For many, influenced by popular culture such as the James Bond films, roulette is still the classic image that comes to mind when they think of a casino. Maybe they also imagine such places as late night gambling dens, but these days there’s a new type of casino in town.

The Grosvenor Casino (www.grosvenorcasinos.com) in Gunwharf Quays, Portsmouth may still have the traditional gambling games, but there’s also a bar, a restaurant, a designated show bar and a poker room - all thanks to a £2.7mn renovation that finished just before Christmas.

Get in touch to share your experiences of Christmas Parties and Casinos.

The game, which will be inviting users to simply register (without a credit or debit card!) for their chance to win prizes between a £5 bonus to £5,000 cash.

Each day players will look for the date on the present, when found a symbol will be revealed; each symbol has its own prize. To win simply match any of the three symbols.

And most importantly, if played every day from the 1^st December, players are guaranteed to win £5 bonus to £5,000 cash.

So what are you waiting for? Head to tombola.co.uk now and get playing!

Prizes include; £5 bonus, £10, £20, £50, £100, £500, £1,000 and £5,000 cash prizes. If you play every day until 24^th December you’re guaranteed to win at least £5 bonus.

Terms apply

52% of people in the UK plan their gifts before hitting the shops
A third go all out to impress loved ones by splashing the cash
Teenagers hate shopping the most and go for the easy option
People in sales and marketing are the most thoughtful shoppers
And teachers are the biggest penny-pinchers!

December 2010 - When it comes to Christmas shopping, who would have thought teachers are the biggest penny-pinchers, that teenagers hate the whole experience or that people in sales and marketing are the most thoughtful and generous, that’s according to Viking Direct.

But predictably, the armed forces and scientists are the biggest planners, along with pensioners who have lots of time on their hands! However, if you want a gift with some real thought, then get to know someone in their late 20s.

Viking Direct gathered the views of people in the UK and Ireland to find out what type of shopper we all are – we are either Dodgers (who dodge buying presents and go for vouchers), Pinchers (penny-pinchers), Planners (never go shopping without a list) or Surprise Shoppers who go that extra mile with gifts.

The online shopping websiteViking Direct developed a shopper personality test – with the help of their celebrity shopping psychologist, Emma Kenny who is well-known for her appearances on GMTV, Big Brother and The One Show.

Emma said; “Viking Direct was keen to find out how people buy and the thought process people go through to make that buying decision – especially with Christmas around the corner. We worked together to come up with ten fun, short questions which people could answer and immediately find out what type of shopper they are. We all love to delve into our characters and our buying habits show a great deal about our personalities. Disposable income does play a part in our gift choices, but what this survey ultimately shows is that some people are just tight and don’t like splashing the cash – no matter how much they earn!”

John O’Keeffe, Commercial Director for Viking Direct and Office Depot UK and Ireland, said; “Viking Direct is the market leader in direct-mail office supplies and we understand what people want when they shop online. With Christmas around the corner and the launch of our premier online Christmas gift shop, we wanted to create an engaging and fun test people would enjoy doing and where they could learn something about themselves.”

Emma again; “Whatever shopper type you are, we should take heart from the fact that most of us are either Planners or Surprise Shoppers and these are two positive personality types. The Pinchers and Dodgers need not despair – there are things you can do to improve your gift-buying.”

Emma’s top tips on how to be a more thoughtful shopper:-

Research on-line - Take a few hours to go on line and check out what is actually available for your nearest and dearest; this may seem like a time consuming endeavour but it will save you precious hours and energy in the long run

Match your mood! If you feel stressed and/or unhappy, don’t go shopping for gifts, you will end up feeling worse and will most likely have wasted a day. Make sure you feel positive and optimistic and these will reflect in the excellent choices you make.

Remember, a gift should feel like a gift, don’t impulse buy something simply because it appears to be a bargain, your present reflects the worth you put on the relationship

Less can be more! It’s not how much you spend, it’s the thought you spend on the present you are providing that really counts.

If you don’t want to buy, then don’t!!! If you have a limited budget, why not buy presents for those who truly matter to you, instead of stretching yourself

Keep a sense of humour! Buying and giving presents should make you feel great!

How do I get the best out of my tree?

1. Your tree needs water, just like fresh cut flowers your tree can continue to drink water through the capillary action of the bark.
2. Try not to expose your tree to sudden changes in temperature, any gardener will tell you that it’s not a good idea to bring plants in from the very cold to the very warm.
3. Try and position your Christmas tree away from any heat sources such as radiators or spot lights. Heat will dry out your tree faster, so the further from its source the better.
4. Place your tree in plain water - not soil or sand which would block the pores in the bark.
5. Keep the Christmas tree stand topped up with water. Your Christmas tree may drink 2-3 pints (1-2 litres) of water per day, depending on its size.

Sweeeettt… This best selling black Sports Roadster ride on goes 5km/h and includes a parental remote control and MP3 player plug-in. ONLY £99.95 while stocks last! RRP: £179.95. 

5% off Voucher code is as follows:

Code: idle5
Value: 5% off non sale items
Starts: Now
Ends: 31/12/2010 23:59

Click here:Save 5% at Idlewild.

The Turkey Hotline has been set up by the British Turkey Federation (BTF) to help cooks negotiate any pitfalls they might encounter in roasting their festive bird.

A team of eight experts are on hand to offer advice on defrosting, cooking times and carving techniques until 5pm on Christmas Eve.

They expect to deal with several hundred callers a day on turkey-related issues in the lead up to Christmas. A spokesman for the BTF said many first time roasters do not know which end of the bird to stuff, or how long a turkey should be in the oven for.

Half of them deliberately leave the bird in for longer than they should to kill any bugs, he added. Confusion over cooking the perfect turkey has been exacerbated by conflicting methods proposed by celebrity chefs such as Nigella Lawson and Delia Smith.

Lawson has insisted that cooking a 6.5kg (14lb 5oz) turkey for only two hours and 45 minutes is perfectly adequate to deliver moist, succulent and tasty meat.

Meanwhile, Smith suggests that the correct cooking time for the bird, assuming it is stuffed, should be four hours and 50 minutes.

The Food Standards Agency, the government watchdog, offers yet another “safe” cooking time – four hours and 20 minutes.

The Turkey Hotline is on 0800 783 9994

Some 3.8m consumers spent a total of £102m - an average of £26.80 per shopper - on Christmas Day, up 21% on the same day last year.

However, the number of people shopping online on Christmas Day was 14% lower than in 2007.

James Roper, CEO at IMRG, said, “The volume of transactions was 26% higher, and the value rose by 21%, indicating that serious bargain hunting was the order of the day.”

On Christmas Day etailers such as Marks & Spencer, John Lewis and Play.com were running online sales.

Statistics from online digital research firm eDigitalResearch found online traffic increased by nearly 100% between Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

Chris Russell, director at eDigitalResearch, said, “We noticed that most traditional retailers commenced online sales when stores closed on Christmas Eve, with pure play retailers starting after last delivery day deadlines were reached. This means that the increased purchases on Christmas Day and the huge surge in traffic on Boxing Day could have been as a result of this.”

Source: NMA