In the myriad of different online casino games, online bingo certainly doesn’t belong to the group of the most popular ones. However, bingo games, in their various iterations have been around for a while and they certainly have their place in the world of online gambling as well.
The online bingo may appeal to a relatively narrow audience, but this audience makes for a devoted and solid customer base with which casinos and bingo rooms can count. Lacking some of the excitement provided by the games like slots or roulette, online bingo bases its appeal on different, more socially oriented elements. Real bingo players take part in the game for the social experience at least as much as for the money. You will hardly find another casino game that involves so much chatting and familiarizing between the players!
Rules
Read all the Bingo Rules
Strategies and Systems
Read all about Bingo Strategy
Tips & Tricks
Read all the best Bingo Tips
Bingo Terms
Read all the Bingo Terms
Casino Comparison
for Online Slots
Since online casino bingo doesn’t enjoy the popularity of some of the other games, many operators don’t bother with making the game available. Finding a good bingo room can be a bit of a task, especially if you are looking for one that offers good bonuses, decent game selection, and nice prize pools.
We took the time (so you wouldn’t have to) and handpicked some of the best online casinos offering bingo for real money. These casinos satisfy different important criteria that bingo players could be interested in, like those mentioned in the previous paragraph.
Play Bingo Online
Transition of the Traditional Game
For a long time, bingo has been played in land-based bingo halls, gathering local players who would come to socialize, have fun, and, possibly win some money. While winning prizes was, of course, always important, it was just one segment for those who came to play.
Originally invented in 1920’s, bingo developed from an Italian game that existed as early as the 16th century. From there, in various iterations, the game spread throughout Europe, including France and Germany. Its popularity skyrocketed during the early 20th century in the United States. It was the man called Hugh J. Ward who created the game of modern-day bingo and standardized the rules in a book published during 1930’s.
Bingo in the Online Arena
Big online casinos have a lot of resources and a lot of manpower at their disposal and they love nothing more than to put those resources to good use, creating new offers for their customers. Online bingo for real money was thus introduced as an attempt to attract players who already enjoyed playing the game in the real-world setting.
To attract new customers, operators offered many incentives in form of bonuses and free bingo money. With some time and effort, the game finally picked up some speed, attracting a solid player base and carrying over some of the social elements to the online casino bingo games.
Today, many major casino operators offer online bingo for real money to their customers. While it may not be as popular as some other games out there, the game of bingo certainly has its following and there is no reason for casinos to disregard this part of their customer base even if it is not huge.
Bingo for Real Money: All Things Explained
Bingo is not one of those games that you just keep running into every day – at least not for most people who make the core customer base of online casinos. That’s why many players are not quite familiar with the rules of the game, applicable strategies, and other important details. The good news is, learning pretty much everything you need to know about bingo online is simple and will not take up a lot of your time. In a matter of minutes, most players will be ready to pick a room and get involved in a social or a game of bingo for real money.
Bingo Rules
It’s as Simple as 1, 2, 3…
If you were to look at a hall full of people who play bingo, it might seem as if they weren’t doing anything special. However, all of them are focusing on their cards, listening to numbers being drawn, and making sure not to miss a call. Why? Because once you miss the number, it is gone, and missing just one could cost you the main prize.
That’s in short what bingo is all about. Tracking the numbers on your card as they are being called out and trying to fill up your card or the game pattern before anybody else. In the world of online casino bingo, players are not required to manually keep track of the numbers and even if they miss a few, the system will notify them if they win. This does take a skill element out of the game to a great degree since experienced bingo players will not be able to use their years of experience over newcomers.
Today, there are three different types of bingo online games:
- 75 Ball Bingo: the most common variation of the game. Bingo cards are 5×5, with 24 numbers and one empty space in the middle. The winner is the first player to fill up a randomly selected pattern.
- 80 Ball Bingo: only available when you play online bingo. The game is played using cards known as Shutter Boards, containing four columns with four rows in each column.
- 90 Ball Bingo: played using cards with nine columns and three rows. Bingo cards for this variation are sold in batches of six, with several predetermined winning patterns.
To find out more about different bingo variations, possible patterns, and prizes you can expect to win when you play bingo for real money, check out our dedicated bingo rules section.
Bingo Strategy
Can You Increase Your Chances?
Like most gambling games, with exceptions of a few games, bingo is mostly ruled by chance. This leads most people to believe that player’s decisions are pretty much irrelevant and cannot influence the final outcome. This is a rather shallow approach to bingo online and it is, in fact, inaccurate. While it is true that there isn’t a whole lot a player can do to increase his winning odds, a combination of different bingo strategies can influence the results over a long period quite significantly.
One strategy can be very effective when you play bingo online and that’s the strategy we like to call play as many cards. As we’ve mentioned, daubing (marking winning numbers) in online bingo is done automatically. What this means is that regardless of how many bingo cards you buy, you will never miss a winning combination. Even if you never daub a number, once you hit that winning combination, the software will stop the game and notify you about it.
Since you are allowed to buy as many cards as you like for a round of bingo, purchasing more cards then your competition can give you a significant edge. This is particularly true if you play bingo for real money and participate in games with extra prize money added to the overall fund.
The added money makes it feasible to buy more cards and spend more money to try and win. You can even calculate the exact percentages if you have the information about how many cards a player buys on average. By doing some math and investing some more money when circumstances allow for it, you can actually influence your winning odds quite significantly.
- Buy more cards then the competition.
- Try to figure out how many cards are worth buying when looking at the numbers like an average of number of cards per player and the prize money.
- This strategy works best in games with money added to the prize pool.
Another very useful strategy is bingo bonus hunting. Taking advantage of free money offers is generally good idea when speaking about casino games strategies and bingo is no exception to this rule. When you play bingo online, having a good bankroll is one of the most important things, and these bonuses will often boost your roll by as much as 500% or even more.
These generous bonuses are used to attract new players and you should never be ashamed or afraid of taking advantage of favorable casino offers. After all, they are there for the taking and by not using them you are only hurting your own bottom line. When trying to find the best bingo bonuses, there are a few things to look for:
- The bonus amount, i.e. deposit £10, play with £50
- Playthrough requirements: how many times does bonus have to be wagered before it is released?
- Can bonus be withdrawn or is the amount removed from your account when you request a withdrawal?
Ideally, you want a bonus that offers a good amount but doesn’t have too high playthrough requirements and is not very restrictive. Visit our casino bonus comparison to see the selection of the best currently available bonuses and take your pick.
Online Bingo Tips & Tricks
More Bingo Advice
When you play online bingo, there are two most important things that need to be considered: profitability and fun. While the first one is important, there are other gambling games out there which are much more exciting in that regard. Hence, it is paramount that you also have fun while playing.
One thing you can do to definitely increase the entertainment level when you play bingo is choosing to daub manually. Although online sites will always make sure that you get paid when you have the winning combination on your card, daubing manually will make you feel much more involved in the game and it will allow you to truly experience playing. Without doing this, the game of bingo can seem too detached and unappealing as you just watch random numbers come out on the screen and, if you happen to win, you will receive a notification. What’s fun in that?
Having fun is great, but you don’t want to have too much fun. It is not uncommon for players to play bingo for real money for hours, which can interfere with other important things in your life. Limiting your play is thus crucial to ensuring your overall playing experience is positive and pleasant. It is all too easy to get carried away and lose the concept of time while playing. If this happens to you often, it is a good practice to set the time limits ahead of time and just quit playing once you reach these limits.
You can play bingo for real money with numerous online operators. Thus, you shouldn’t be limiting your experience to just one of them. Explore around and check out different bingo rooms, either depositing your own money or taking advantage of their no deposit offers. Doing this, always try to stay on the safe side and only play with trustworthy operators. If you need some good suggestions, check out our online casino comparison section.
As mentioned, socializing is one of the key parts of online bingo. When playing on a smaller bingo room, you will probably notice a lot of chatter going on and people talking like they know each other. That’s because they do, in a way. Very often, the same group of people joins the games around the same time and they like to pass the time between the numbers talking about any number of topics. Don’t be afraid to get involved. Jump into a conversation and two and see what happens. Usually, if you are respectful, other players will welcome you as a part of the group and you might make some new friends.
So, to summarize:
- Online bingo is as much about having fun as it is about winning money.
- Manually daubing your numbers will help you enjoy the game much more.
- Make sure to limit the time you spend playing so it doesn’t interfere with your other obligations.
- Join the conversations and try to make some friends while playing. It will make online bingo infinitely more fun.
Tip 1: Hunt for empty rooms
Less people means less competition
Our first tip might not seem obvious at first, but when you really think about it, it’s been staring you in the face all this time. Bingo is a race… the less people competing, the more likely you are to win. That’s why by hunting down the rooms that aren’t as popular you’ll stand a better chance of cashing in.
Want to know more about how to find the best rooms? Check our our dedicated guide.
Tip 2: Find the best bonuses
Become a pro bonus hunter
Bingo bonuses can be a little trickier to find than regular casino bonuses and that’s why we’ve conjured up a detailed bingo bonus hunting guide.
In our dedicated guide we’ll cover:
- How to find the best bingo bonuses on the web
- How to recognise a good bonus
- Knowing the difference between no deposit and deposit offers
So, if you’re looking for more information on the best bingo bonuses, or just want to know more about what a good bonus is, read our guide!
Tip 3: Manage your money
It’s a lot more important than you hink
If you’re not so sure why managing your funds is important then you’re missing something quite big. Keeping control of your funds is paramount to ensuring you can stay in the game – because after all, we play for the fun… and when the fun lasts longer everybody wins.
We’ve covered proper money management in our bingo bankroll management guide. Make sure you check it out!
Tip 4: Play as many cards as you can
You’ve got to be in it to win it
You’ve probably heard of the saying ‘you’ve got to buy a ticket to win the raffle.’ Well, guess what, the more tickets you have, the more chance you have of winning the raffle – and that’s how bingo works. Think about it this way… there are 100 cards on offer. If you purchase 50 of them and everyone else only buys 10, then your chances of winning are 50% while everybody else has a 10% chance. It’s that simple.
Of course, we’ve delved deep into this strategy in our dedicated guide. Check it out!
Bingo Glossary
Familiarize Yourself with Common Terms
Online bingo is very special in that it has many game specific terms and expressions that people outside of the game may have hard time understanding. That’s why familiarizing yourself with the game glossary is almost necessary to fully enjoy it.
We have provided a very extensive list of some very common and some not so common expressions used in bingo halls, virtual and real ones alike. Checking out and memorizing some of these terms will help you understand the game-flow better but also understand what those people in the chat are talking about.
You will often hear terms like bonanza bingo, dauber, or money ball. Unless you know what these means, you will have hard time following the stream of a conversation, so take some time before sitting down to play and at least skim through some bingo terms.
Conclusion
Online Bingo is Primarily About Fun
As you could probably figure out from this online bingo review, this game is primarily about relaxing and having fun. There are very few instances when online bingo is played for really significant amounts of money. Unlike in some other casino games, the focus here is on having a great time and getting to know your fellow players.
With that in mind, it must be said that bingo is still way more fun if you are also winning along the way. To help you reach that goal, we’ve come up with several detailed strategy guides as well as tips & tricks page: you will not find this amount of online bingo information anywhere else on the web.
The bottom line is: playing bingo online can be a lot of fun and, for some players who take the game seriously, it can also be a profitable endeavor. You just need to understand that winning bingo strategies often overlap and you will need to combine a few of them to really improve your odds. But, even when you are not winning, you will still walk away a winner as long as you had a great time playing!