It’s Official: Online Bingo is the Hype!

Well, it’s not like we needed an official confirmation that online bingo is in but we can’t just ignore the latest report from the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) which indicates that gross gambling yield from remote betting, bingo and casino sources remains steady while the national market of land-based facilities is experiencing a decline. Figures show that remote gambling is faring rather well while the number of betting shops has fallen by almost 2% and the total number of arcades has also dropped by a whopping 11.1%. In light of this report, we decided to go back and have a look at when online bingo originated and why it has been gaining more and more popularity over the last years.

Long gone are the days when playing bingo was associated with blue rinses floating amid clouds of smoke in dim halls. Now, thanks to new technology developments, it is back with a bang! Once the numbers were drawn from barrels, then electronic generating systems were introduced in the 1980s and 1990s and today, handheld tablets are making the game appealing to all generations, not just the oldies who had become the epitome of the game. But they seem to be enjoying this, too.

Bingo has come a long way since its humble beginnings in small Italian streets back in the Middle Ages when people marked their numbers with corn seeds. Steadily gaining popularity during the Second World War when the armed forces played it under the name of Tombola, the game experienced a real revival in post-war UK when the picture theatres who were losing money took it in as a profitable alternative to films. And four decades later, in the dawn of the Internet, the first online game was a fact. It was called “Bingo Zone”, launched in 1996 and followed by “Bingo Blitz” in 1998. From there, it has only been up. It has become a very popular leisure activity in the UK, gathering more than 3 million players each day. Some 700,000 of these are aged between 18 and 24, and there has also been a big increase in the number of under 45s playing the game.

The latest data shows that the market share of the online betting, bingo and casino sector is 29%. Not bad. But it’s not just about the money – online gaming is preferred by people mostly for the fact that they can have fun and make new friends from the comfort of their own home. A reported 47% of the players say they have been able to form a new circle of friends thanks to the chat functionality of online bingo. And almost 50% of online players admit that it has become a part of their daily routine and they play at least one game every day. Whatever reasons you have to play online, make sure you stop by our site to read the most detailed reviews about game operators, as well as all the latest hot promos, and the most interesting news in the world of online bingo.