Bingo is a game that has been popular with the older generation for many years. Many of our grandparents may still frequent the bingo halls that are making a come back up and down the country. With the increase in leisure time that we are all seemingly enjoying bingo has been one of the largest growth industries within the leisure business over the past few years with many of the large bingo companies investing very heavily in modernizing their bingo halls and facilities to try to lure in a new wave of bingo players.
Bingo’s attraction is its simplicity, you buy a card of random numbers and a caller shouts out the numbers that are selected at random by a computer. You then mark these numbers off of your card, attempting to win the game by marking off all of the numbers on your card before anyone else. If you are the first to do so then you will win the first prize which is usually a cash prize.
There are different variations on standard “full house” bingo where you may be the winner if you mark off all of the numbers that appear in the corner of your card, some games involve just achieving a full line of your card. The variations on the games are endless, most bingo company’s offer differing variations on the bingo theme.
But bingo is not just a game to be enjoyed in a bingo hall; one of the biggest aspects of online gaming is online bingo. The game is played in exactly the same way but from the comfort of your own home where you play against people from all over the world for cash prizes.
If you are unfamiliar with how to play bingo playing online is a great place to learn as you can join one of the play money games and learn the rules and get to a level where you feel confident enough to play for real money. If you would rather not play for money and just stick with the play money games then you can do so, it is all pretty relaxed really.
If you want to play bingo with your family you can simply download one of many printable bingo card sets from the internet. There are software packages available that enable you to theme your bingo cards to a theme, perhaps a birthday or family occasion. Whatever the occasion bingo makes great entertainment for the whole family and will provide hours of fun for all.
By: Harwood E Woodpecker
Bingo jackpots have definitely increased throughout the years. Bingo started its humble beginnings in carnivals and county fairs, soon after spreading through churches as fund raising events. In these early days, jackpots could be as small as 2-5 dollars. Some churches even offered for players to donate their winnings back to the church for a tax free donation. As popularity grew, so did the number of clubs and the size of the winnings. Over time jackpots grew and could be from the hundreds to thousands of dollars. In today’s age, bingo is now being offered online for players from all over the world. Jackpots can now go up into the millions.
Most clubs offer jackpots based upon the number of cards purchased. Therefore,, the more players, the higher the winnings. Online gaming sites can often have many players since people can play from anywhere in the world and all be in the same place at once. At the same time, local clubs now offer casino style bingo halls that sometimes have thousands of visitors a night. Two of the biggest jackpots ever won were received in the spring of 2008. One was won online and the other in a local bingo hall. This shows either way you play, you can be a big winner.
There are a lot of bingo clubs that now offer higher stakes due to the variety of games available. When playing online players can choose 90, 80, or75 ball games that aren’t usually offered locally. These games offer more ways to bingo off of the same card. Clubs are also now offering progressive pots, where the stakes go up with each game played until someone wins it all. While others are offering special session bingo, where a continuous game is played over a span of nights or weeks, with on final winner in the end. These new variations of the age old game can require more commitment and purchase of cards, but can pay off in the end if you are the one to yell bingo.
Many online bingo sites are also offering bonus winning just for playing. For example if you play a set number of games or spend a set amount of money, they give you a bonus just for playing. These bonuses can be as small as two to five dollars, but you can buy the next card on the house to try again.
By: Bennie Jeans
