Bingo has been around for a long time. It’s hard to imagine eighteenth century French aristocrats playing it, but it was all the rage. In America, it started out in the early twentieth century as Beano, but soon changed its name and really took off when the churches started using it to raise funds. Bingo Night soon became an institution in many churches and as well as raising money for good causes, it effectively brought the locals together for a fun evening.

In more recent times, Mecca has revamped its Bingo halls and transformed them into sleek, clean, even chic venues where young people are not ashamed to be seen hanging out. The game has had a complete overhaul with all the resources of modern technology brought to bear. Now, you can even play in competition against other venues via a satellite link controlled by another company.  These satellite tournaments usually come with bigger prizes on offer – drawing more and more people into the game.

The Internet, too, has seen a plethora of sites devoted to the game springing up. Many of them represent the online presence of familiar high street names such as Littlewoods and Mecca, whilst others are completely new and entirely online like 888ladies Bingo and Dream Bingo.

There is plenty of competition out there, and the players are always the winners in respect of promotions and special offers as the competing sites vie for new customers. A crucial step is getting you past the ‘front door’ and into the main body of the site and there are always plenty of incentives to entice you in. 

With the number of online Bingo sites growing by the week, there’s never been a better time to log on and start playing your favourite game in the comfort of your own home. With all the sites in fierce competition for customers, there are great promotions and special offers available and in many cases you don’t even have to make a deposit before playing for cash.

This is so-called free Bingo, but players are encouraged to start making deposits through various incentives. For new players, there are clear instructions on how to choose a username, register and set up an account, and help is available at all times.

Foxy Bingo is just one of the attractive websites devoted to Bingo, and a glance at its home page shows that bright colours, fun graphics and an easy navigation system are popular with bingo players.

Mr Foxy gives a friendly face to the site with his grin on every page; there’s even a Foxy Radio Station and a vibrant community all online. Maybe not so popular with traditionalists, the online Bingo site has a huge following amongst the younger, Internet-savvy generation.

Littlewoods online Bingo and Mecca online Bingo are relatively staid by comparison, but in their own ways just as attractive. Usability is always an important factor and whatever it is you want to do, it’s made as easy as possible through the menus and buttons.

Online Bingo is experiencing exponential growth as the Internet technology gets better and faster – exciting games are just a few clicks away.

Bingo has always had a big appeal; it brings people together for a fun night out and gives the chance of winning some money. The church halls where it used to be played have been joined by glitzy clubs such as Mecca Bingo and Gala Bingo, which are familiar in most town centres.

Their interiors are temples to the game, fitted out in all the comforts you’d expect and with helpful staff to tend to your every need. For lots of people, Bingo Night at one of these clubs is the highlight of their week where they get together with family and friends. Young people are now flocking to them as well, and there is no longer any stigma attached to playing Bingo in an evening rather than going to the pub.

The game has indeed been transformed and its move into the world of virtual reality is proof of this. Internet sites such as Foxy Bingo and Dream Bingo have a huge clientele, who are happy to play online Bingo in a virtual environment from the comfort of their own home. The speed and security of modern Internet technology has made this all possible.

Presented with a dynamic and colourful home page, all you need do to get started playing for money is register your details and make a deposit into an Internet account, which will use a system such as ukash to protect your details. On some nights you can usually play Free Bingo without a deposit.

Perhaps one of the most convenient and positive ways of playing bingo is ‘no download’ or ‘instant play bingo’. By choosing this method of playing your games of instant bingo or no download bingo, you avoid having to download any software to play the games. The only thing you will have to do to play bingo in this way is register with the website and then login when you visit. You can then gain instant access to any of the bingo games operated by that website, which you can then play.

Because players are able to access the bingo game website and login to their account, wherever they are and then play without having to download any bingo game software, it makes instant bingo or no download bingo a very popular option. Playing this way opens up lots of flexibility, especially if the player is constantly on the move. It enables regular online bingo players to use their personal account no matter where in the world they are, just as long as they have access to a PC that is connected to the Internet.

There are many different bingo gaming websites that offer players a no download play option that is incorporated into their gaming software. These websites have become very popular for many reasons, including the fact that they are able to update their software regularly and as mentioned previously, players do not have to go through the process of downloading software in order to play online bingo.

The National Bingo Game was the largest computer controlled game until 1994 when the National Lottery was established. The popularity of the lottery had a negative impact upon attendances at bingo clubs and the game of bingo underwent several changes in an attempt to draw back the players. 

The total prize money given by the National Bingo Game in 2003 was over £47m; however, this had dropped to only £37.7 million by 2007 – A clear drop in profits and players.

Similar to the National Lottery, bingo companies were permitted to offer rollover jackpots in September 2007. The National Bingo Game brought in the “Big N” to try and save the business.  This was a separate bingo game that charged £1 per play and gave them the opportunity to play for gold, silver or platinum jackpots that totalled over £1 million in prize money.

Unfortunately the ticket sales for the new bingo jackpot were not high and the prize was not won by players for a long period of time.  The National Game eventually chose to remove the £1 charge and soon introduced a compulsory 50p rise in price for a bingo game in January 2008.

Around the same time, many bingo clubs chose to withdraw from the game completely. This was due to the price rises coming at a time when bingo clubs were still dealing with the drop in bingo players due to the smoking ban.

The new jackpot was then won by three people in 2008. This made them millionaires. However, this was not enough to persuade some bingo companies to continue to play the game. 

It may often appear that you only see women playing games of bingo and that men are rarely seen either in the bingo halls or playing bingo games online, on gaming websites. However, if you pay attention you will actually find that there are just as many men playing games of bingo as there are women, either online on the bingo gaming websites or in bingo halls.

It is more common to see men playing games of bingo online, on gaming websites, than it is to see them in bingo halls, as they are usually too embarrassed to be seen playing bingo or do not have anyone to go bingo halls with, which is the most common reason given. You will often see groups of women having bingo nights together and they will treat an evening playing bingo as an opportunity to socialise. However, men do not usually get together to go for a game of bingo at the local bingo hall and will more often than not head to the pub. The answer for the man who would like to play a game of bingo is to go online, to the bingo gaming websites.

If a man plays a game of online bingo he will not have to leave the comfort of his armchair and will still be in with a chance of winning big prizes. If he is feeling brave, however, there is nothing stopping him from heading down to the bingo hall for a game. 

Recently there has been the introduction of the Random Number Generator (RNG) within bingo games in the UK.  Since this has happened, there has been a dramatic reduction in the use of nicknames for particular sets of numbers. 

It has been established that the use of a RNG takes up much less time and that replacing the previous number nicknames with more simple patterns such as “all the fives, fifty five” has given bingo halls more time to put their focus upon bringing in more money through Mechanised Cash Bingo. Primarily this is played in Gala Bingo Clubs as Party Bingo, or in the Mecca Bingo Clubs as Cashline.

Other independent bingo clubs usually use the above two terms to refer to the game, or they use the term “table top”.  This refers to the fact that the tables are built in front of the bingo player.  Also used is the term “Mini Cash Bingo”. 

Bingo nicknames are most commonly used where the emphasis in the game is more on having fun, as opposed to making money.  This usually occurs within the family holiday resort chains such as Haven, Butlins and Pontins.   The nicknames are also widely used in church halls, social clubs and charity events.

The game of bingo finds its origins with the Italian Lottery – Lo Giuoco del Lotto D’Italia.  The game’s popularity spread over into France, and there it became known as Le Lotto which was solely played by the French aristocrats.  The game of bingo that exists in the UK today comes from 19th century Germany.

To stimulate your brain and help develop memory it is important to keep the brain active. Playing games of bingo on online bingo gaming websites will help you do this by engaging your brain in an activity that involves multiple processes and problem solving, as is the case with online bingo games. 

When a person is playing a game of online bingo they are required to undertake several different tasks at the same time. Talking to other players, concentrating on your opponents, watching your cards and listening to the numbers all have to be handled at the same time and this helps keep your brain active on several different levels. An online bingo player needs to be fully alert at all times throughout the bingo game so that they do not miss an opportunity to win. It is for this reason that playing online bingo helps the individual keep their mind sharp and active. 

112 people were used in a test to find out how beneficial online bingo is to the player’s brain. One half of the group played bingo, whilst the other did not. The group that played online bingo were found to have far more active brains. Although there was a small variation in the older players having more active brain functions, it was not significant and it was concluded that playing bingo on online bingo gaming websites has a significantly positive impact upon the average brain. 

Unluckyforsome, an online bingo portal that features news and reviews from the bingo world, launched its ‘Show Us Your Bingo Wings’ competition in July 2009. The competition was launched because the portal wanted a new advertising campaign that featured a real woman with a bubbly personality rather than a thin model.

Ads were placed on the Internet and in job centres throughout the UK. They controversially asked for a ‘grossly overweight’ lady with a ‘huge personality’. The competition was also featured in the Daily Star magazine. Wink Bingo, also sponsors of the competition, put out a request for photos of women via the Internet that would be entered into the competition. The first ten people to send a photo showcasing their bingo wings won £50 in their Wink Bingo accounts.

The Unluckyforsome team put together a shortlist of 10 finalists from over 200 entries. These finalists were taken to a secret London location on 24th September where the final selection was made.

The winner was 38-year old London-based actress Iliana Flade, a former underwear model, catwalk model and body double for UK celebrities Dawn French and Fern Britton. Her prize included £1,000 prize money and a £100,000 contract to appear in Unluckyforsome’s future advertising campaign.

However, the campaign was under fire from some critics in the industry. They complained that this competition and resulting campaign could undermine their efforts to market online bingo to a younger demographic. Also, some critics argued that a campaign that glorifies obesity should not be allowed in the current climate.

The Bingo association is the trade association of the UK-based licensed bingo industry. The association represents 90 owners and managers of 602 bingo clubs licensed under the Gaming Act 1968.

The association gives support to bingo organizers in the day-to-day running of their bingo halls and keeps its representatives informed of any governmental changes that affect the bingo industry. The association also helps with the assessment of possible rebates from the government that UK bingo operators may be eligible for.

The Bingo association has been involved in a number of different initiatives and campaigns on behalf of the bingo industry. They were in support of a partial ban on smoking in public places in an attempt to defend the rights of their smoking bingo players. However, the full ban was imposed despite their protests. The association has moved on and is now working on acquiring a £10 million rebate from the UK government due to a loss in revenues as a result of the smoking ban.

The association also participated in the promotion of Gambling Awareness Day on 19th October by printing promotional material for display in bingo halls. They also added their support for GamCare and Gamble Aware, two organizations devoted to providing safe and responsible gambling environments.

They were most recently involved in the ‘I’m Backing Bingo’ campaign against the increased taxes levied by the UK government which discriminates against UK bingo halls. The association launched a website for the campaign which features ways in which bingo players can participate.