Bingo, as we know it today, is nothing like the game from which it originated. It is believed that the game started in Italy in the 16th century, around 1530. Starting as a lottery game, it slowly moved to France where it was known as Le Lotto.

This is where the version first featured 27 squares, laid out in three rows and nine columns. With numbers from 1-90 randomly arranged in the boxes. In the 1920s, the game migrated to the USA where Hugh J. Ward use to take it around the country at fairs and carnivals. At that point, it was called ‘Beano’.

The story goes that an overly excited winner, instead of shouting Beano when she won, shouted ‘Bingo’ instead. And so the game of Bingo was born.

But in the story of bingo, the cleverest part was when Erwin S. Lowe actually patented the modern bingo card design in 1942. Its rise in popularity was seen across the whole of the UK in the 1960s with the launch of Mecca Bingo, led by Eric Morley. Seeing an opportunity, he had a large chain of dancehalls and introduced bingo into 60 of them.

By 2014 three million people were playing bingo in halls in the UK. But it was the introduction of online bingo that has seen the game’s popularity rocket in recent years.

HOW TO PLAY BINGO ONLINE

There are always going to be players who only want to go to a bingo hall. There’s an atmosphere and a social aspect that is hard to shake if you’ve been playing for years. These days though it’s more difficult as so many bingo halls have closed down.

An excellent alternative is bingo online and it’s very easy to play.

The first thing you need to do is find a bingo site or bookmaker with a bingo section and sign up. You will be asked to input personal details such as your name, address, email etc… From there your account will be created and the next thing you need to do is add your debit card details.

Like any form of online purchase, you will be adding real money to your online bingo account. You need that money to buy your bingo tickets and play games.

Now that you have your online bingo account and the money to play, you can go to the bingo lobby. This is where you will find a list of all the upcoming games, along with the style of bingo, how much the tickets cost, what the prizes are worth, and how soon the game begins.

Pick a game, and a box pops up so you can buy tickets. Choose how many tickets you want, confirm the purchase and sit back. There is a countdown clock and then the game begins. Everything is automated so you don’t need to manually daub the numbers as they are called.

As you get closer to winning a line you will know if you have 3tg, 2tg, or even 1tg. If you win, your name flashes up on the screen and the prize money is automatically added to your account. If you don’t win you’ll get nothing and the game continues for two lines.

And that’s it. Find a bingo site, open an account, add money, pick a game and play. Couldn’t be easier.

HOW TO WIN AT ONLINE BINGO

We all know that bingo is a game of luck. You cannot possibly predict the card you will get or the order that the numbers will get called.

However, there are a couple of tips that should help you win more often at bingo online.

Multiple Bingo Cards. This may seem obvious, but your chances of winning increase with the number of cards you buy. If every player buys one card, they all have the same chance of winning. But if everybody buys one card and you buy ten, then you have better odds of a win.

The problem is that lots of players will do this and there is a maximum number of cards you can purchase for any given game.

Fewer People Online. The more people that are playing online in a single game, the less chance you have of winning. This is a double-edged sword, however.

Most bingo prizes are based on the number of tickets sold. The more tickets, the bigger the prize. The fewer players, the lower the prize. So if you choose games with fewer players, the prizes will be lower. But if you’re happy to take the smaller wins then this is a good option.

Your Choice Of Bingo Site. There are some incredible bingo sites available in the UK. Some only offer bingo and have become specialists at giving customers an excellent playing experience. That also means they have hundreds of thousands of registered players. Competition is fierce.

If you signup with a bookmaker that has a bingo section, but it isn’t the main focus of the site, you are likely to come up against fewer players.

WHAT IS THE BEST ONLINE BINGO SITE TO USE?

This is very subjection and by that I mean, it completely depends on what you want to get from playing bingo. If you’re on a tight budget you want to play where the bingo is fun but cheap. Look for sites that offer a lot of penny bingo and have tonnes of 2 For 1 promotion on tickets.

If it’s the variation of games you’re after then you will want specialist sites such as Jackpot Joy, Tombola, or Mecca Bingo. They offer the biggest range of games that include 90 ball, 80 ball, 75 ball, speed bingo, and themed games. Some even offer exclusive and unique games that are a little twist on bingo and are great fun to play.

You may also want to play somewhere that rewards great Customer loyalty. Here you will have free daily games (Jackpot Joy), weekly promotions, prize draws, bonus games, and lots more.

Or, failing all of those reasons to pick a bingo site, you may want somewhere that offers multiple gaming sections. So if you’re not playing bingo you may want to play slots, or have a bet on the sports. In this case, you’re better off going with a bookmaker like Paddy Power who offers a huge range of playing options.

HOW TO PLAY ONLINE BINGO FOR FREE

This is an incredible popular question amoung online bingo fans. Just how do you play online bingo for free? There are a few ways. Firstly when you sign up with most online bingo sites in the UK, you can take advantage of their welcome offer. This often includes a cash match on your first deposit or many will give you far more than you deposit.

For example, some offer ‘Desposit and play £5, Get £25’. This basically means if you sign up, desposit at least £5 and play it on bingo, the site will then credit your account with £25. You can then use that money to play even more bingo games. As it’s not your own money could it be considered free?

You can check out the best online bingo offers above, but you can also do some additional research. Taking some time to look at all your online bingo site options is worth it. You may even stumble across even more great offers that you can take advantage of.

The second way to play free bingo in the UK is to look at the schedules of the various bingo sites. Many will offer specific times and online bingo rooms where the bingo is free. And while it may not cost you anything, the times are limited and the prize pots are much smaller than normal.

The reason is because with most bingo games, a chunk of the ticket price is added to the prize pool. So the more tickets that are sold, the higher the jackpots get, and the more money you can win.

When the bingo site is putting up the money, the prizes for 1 line, 2 lines and a full house are fixed. You also have to remember that free bingo sessions are incredibly popular so you may get more people playing, which in turn may reduce your chances of winning.

A good alternative is to look for very cheap online bingo. Almost every bingo site has Penny Bingo so your tickets will only cost 1p. If you just want to play for fun, you don’t need to buy a lot of tickets, so it’s a good and inexpensive way to have a good time at very little cost to you.