By Nickie Shute
Did you know that there are now over 250 online bingo sites to choose from?
The online bingo industry is definitely one that has seen a huge growth over the last 12 months and you have to ask yourself what is the reason behind this. Is it anything to do with the smoking ban coming into force or is it simply that online bingo has more to offer from the comfort of your own home?
Or maybe, the phenomenal growth of the online bingo industry could be attributed to the change in the advertising of online gaming laws meaning that more and more bingo sites are choosing television for their marketing campaigns. Many online bingo sites are choosing this media for advertising with the likes of Foxy Bingo, Tombola Bingo and Wink Bingo all advertising heavily in the commercial breaks.
Some online bingo sites have even taken to sponsoring television programmes with Foxy Bingo opting for the Jeremy Kyle show whose main viewing audience meets the demographic of the online bingo game. Others have chosen to target the more popular viewing audiences of Saturday night television with Wink Bingo sponsoring Celebrity Family Fortunes.
So how has the online bingo industry thrived whilst we are continually reading in the news about many land based bingo halls closing their doors? What makes a bingo player want to stay at home rather than venture out of their front doors to play at a bingo hall?
It could be the smoking ban as reportedly most bingo players are smokers but it is more likely a combination of many things. Land based bingo has always been a very social activity but has always held the stigma of the blue rinse brigade and bingo wings where as online bingo has always targeted a slightly younger audience. To play online bingo you don’t have to travel or brave any kind of weather you can simply boot up your computer and start playing instantly. The social aspect of bingo can also be found in the chat rooms of online bingo with many sites focusing on the community aspect and social side of things in their bingo chat rooms.
Online bingo also offers a sense of anonymity; you can be whoever you want to be in an online bingo chat room so long as you follow the chat etiquette. At land based bingo if you talk too loudly when a bingo game is in play you are likely to be thrown more than a few evil stares where as during a game of online bingo you can chat away to your hearts content. If you have ever played at a land based bingo hall then you may have been subjected to the Mavis and Doris mentality (no offence to people called by these names). The bingo halls tend to be frequented by the slightly older generation who arrive in their droves with their lucky mascots and closest friends for a session of bingo – Mavis and Doris will sit together and the table will be adorned with bingo dabbers, lucky mascots and the obligatory pile of pound coins for the cash line games in the interval. Silence falls around the bingo hall as the game starts and you could hear a pin drop under the faint sound of dabbers splodging bingo tickets and then all of a sudden you hear a yell “HOUSE” followed by a very faint murmur of “tuts” around the bingo hall as all the people waiting on one number curse the winner. In an online bingo game however when house has been called the chat room comes alive with WTG (way to go) congratulations from all the other players in the room.
Prize money on offer at land based bingo is slightly more substantial with the National Bingo game sometimes offering a prize of £100,000 but in order to win that sum of money you will be playing against thousand of other bingo players across the country. The growth of the online bingo industry has meant that many bingo sites are in a position now to offer greater prizes than in previous times. One of the most popular types of games are those offering guaranteed jackpot games; the most impressive of which is offered by Foxy Bingo at the end of each month for £25,000. Comparatively speaking the odds are higher to win this online bingo jackpot than to the one offered by the National Bingo games because you are playing against hundreds of players rather than thousands.
Overall it looks as through the online bingo industry will continue to thrive for some time to come. Which do you prefer? A trip to the bingo hall or a seat at your PC?
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