A group of die hard bingo lovers are in training to prepare for the world’s toughest game at 17,500 feet above sea level. Next month 24 dedicated bingo players will tackle Everest in an attempt to smash the record for the World’s Highest Game of Bingo.

The intrepid trekkers will face dehydration, altitude sickness and deep vein thrombosis as they take part in a bingo pilgrimage to Everest’s Base Camp.

The plucky players – made up of Gala Coral employees from all over Britain – have been preparing for the toughest bingo game of their lives by engaging in gruelling training sessions closer to home to ensure they are well prepared for the rigours of playing bingo at altitude on the world’s highest mountain.

The extraordinary challenge is part of a fundraising effort for Gala Coral’s nominated charity, Sue Ryder Care.

The team hope that by scaling the world’s toughest mountain and setting a new world record for playing bingo at altitude they can smash their goal of raising £100,000 for the charity.

Staff from across Gala Coral have so far raised £750,000 for Sue Ryder Care and are well on their way to reaching their target of £1 million by the end of the year.

he brave bingo buffs will be trialling a new improved version of Gala Bingo’s High 5 game which promises players a fast and furious bingo experience like no other.

Dominic Harrison, chief executive of Gala Coral Group, said: “It seemed appropriate to break a world record by playing Gala Bingo’s High 5 game, the UK’s highest daily bingo jackpot, at the highest point ever recorded in history.

“If 24 half frozen bingo professionals can have a great time playing it at 17,500 ft, I’m confident it will be a rip-roaring success here in the UK. I am incredibly proud of every single person who has volunteered to undertake this challenge of a lifetime, and even prouder that we’ll be raising money for the excellent work of our nominated charity, Sue Ryder Care, whilst we’re at it. Good luck to them all.”

The trek to play the World’s Highest Game of Bingo will commence at Lukla on Monday October 19th and is due to finish at Everest Base Camp on Saturday October 24.

A former Atlantic City casino dealer who’s been on the lam for 10 years after being charged with armed robberies of five casinos and a bank has been arrested in Ghana.

The FBI says it got help from Scotland Yard to track down 32-year-old Edmund Osei in April in Accra North, Ghana. He was arrested last week by Ghanaian police after what officials call a diplomatic process.

Osei, who once worked as a poker dealer at the Trump Taj Mahal, is accused of taking $60,000 from casino and a bank during a robbery spree in the summer of 1999.

He disappeared after failing to show up for an arraignment in January 2000.

Poland’s sports minister has resigned amid allegations he was involved in lobbying for the gambling industry.

Miroslaw Drzewiecki announced his decision after Rzeczpospolita newspaper published transcripts of tapped telephone conversations.

In the calls between a politician and a gambling industry boss, Mr Drzewiecki was allegedly named as someone who could help block planned casino taxes.

Mr Drzewiecki denies wrongdoing, saying he has been falsely accused.

The allegations may taint the reputation of PM Donald Tusk’s centrist government.

The politician in the tapped phone calls has been named as Zbigniew Chlebowski, the head of Mr Tusk’s Civic Platform (PO) parliamentary group.

He has been suspended pending an inquiry into what Polish media have dubbed “Black Jack-Gate”.

The bill, which is expected to be debated in parliament soon, proposes higher taxes on the gambling business to channel more money into overstretched state coffers.

Both Mr Chlebowski and Mr Drzewiecki deny wrongdoing.

Drop in support

The sports minister said was resigning to prevent the situation from affecting important projects, such as plans to build football stadiums for children, or football’s Euro 2012 championship, which Poland is set to co-host with Ukraine.

Tusk took power two years ago with a pledge to clean up government

“I believe that when the media frenzy dies down and all the circumstances relating to the gambling bill have been clarified, it will turn out that I have been falsely accused,” he wrote.

“(But) I cannot allow this situation to affect the Euro 2012 preparations or my beloved Orliki project,” he said, referring to the stadium-building plans.

The accusations have dented support for the government, polls suggest, with a 6% drop in support for the PO since the scandal emerged last week.

Mr Tusk took power two years ago with a pledge to clean up government.