for that Jackpot Prize. However, if the Game is only being played for a Club Prize and there is more than one winning Board of that Club Prize, the Club Prize will be shared by the holders of the winning Boards equally.
5 PLAYING THE GAME
5.1 The numbers to be called on each playing of the Game are generated from a random sequence of numbers generated by the caller at the club at which you are playing.
5.2 Meeron reserves the right to change the game configuration and to introduce additional elements or win criteria to the Game for subsequent game sessions.
5.3 Subject to Rule 5.1, the Game features a Club Prize and a Jackpot Prize.
5.4 You must operate your EBT in accordance with the user instructions and any directions given in your club so that it will properly mark off the numbers called on the display.
5.5 The person designated as the caller at your club to ensure that the call numbers are audibly announced and displayed in that Game. Once the caller has started to call the first syllable of a colour / number, the calling of that colour / number will be completed and it becomes the last colour / number called.
5.6 Occasionally there is a discrepancy between a colour / number actually called and the colour / number which should have been called. If this situation arises your club should stop the playing of that Game and take a decision to either re-call the entire game or to re-call from the colour / number that was incorrectly called. The Club Manager’s decision is final and must be respected.
5.7 If the playing of a Game is required to be stopped, your club must take a decision to either continue with a house game or refund the Game Price for the disrupted Game. If your club decides to continue with a house game Rule 7 will apply. No further compensation payments are available for the failure to complete any Game.
5.8 If you believe you have a Claim it is your responsibility to immediately stop the playing of that Game at your club. You should do this by pressing the ‘claim’ button for the Board number that you are claiming on. On a Claim being made, your club should stop play while your Board is checked. Please note that you will lose any right to claim that prize if you fail to have the playing of that Game stopped before the caller has started to call the next number.
5.9 The criteria required to win a jackpot, instant or bonus prize is set by Meeron and Meeron reserves the right to change the criteria for subsequent Games.
5.10 If a playing of a Game features a Jackpot Prize which is not won, Meeron will transfer to a designated bank account an amount equal to the Stake of each Board sold for that playing of the Game and retain it for use in funding future Jackpot Prizes at subsequent playing(s) of the Game.
5.11 A winning Board will only win one Jackpot Prize. This is the highest single prize capable of being won by a Board. So if a Jackpot Prize with different win criteria is offered on the playing of a particular Game the available prize fund is calculated on the basis that those prizes capable of being won on the lower winning criteria will be disregarded and added to the prize fund available to the winner of the highest winning criteria if the higher criteria are achieved. For example, if a jackpot prize of £5,000 is offered to the player who makes a successful Claim within 45 calls and a £100 prize was offered for a successful Claim within 50 calls, the holder of a Board who makes a successful Claim on the 42nd call would receive £5,000 and not £5,100 despite a claim on 42 calls also being a claim within 50 calls.
6 MAKING A CLAIM TO A PRIZE
6.1 All Claims to be a winner of any prize offered on the Game are subject to scrutiny and verification by your club and by Meeron. Any dispute as to whether a Claim was validly made or whether a Board is in play is subject to Meeron’s Complaints Procedure provided for in Rule 9 below.
6.2 Having made a Claim, the Calling Club will check whether that Claim is valid. If the Calling Club considers, for any reason, that a Claim is invalid or that there is a basis for dispute as to the validity of the Claim, it shall cause the playing of that Game to be re-opened and the calling of the numbers to continue until there are one or more subsequent Claims.
6.3 If more than one Claim is made for a prize and it transpires that a duplicate Board was in play, then, in the absence of dishonesty on the part of a player, the relevant prize will be paid in full to all winning Boards. If your club suspects dishonesty, the relevant prize may be withheld from the player who your club suspects may have acted dishonestly.
6.4 Subject always to Rules 6.6 and 6.7, if you win a prize on the playing of the Game, your club will generally pay the prize at the end of the Game session. However, larger cash prizes or if applicable, non-cash prizes, may be awarded at a later date. Your club will explain the process at the time of your win.
6.5 You will be required to sign a receipt for any prize you win on the playing of the Game.
6.6 Players must be over 18 years of age to play the Game and may be required to provide evidence to prove his or her age as a condition of receiving a prize. Such evidence can be an original passport or a driving licence with photo-card or other form of photographic identification acceptable to the Club Manager.
6.7 All Claims may be subject to additional scrutiny and verification by Meeron which Meeron will undertake within 14 days after the playing of the relevant Game. In determining the validity of any Claim Meeron will follow a fair procedure so that:
6.7.1 Meeron will undertake its own and consider any information about the Claim provided to it by the Club Manager;
6.7.2 If Meeron is minded to reject a Claim (even one in which a prize has been paid), it will write to the player in question informing him or her of any issues observed and inviting him or her to provide comments to Meeron in writing within 7 days of receipt of the letter;
6.7.3 Provided Meeron receives comments in writing from the player within such 7 day period, Meeron will give due consideration to those comments in reaching its final decision;
6.7.4 Meeron will issue its final decision within 28 days of the Game being played;
6.7.5 Meeron may withhold the payment of any prizes while a Claim is being investigated under this Rule 6.7;
6.7.6 If within the 28 day period referred to in Rule 6.7, Meeron concludes that a prize was won on an invalid Claim, it may require you to forfeit and /or repay that prize within 28 days.
6.7.7 Meeron’s decision will be binding on the player, subject to your rights under Rule 9.
7 PROBLEMS
7.1 Occasionally, because of circumstances beyond the reasonable control of Meeron or the club that you are playing at (including, without limitation, acts of God, technical problems or equipment failure), we may consider it necessary to cancel, abandon or interrupt the playing of a Game.
7.2 In these circumstances, the Club Manager may choose to play a house game instead of the Game using all the money collected at that club as stake on the Board(s) sold on the Game that was cancelled, abandoned or interrupted. The house game will be played under the club’s house rules and will not be subject to these Player Rules.
8 REDUCED LIABILITY OF MEERON
8.1 Subject to Rule 8.2:
8.1.1 If you win a prize on the playing of the Game, neither Meeron nor the club that you paid the Game Price to is liable for more than the cash equivalent value of the prize(s) that Meeron determine to have been actually won on that Board;
8.1.2 if a Game is cancelled, abandoned or interrupted for any reason the total liability of both Meeron and the club that you paid the Game Price to shall not together exceed the Game Price you paid to play that Game;
8.1.3 neither Meeron nor any club shall be liable to any person for any unforeseen or indirect loss or damage (including damage to reputation, loss of profit or consequential loss or damage) arising from the playing of the Game by you; and
8.1.4 neither Meeron nor any club shall have any liability to any person for any loss, charge, costs, expenses or other claims for compensation arising out of a player’s failure to comply with these Players’ Rules.
8.2 Nothing in these Players’ Rules shall limit any liability which cannot legally be limited including, without limitation:
8.2.1 the liability of Meeron or any club for death or personal injury caused by negligence;
8.2.2 fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation or
8.2.3 other rights available to you as a consumer.
8.3 No variation to these Player’s Rules is effective unless it is in writing and is displayed at the club you paid the Game Price to before the sale of Boards begins for the playing of the Game in question.
9 COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE
9.1 We hope you do not have cause to complain about the operation of the Game but if you do, you should first try to resolve the matter informally with the Club Manager of the club at the time. If the Club Manager is unable to resolve the matter to your satisfaction, you may escalate your complaint to Meeron by emailing info@nationalbingo.co.uk or by writing to Meeron Limited at Lexham House, 75 High Street North, Dunstable, Beds LU6 1JF who will endeavour to resolve the dispute within 14 days of receipt of your complaint. If neither the Club Manager nor Meeron have been able to resolve your complaint to your satisfaction, you may further escalate the complaint to an independent dispute resolution provider, details of which are available from Meeron or from your Club Manager or at www.ibas-uk.com.
10 MISCELLANEOUS
10.1 Where Meeron is required to exercise its discretion over any matter under these Players’ Rules, it shall exercise that discretion reasonably and in good faith. If you are not satisfied at the outcome of Meeron’s decision you should exercise your rights under the Complaints Procedure explained at Rule 9.
10.2 Meeron will only use any personal information provided by or about you for the purpose of organising and administering the Game or for crime prevention purposes.
10.3 Nothing in these Players’ Rules gives any right to any third party to enforce any provision under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 or otherwise.
10.4 These Players’ Rules are subject to English law.
November 2020