Money for Nothing (tombola.com)

Member Name: sandrabarber

Product:	tombola.com
Date:	18/01/03 (124 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very easy, Lots of winners, Great prizes

Disadvantages: Chances probably low

Tombola.com has been around as long as I've been using the internet. It's a game site where you play simple games for free and, if you're very lucky, you can win cash prizes of up to several thousands pounds. The games are quick and incredibly easy - no discernible brainpower required, in fact - and you can play each one once per day.

Some of the games change from time-to-time, but there are generally five to choose from. Playing them all will only take five minutes of your time.

The current games are:


I:SCRATCH

As the name suggests, this game consists of an online scratch card. Scratch cards are themed, with scenarios like supermarket, office and fairground. Scratch off nine circular panels with your mouse, and if you reveal three matching pictures, you are a winner.

Prizes range from a £5 cd-wow voucher to a luverly £5,000.

Time to load: About 3 seconds on broadband.

Time to play: One to two minutes.


HAMSTER

Sponsored by a bookmakers, this game gives you the chance to win up to £1,000.

Six hamsters compete in a race. You start the race by clicking a button, and that's your bit done.

Two hamsters are chosen for you, and if they win in the order they are chosen, then you bag some booty.

Time to load: About 5 seconds on broadband

Time to play: The race itself takes about one minute.


SPIN TO WIN

An online fruit machine with nine panels. click each one to set them spinning. If you get three matching symbols in a line, you win anything from a £5 cd-wow voucher to a whopping FIVE GRAND.

Time to load: Almost instant on broadband

Time to play: One minute max


HANG-ON

Nine balloons float about and it's your job to pop each one with a click of your mouse. Once popped, each balloon reveals a cash amount.

Match three for a win of a £5 cd-wow voucher to

£1000 cash.

Time to load: Instant on broadband (give or take a millisecond)

Time to play: 30 seconds to a minute


PERFECT MATCH

Sponsored by Lycos, this game uses that annoying dog of theirs to reveal ten pictures of either men or women. You click or the dog to reveal each picture.

Above this is a grid of 16 photos, and you have to match the photo the dog reveals to one on the grid. match four in a line and you can win the usual £5 cd-wow voucher and several cash prizes up to that stupendous FIVE GRAND.


EXTRAS

There is an extra scheme they run called PLAY MATES. If you refer someone to Tombola and they win a prize, you get £20. Unless they win a £5 cd-wow voucher, in which case you get the same.


ADDICTABILITY

As you can see, the games are simple in the extreme and pose no challenge to even the tiniest brain. Which means they're not really much fun in themselves. But then neither are real scratch cards or fruit machines, and they're as popular as ever.

You play Tombola to see if you can win. End of story.


All well and good, but what are your chances of winning?

Well, that's a closely guarded secret, but as Tombola declares itself 'one of the stickiest sites on the web' - i.e. it is VERY popular - they're probably not high.

I've been playing almost daily for a couple of years now and I've won one £5 voucher in that time.

People DO win though - every single day - and if you want to know who they are, there is a Hall of Fame link where you have a nosey.


Any other info?

Yes, the site has a nice clean, crisp design on a white background, making it easy on the eye, and navigation is simplicity itself through a series of links at the left and the top of each page.

And, if you're interested, Tombola UK are based in Sunderland. The parent company is the
Edward Thompson Group, founded in the 1870s, who have been producing bingo tickets since 1957, making them one of the leading manufacturers in the world, supplying to over 45 countries globally. So there!

In the last two and a half years, the site has given away more than £1,700,000.

The site also contains a demographic profile of the people who play. And would you believe that the largest single group by job status are SENIOR MANAGEMENT?!

So THAT'S what they're really doing when the door's closed and they're not taking calls.

DON'T LET THEM GET AWAY WITH IT - START PLAYING NOW AND BEAT THEM TO THE PRIZES!

Summary: