It might be hard to believe, but the humble game of bingo is hundreds of years old. It probably first originated in Italy back in the 16th century when it was called Il Giuoco Del Lotto D’Italia – rough translation “The Italian game of lotto”.
The game that we play today was a variation devised in the 1930s by an American salesman and entrepreneur called Edwin Lowe who had seen a version called Beano being played at many of the state fairs he visited on business.
Realising that Bingo would be a better name for the game he then got together with a printing company capable of producing cards with randomised numbers on them – and the rest is history.
From its heyday in the 1950s and 60s the game fell out of fashion for a while. But the arrival of online bingo saw a huge resurgence in interest in the game
With so many new players coming to the game there’s a huge demand for tips for beginners like where to play and when you may have the best chance of winning. Hopefully, what follows will provide some answers to these questions.
Choosing your game
The first question many people ask is how to choose which game to play. The answer to this is both quite simple, and quite complicated. The explosion of online bingo in popularity has meant that there are many different variations to choose from. You can play either the traditional 75 ball or 90 ball game.
Or you can go for one of the more recent versions like slingo. This is a fun crossover between a slots game and bingo with the numbers being delivered by spinning wheels. Slingo also has other fun features including bonus rounds and free spins. So if you want bingo with some extra bells and whistles this could be the game for you.
When to play
One of the great beauties of online bingo is that it’s there for you to play 24 hours a day, seven days a week, whenever the mood takes you.
Most people choose to play whenever there’s a little downtime in their day as they enjoy a coffee and a relax. But if you’re more the sort of player who is looking to win then it can be a good idea to play at the times of day when there are fewer people online. This, in theory, will give you a greater chance of winning. That said, all online bingo games use something called a random number generator so chances of winning really are random, whether there are twenty players or two hundred.
There are some who believe that strategies can also be brought into play to tip the odds in your favour. But, unfortunately, the genuine randomness of the way numbers are chosen means that this is not really effective at all.
Play multiple cards at the same time
In a traditional bingo hall with the caller announcing numbers as well as a general hubbub all around it was always hard to concentrate than more than a couple of bingo cards at the same time.
This meant that numbers could easily be missed, leading to missing out on prizes. Luckily, this isn’t an issue with the online game. That’s because it’s easy to play several cards at the same time and rely on the auto dabber to mark off the numbers for you.
That way you’ll always know if you’ve got a winning line or card. If you are going to go for a multiple-card game most online bingo sites also have games with low stakes which are going to make your money go further.
It might not be quite as involving as you sit back and watch the number being automatically ticked off, but it still makes for quite an exciting experience.
Join the community
Bingo has always been as much of a social game as it’s been a gambling one. The halls of old were great places to meet up with friends for a good night out. This sense of community also exists in the online bingo world in the form of chat rooms. These can be kept anonymous by using your own unique “bingo name” and they’re a great place to socialise virtually as well as to congratulate winners on their good fortune.
So hopefully these few tips will set you up and get you ready to play online bingo. The more you play, the more you’ll get to know all of the game’s many ins and outs as well as discovering the versions you like the best.
So eyes down and get ready to start dabbing.
