If you have ever been to a Bingo Hall, or played Bingo as part of
a charity fundraising event, or maybe at a party, then online Bingo
is basically the same game, it’s just you are most likely playing
sat at home. So you can be in your PJs, feeding the baby, or cooking
supper, or all three and at any time of the day or night!
The basics of the game are that you get, or buy, a randomly allocated
Bingo card, which has grids with numbers on. Some balls with numbers
on are randomly selected and you check your card to see if you have
that number, and tick it off on the card. You’ll win a prize if
you are the first to tick off all the numbers on your card, and
it’s called a BINGO. That’s the basic game, which can then be jazzed
up to offer prizes for certain numbers, or a pattern on the card,
or first person to complete a card in a set number of balls etc.
To increase your chances of winning you buy more cards (but this
will cost you more). When you play face-to-face Bingo in a hall,
you have to check your card, and make sure you tick off the numbers
(hence the caller shouting “Eyes Down”). When you play on-line,
your card is automatically checked for you, so you do not have to
be quite as alert, or even paying any attention. Typically a Bingo
card is very reasonably priced, at 10c to $1. Big prize jackpot
games will have more expensive cards, or a minimum purchase value
of $5.
To play on-line Bingo you have to register on the game site.
It’s the same in a Bingo Hall, or Casino, the site needs to know
who you are. If you are playing for money then you open an account
with the Bingo site and pay money
into that account to play. Any winnings are credited to this
account for you to withdraw or use to play again. Before you commit
to spending any money, many sites let you play for free, but you
still need to register your details. As a new player, a site may
offer you some free points, which you convert to cash to start
playing (typically $1 or $2). When you join a game you will not
be alone, there will be lots of other people also registered at
that site who are playing, and most offer a chat room facility
for you to ‘meet’ your fellow players. You may find you chat a
lot more at an online Bingo site than in a traditional hall where
it’s not always so easy to talk to strangers.
Once you are online you will find there are sites dedicated to
Bingo, and other sites that offer all sorts of gaming from roulette
through to Mahjong. Five years ago you could count the number
of Bingo sites on two hands, now there are
thousands worldwide, in line with other forms of gaming. As a
woman aged 30-50 years you’ll find that you are the main type
of player, but men do play, as do other age groups.
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