In United States it was originally called Beano since players used beans to cover the numbers on the cards when the numbers were drawn. Since 1929, bingo has just become more and more popular even in the rest of the world. Of course it took off even more in popularity when bingo online was introduced in the beginning of the 1990′s.

The game of Bingo came to UK in the 1960′s, and it became an instant favorite among the people. Its popularity took off most in 1986 with the institution of the National Bingo Game. That is basically the same bingo game being played all over the country at the same time with massive prizes to win.

With bingo online, the game has taken another step. However the social part of bingo is there through the chat feature that has become very popular in all online bingo rooms. This is of course very different from the bingo halls in real life but has some advantages, for example you can sit in your own home and you don’t have to be quiet. In the online bingo rooms you can chat as much as you want while you are playing.

The online bingo game has turned a lot into a community through the chat feature. That has become very important for women who take up around 70% of the players. Statistics has also shown that it is going down in ages. Most people think of old ladies playing Bingo but as it is now, about 90% of the online bingo players are under 50 years old and in the UK it seems like many women between 25-35 is taking up the game!

Free Bingo

Another thing not to miss when it comes to online bingo are the great free bingo sites that you can take advantage of when trying a new bingo room. Some of these sites offer a no deposit bonus just for signing up a new account to their bingo hall. You can generally expect these free bonuses to be valued between $/£ 5 and 20.

This will allow you to play bingo for free for a little while before you must make a deposit. Many other sites offer a free bingo room where a free game will be held approximately once or twice a day. Usually, you will only receive one bingo ticket or card per entry. This makes these free bingo games very popular.

So, with this post I have decide to change this and make a comprehensive guide for people who want to play bingo online. I’m sticking this post to the front of my blog for the time being. This will let you reference those previous posts. Let’s get started and get you prepared to play online bingo!

How to Play the Bingo Games

This is a good way to begin. I have already made previous posts on 90 ball bingo and 75 ball bingo; however, I will briefly go over these again.

90 ball bingo (UK Bingo): You will purchase one or more bingo tickets before entering the game. These tickets will cost between 1p (penny bingo) and usually the maximum price is 50p or £1 each. Most tickets for large games will usually be 10p a ticket.

The ticket is a 3×9 grid with the 3 rows constituting the 3 Lines that are on the ticket. A Line consists of 5 numbers and 4 blanks. Each of the 9 columns corresponds to a 10 number range. Each column must contain 1 or 2 numbers and 1 or 2 blanks.

There are three prizes that are awarded: Line, 2 Lines and House. The Line is awarded to the first person who covers an entire Line of 5 numbers. 2 Lines is awarded to the first player to complete any 2 out of 3 Lines on a ticket. House is won by the first player to cover all 3 Lines (15 numbers) on a ticket.

75 ball bingo (US Bingo): You will purchase one or more bingo cards before entering a game. The cards will generally cost between 10¢ and $1 (maximum) each. At most of the larger events, the cost per card is usually around 10¢ to 25¢ a card.

The card is a 5×5 square grid with a Free Space in the middle square and numbers in the other 24 spaces. Each column will have a letter of the word BINGO over it and the spaces in these columns can contain numbers in a 15 number range. In traditional bingo in the United States, the ball is read with a Letter/Number combination like B-11.

There is generally only one prize awarded per game. This prize can be won in one of three ways: Line, Pattern or Coverall. The Line is simply being the first to cover a Line of 5 numbers in any direction on the card. The Pattern will be a predetermined pattern on the card; basically, the other spaces on a card not in the pattern become meaningless. The Coverall is simple; you must be the first to cover all 25 spaces on a bingo card in order to win.

Other bingo games

I never mentioned this before, but there are two other types of bingo games out there: 80 ball bingo and 30 ball bingo. Let’s go over these really quick.

80 ball bingo – You will receive bingo cards with a 4×4 grid and 16 numbers filling that grid. The spaces under each column must be in the 20 number range associated with the column.

The prize can either be given to the first person to cover a line of 4 numbers in any direction; or the prize can be given to the first person to cover all 16 spaces on a bingo card.

30 ball bingo – You will receive bingo tickets with a 3×3 grid and 9 numbers filling that grid. The spaces under each of the 3 columns can include numbers in a 10 number range. The prize is won by the first person to cover all 9 numbers on a bingo ticket.

Playing Bingo Online

You will have a multitude of bingo websites to choose from. There are several ways to choose which bingo room you are going to sign up with:

1) Number of people playing at the site
2) Number of different games and bingo rooms
3) Frequency of large prizes offered
4) Bonuses and Promotions
5) Cheaper options like Free bingo, Penny bingo and BOGOF bingo
6) Side games that are offered

Let’s go through these options:

1) If you want larger games/larger prizes, then you will want to play at a large and popular bingo room. This will decrease your overall chance of winning, but increases the upside if you win. If you want a better chance to win, play in a smaller room (less than 50 players); but you may only be playing for a minimal prize.

2) Some bingo rooms only offer 90 and 75 ball bingo games. That may be plenty of options for you. Other bingo rooms offer Speed bingo games, 80 ball bingo and various themes on the rooms that give options to the winners of the game. If playing the generic game no longer thrills you, try a site with a large variety of games.

3) Some site offer large prizes daily. I would consider anything over $/£ 500 to be a large prize. There are some bingo rooms that link up their collective players for what is known as a Bingo Linx. This is a super-sized bingo game with thousands of players and the chance to win thousands per prize.

4) Some bingo bonuses are worth taking and some aren’t. You have to be aware that any bonus that seems to be too good to be true usually is. You will end up playing bingo for a long time before you are done with their requirements. Stick to low bonus money amounts if the percentage is high (200% or higher) and stay away from any bonus money amounts larger than $/£ 200. There is also a rollover (amount of bingo tickets purchased) on the bonus before it is completed. Any more than 4x rollover on bingo is too much.

5) Free bingo can be offered either as a No Deposit bonus (trial bonus) that allows you to test out playing for real money; or the free bingo games will be offered in a special room. With Free bingo games, you will usually only receive one bingo card. Other options like Penny bingo rooms (1p) and Buy-One-Get-One-Free rooms will exist to allow lower risk players to have fun.

6) A lot of bingo rooms will offer side games for the bingo players to play between sessions. These games will usually include many slots and scratch card games. But, you will also see casino games like blackjack, roulette, video poker and baccarat at times. These games usually have different rules with the bingo bonuses. Sometimes, these games are not allowed to be played; other times, these games will have different rollovers between 15x and 30x usually.

Once you have decided which online bingo room you are going to play at, you are going to need to deposit money into your bingo account. Then, you will be ready to go. Be sure that you check out the player reviews at some of the top bingo review websites. These independent player reviews will give you a much better idea what to expect then the boring generic webmaster bingo reviews that ubiquitous on the internet.

Mecca Bingo

Most UK bingo sites will offer nearly the same environment. A large choice of bingo rooms including 90, 80 and 75 ball bingo as well as specialty themed bingo rooms. You will be able to find free bingo, BOGOF bingo and other inexpensive ways to play. You will also find large bingo jackpots and options for players with a larger budget. Mecca bingo has all of this and much more.

Mecca Bingo is a well known bingo hall in England. They also accept players from other European countries and elsewhere in the world. They are currently offering a 100% match-up bonus on your first deposit up to £50. You can also play free bingo in the Bingo Room for Newbies.

Are you looking for a chance to win a really large jackpot? You can at Mecca Bingo. They are part of the Bingo Linx which is a large bingo game that includes players from several different bingo sites combined.

There are also a lot of side games to choose from. Many of the slots offer jackpots between £100,000 and £3,000,000+ and there is also keno, scratchcards and casino games to play.

If you own a mobile, you can play bingo, slots or casinos games by downloading the Bingo app on your iPhone, iPad or Android phone. You can play in the same 90 ball bingo rooms as the online players from their computer. Now if you are on the run, you don’t have to miss out on your favourite bingo game.

Online Bingo

Hey bingo players in the United States. Would you like to get $10 for free to try out at Online Bingo? All you have to do is visit their site and register an account. Then, they will give you $10 for free to try out the bingo rooms. There is no code required, just sign up and receive $10 in your account.

You can use this free $10 to purchase bingo cards in one of the rooms at Online Bingo. There are a total of 4 bingo rooms to choose from. They are all American (75-ball) bingo rooms with different stakes. There is a Free Bingo room and also a 10¢ Dime room, 25¢ Quarter room and $1 High Roller Room to choose from.

If you would like to make a deposit or $25 or more, you will be credited with a 300% Welcome bonus up to $500. If you were to deposit $100, you would receive $300 in bonuses and start with $400 in your account. The bonus and deposit amount will need to be wagered at least 5 times on bingo cards before you can request a withdrawal. If you start with $400, you will need to purchase (400 x 5) or $2,000 in order to clear the bonus.

You can also use the bonus to play Slots, Video Poker, Keno, Table Games and Blackjack; however, the bonus rules are different for these games. There is a sliding scale of how much you have to wager based upon the bonus percentage. For a bonus above 200%, you will have to wager at least 60x on Slots, Video Poker and Keno and at least 90x on Table Games and Blackjack.

If you bust out on your first attempt, you can also receive a 2nd deposit bonus which is a 250% match up to $500. This bonus has the same rules as the Welcome Bonus.

The reason that all of the bingo sites offer bonuses to new players is to try to get some of the avid players to purchase tickets for their bingo rooms. They are trying to find the good players that they can turn into a VIP. As you would expect, the VIP at any gaming establishment would get preferential treatment over the ordinary players. Just like a casino, you will receive special comps, bonuses and promotions.

This is especially important when you realize that there are only a couple different online bingo software providers. The bingo sites can pretty up their homepages and bingo lobby; but they cannot really claim a unique experience.

This is why a lot of bingo players bounce from one site to another. They are either chasing the welcome bonuses at each site or the more common thing is that players who don’t win rarely make another deposit with the site. This is why the VIPs are so important to a bingo site.

What are VIP Programs?

One of the more popular promotions that can be found at a lot of the online bingo sites is a VIP program. The VIP program will offer the frequent depositors on the bingo site the chance to enjoy great deals or other specials that won’t be available to the other players. These players like to log into their online bingo account and see that there is something special for them to take advantage of. A VIP program will give players that meet certain criteria the chance to enjoy extra points, special or free bingo games, or other benefits that will keep them entertained and excited.

These VIP programs are important because they give those VIP players the chance to enjoy all of the online bingo games they want while working toward earning those prizes. You become a very important person in any betting establishment by continuing to play their games frequently and not be afraid to deposit money multiple times. Those are pretty much the only two considerations for become a VIP at a site.

It is very important for any player to know that they have made the right choice with regards to where they play. They need to know that they are going to be offered great things for showing their loyalty to the online bingo site they play on. Although the VIP players will wan tot be sure the online bingo site they have chosen offers a good VIP program, they will still want to be sure that they pay attention to the other bonuses and promotions that the online bingo site has to offer.

How being a VIP affects player bonuses

Online bingo sites will have their own rules and regulations that must be met before the players are allowed to clear bonuses, prizes or specials that they are trying for. This is why it is so important for players to locate all of the information on the different programs that they are interested in participating in and make sure that they understand what all will be expected of them in order for them to remain eligible for them and clear them.

The usual terms and conditions for a bonus are as follows:

You will have to purchase a certain amount of bingo tickets before you are allowed to cash out. This is called the rollover and usually is a certain number of multiples of the bonus amount. If you got a £50, you may be required to purchase at least £100 before you can make a withdrawal. Also, you are usually restricted to purchasing bingo tickets only. Side games usually won’t count towards the rollover.

If you are a VIP with an online bingo site, you probably will not have any restrictions for the bonuses that are offered to you. The reason the bingo site would trust their VIPs not to cash out the bonus money is they have earned the right to do so.

While players are looking around for those good VIP bingo programs they want to be sure they take notice to all of the other features an online bingo site offers. This way, they will be able to take advantage of a lot of different things right after they register for their account. For instance, some ukash bingo sites offer a bonus for using this method of deposit. Online bingo sites may offer players the ability to enjoy a lot of other types of side games such as slots and casino. Research will be very important to online bingo players, especially when it comes to the VIP programs that are out there.

In the world of online bingo, there have been a couple of new developments that take advantage of some of these new technologies. The first is mobile bingo which can be played on your smartphone. The second is webcam bingo, where the rooms have bingo players that use webcams to record their winning moment.

Mobile Bingo

Smartphones have to be one of the greatest inventions ever. The type of thing that movies from the 1950′s through 1980′s depicted things from this time. You mean I can have one devices that does just about everything?

There are so many apps being developed for both the iPhone and Android; it was only a matter of time before the online gaming community (bingo, sports betting, casino, poker sites) got the hint and started to develop software specifically designed for mobile devices.

It is only a matter of time before all of these betting sites have their own mobile app in the App Store or Android Market. Having the option to play bingo on your mobile means that you aren’t attached to your computer and can log in and play one jackpot while you are in a waiting room, riding the bus or have a little bit of time to kill.

The only thing that has been hindering mobile bingo apps is that the majority of smart phones are being sold to Americans and the US government has made betting on real money games on the internet illegal. However, there are still several UK bingo rooms that have developed iPhone and Android apps. There is also downloadable software for most other mobile devices.

Where can I play mobile bingo?

Currently, I like the design of the mobile app for Mecca Bingo.

Here are a couple of screenshots of the mobile bingo as played at Mecca Bingo. After you log in to your account, you will be able to choose which bingo rooms that you want to play. The ticket prices are listed as well as the jackpot value for the next game. These are the same games and jackpots that are offered at Mecca’s online bingo rooms.

It is very easy to see how you are doing on your tickets. Your bingo tickets will change color and automatically sort themselves as your come closer to winning a line. The numbers will be called and you will be able to see the last 5 numbers called. The chat feature is only a click away.

Here is a look at a 1-line winning bingo ticket that was won using the mobile bingo app.

Webcam Bingo

The other new feature that has appeared in some online bingo rooms is webcam bingo; and when it comes to playing webcam bingo, there is really only one place to play: bingocams.co.uk.

There are two ideas here that you can explore: having your winning bingo moment recorded and shown for all to see or using the webcam software to set up a video chat with your friends while playing online.

This first promotions is for all new bingo players. If you open an account with Wink and deposit £10, you will get an opportunity to “spin the wheel” for a chance to win a bonus between £15 all the way up to £1000 if you are lucky! The prizes on the wheel include £15, £25, £50, £100, £200 and £1000.

The winnings from this spin will automatically be credited to your Wink Bingo account. Once you have spun the wheel, the Spin the Wheel tab in the lobby will be removed. The wheel may take a couple of hours to activate once you have made a deposit.

Don’t forget that you can also get a 200% bonus on this first deposit as well. Deposit between £10 and £50 into your account and you will be credited with a bonus between £20 and £100!

You can also get a 50% reload bonus on any subsequent deposits between £10 and £100. There is also a “cashback for life” offer that is unique. You can receive a 10% refund on any money that you lost during the past week.

Bonus Conditions

In order to make a cash withdrawal request with these bonuses, you must complete a 2x wagering requirement. If you deposit £50, you will receive £100 bonus and you must wager (50+100) * 2 or £300 before you can cash out. This wagering must be done on bingo games only. Slot machine wagers or other instant games will not count towards the wagering requirement.

The bonus funds can not be cashed out directly. You can use these funds to purchase bingo tickets and the winnings from these tickets can be cashed out.

Winktastic Bingo Options

There are a couple of things that you can experience while playing bingo at Wink. The first is a chance to play Free Bingo! For the entire summer Wink is increasing free bingo play for all players to enjoy. You can play free bingo in the 75 Ball Birthday Suit room and the 90 Ball Free & Easy room. These free games take place on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays between 6pm – 8pm.

Are you too busy to play a normal bingo game during the day? Then give the speed bingo games a try. The max number of slots to daub is 4. You can play speed bingo daily between 6am and 8am in the 75 ball speed bingo room.

Finally, if you are tired of having little chance of winning a jackpot because others have bought tons of tickets, try the Fair & Square bingo game at Wink. This game is exactly how it sounds. Everyone has the same chance of winning because the min card purchase is the exact same as the max cards that you can purchase. You can play these games on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays in the Fair and Square bingo room between 6pm and 8pm.