Online Bingo Tutorial
Bingo is growing into one of the largest international forms of online entertainment, and it offers the opportunity to win some fantastic prizes as well! While the industry is still relatively young, online bingo companies are offering some tremendous sign-up and ongoing bonuses. Many online bingo rooms have excellent loyalty schemes to encourage you to remain on their site once you have signed up, and offer substantial prizes if you are fortunate and win one of their jackpot games.
Online bingo however, is a much different game than you may have played at the end of a pier in a seaside town whilst on holiday. Gone are the “Two Fat Ladies”, “Maggies Den” and “Sunset Strip” of yesteryear, to be replaced by incredible computer graphics, a contagious build up to every game you play and an altogether excellent (and low risk!) bingo experience – all from the comfort of your own home.
Bingo players are getting younger as well. Almost a quarter of all online bingo players are aged under 35 – and it is the new generation of bingo players who are driving the popularity of online bingo to new heights. If you have never experienced bingo in an online environment before, we are pretty certain that you will not be disappointed, but before you start, it is a good idea to familiarise yourself with how the game is played.
Getting Started
Most online bingo rooms have a simple sign-up procedure followed by a secure and convenient way in which to deposit funds into your account. Most of the online bingo rooms recommended on this site have a “live chat” facility, so if you experience any problems with registering an account, click on the appropriate button and a friendly customer services representative will come on line to guide you through anything you are stuck on.
To make sure you play where it’s both safe and fun, pick one of the bingo sites below. Any of these is a good pick, but please read the reviews if you need more facts before making up your mind.
The Best Online Bingo Sites
Playing Bingo Online
Once you have created an account and entered the first page of the bingo web, this is known as the lobby. From here you can go into a “room” which offers whichever type of bingo you prefer at whatever level of stake you wish to play for. Nearly all the sites we feature have bingo games starting at a penny a card and some even offer free games at certain times of the day, or if you have collected enough “bingo bonuses”.
Buying Your Cards
Buying your cards could not be easier. A mini-screen will pop up in front of you asking how many cards you wish to play in the next game. Although traditionally, in “brick and mortar” bingo halls, buying a strip of six cards (when playing 90 ball bingo) would ensure that you have every number that is going to be called, that is not necessarily true in online bingo. You do however have the opportunity to select your cards, so if you lose you have nobody to blame but yourself!
Playing the Game
Once a game starts, the numbers are displayed at the top of the screen and your card is “dabbed” automatically to keep you up to date with how close you are getting to a winning line or full house. If you are playing multiple cards, the one(s) which is doing best of all and closest to a bingo will move to the top of the pile to show you what numbers to look out for. As the tension mounts, other players will announce in the “chat box” what numbers they are waiting for (some sites show this automatically on screen) and you are invited, although it is not obligatory, to do the same.
Collecting Your Winnings
Winnings are automatically credited to your account, so there is no need for you to do anything else other than find which game you would next like to play and carry on enjoying your bingo. If you win a major prize, you might want to withdraw your winnings so you can rush out and spend them. Withdrawing is as easy as depositing and, again, if you get stuck somebody from customer services will be available on live chat to give you a hand.
Enjoy Your Game!
(but before you do, you might just want to familiarise yourself with some of the terms you may encounter whilst playing)
General Bingo Glossary
75 Ball Bingo – A bingo variation played with 75 balls. Most common in the United States, the games are played with cards that have a 5×5 grid. If you have played bingo in an arcade by the sea, this would be the version you are most familiar with. Prizes vary according to the game you are playing (sometimes the rules change with each new game), but often there are five separate prizes that can be one with each game.
80 Ball Bingo – 80 Ball Bingo is little different than 75 Ball Bingo, except played on a 4×4 grid and with five more numbers. Prizes are usually awarded for vertical, horizontal or diagonal lines, but some rooms will also offer the option of winning a prize by getting the numbers which appear in the four corners before continuing the game to its “Full House” conclusion.
90 Ball Bingo – 90 Ball Bingo is known as “UK style” bingo and is the most common type of bingo played in the UK. Games are played on cards which have 3 rows of 9 squares – each row having 5 numbers. Prizes are usually awarded for one line, two lines and a “Full House” (covering all 15 numbers), but watch out for some turbo bingo rooms in which the winner takes all with just one complete line
Bingo Board – The bingo board is the area of the screen where the drawn numbers are displayed. Although the action happens quite quickly and it is unusual that you will have the time to keep referring to it (especially if you are playing multiple cards), a quick glance may tell you that the board is top heavy with low or high numbers – especially useful if you are just waiting for one ball for bingo!
Blackout – A bingo game where the aim is to cover all of the squares on your card. Another term for “Full House” and most commonly used in 75 and 80 Ball Bingo.
BOGOF – Buy One Get One Free
Card – The ticket or card used to play bingo. Each card has different numbers on it and there is usually an upper and lower limit for the number of cards you can purchase for each game.
Chat Master | CM – The person in charge of the chat section of the online bingo site.
Chat Room – This is the area of the online bingo room in which you can interact with the chat master and other players. Usually in a side panel alongside the bingo game, additional bonuses and promotions are often awarded in chat rooms to players participating in the game.
Free Space – The “free” square that is often in the middle or a 75 ball bingo card. This square is automatically filled when applicable and should already be marked off when you start the game.
Full House – A full house is achieved when you mark off all numbers on your 90 ball bingo card.
Jackpot – An extra prize offered for getting the required line, blackout or full house within a set number of balls. Some bingo rooms give each of their games different names and apply a different jackpot amount to each game. Therefore it is possible that you may be playing one game with the opportunity to win a of £10.000, and when the next game starts it has leapt up to £50.000.
Pattern – The required layout of correct numbers needed to win. In 90 ball bingo there are three possible patterns – line, 2 lines and full house. Some 75 and 80 ball bingo games actually randomise their patterns – so you could be looking to complete the image of a fish or a bird. Where this is the case, the rules will be clearly explained in the bingo room itself.
Single Line – A completed row on a 90 ball bingo card.
Two Lines – Two completed rows on a 90 ball bingo card.
Chat Glossary – Terms and Acronyms
Part of being involved in an online bingo room is communicating with your other “Roomies” via the chat boxes which appear by the side of each game. If you are unfamiliar with the terms used in the chat boxes, please have a look amongst this selection we have compiled, and please let us know if you come across any new ones!
- k = Okay
- 1tg, 2tg = Balls to go to Bingo
- l8r = Later
- ? =Please Explain
- l8r g8r =Later Gator
- ?4U =Question For You
- Lmao =Laughing My A** Off
- a/s/l =Age/Sex/Location
- lol =Laugh Out Loud
- AFK =Away From Keyboard
- np =No Problem
- b4n =Bye For Now
- omg =Oh My Gosh
- bak =Back At Keyboard
- Pls/Plz =Please
- bf =Boyfriend
- pmsl =Peeing Myself Laughing
- brb =Be Right Back
- ppl =People
- btw= By The Way
- qt =Cutie
- CM =Chat Master/Monitor/Moderator
- rofl =Rolling On Floor, Laughing
- cu =See You
- roflmao =Rolling On the Floor Laughing My A** Off
- e1 =Everyone
- Roomie =A chat room member, i.e. anyone in the chat room
- fcol =For Crying Out Loud!
- Soz/sry =Sorry
- gf =Girlfriend
- tc =Take Care
- gg =Good Going (Good Game)
- tmi =Too Much Information
- gl =Good Luck
- ttfn =Ta Ta For Now
- gla =Good Luck All
- thx =Thanks
- gr8 =Great
- ty =Thank You
- g2g =Got to Go
- ul =Unlucky
- hagd =Have A Good Day
- wb =Welcome Back
- hb =Hurry Back
- wd =Well Done
- imo =In My Opinion
- wtg =Way To Go!
- jj =Just Joking
- yw =You’re Welcome
- dts =Don´t Think So
- blng =Better Luck Next Game
- atm =At The Moment
- wdw =Well Done Winner
When you find your name in double brackets – for example ((Annie)) – it means that somebody is giving you a hug, and there is always a full range of smiley options available to emphasis your emotional state at the time you send the message.
As with all chat rooms anywhere there are certain rules to follow when communicating with your fellow roomies. Be courteous to the other players, no swearing or insults and don´t mention other sites in your chat room because your chat moderator (CM) may regard this as advertising and suspend your chat room privileges. Finally, keep yourself safe! “LuvvlyAnnie” may not be the person they say they are, so never give out personal details in a chat room environment.
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