Bingo started out in Italy. It was originally a lottery game but developed in to the modern game in Europe during the 15th century. It was heavily modified by the French and after that subsequently by the Germans before it became the game most of us now know and love.
Despite being invented in the 15th century it was not extremely popular until the 19th century. During this time it spread globally and had a meteoric rise in the United States of America. It was played both for entertainment and used as a tool to raise funds for various charitable organisations.
After the 19th century bingo became quite stagnant. It saw a rise throughout the world in the 1970s and 1980s but it developed a bad image as being a game that only older people played.
Fast forward to the new millennium and online bingo has been introduced. The on-line bingo game plays exactly the same as the land based bingo game. The only difference is that the numbers appear on your screen instead of having to be crossed out from your bingo card by hand.
The online bingo game has a unique community atmosphere. The bingo rooms are exciting places where everyone communicates and chats with each other. Everyone celebrates the winners and people begin to get excited when someone has a couple of numbers left before they get a full house.
The real life bingo cages are replaced with a random number generator program that pulls out numbers randomly. As opposed to a real life person calling out the number, the number flashes up on your screen and is crossed of your bingo card.
There are various ways to win at online bingo, the exact same as real life bingo. If you get 5 boxes in a row, in a column or across diagonally you win a prize. Determined by the stakes you play for, i.e. are you playing for 1p per ticket or 50p per ticket, you win a prize corresponding to the stakes. The larger stakes you play the bigger prize you can win.
Unlike real life bingo you don’t have to be alert and cross off your number quickly. The number flashes up on your screen and is crossed off automatically.
So that you can get the most out of the game it is important that you learn the many jargon and terminology. You will find various names that players use as a representation for each bingo number. Additionally, there are various short hand chat phrases that players use to communicate within the chat box. Usually the bingo sites provide players with a glossary of commonly used terms so that you can learn them and understand what is going on in the chat box.
Players looking to transition in to the world of online bingo should look out for several bonuses, trusted lotto dealers offers and promotions. At different times of the year each site runs various bonuses and promotions. These special deals give players an extra incentive to play and raise the chances that you win some money. Some sites offer free bingo for real money without needing to deposit. We strongly suggest you take advantage of these deals if you’re new to bingo. They enable you to play bingo for real money and don’t require you to deposit to play.