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Why Online Bingo Wins Land Based Bingo Halls

By Craig Crossland

In this land based versus online bingo smackdown, we'll first look at the differences in bingo equipment. Land based bingo usually involves some sort of clear bingo ball receptacle where players can see a host of numbered ping pong like balls being sucked through a long tube before coming to rest in their respective ball slots.

Indeed, part of the visual fun and suspense for players in land based bingo halls is the sight of these swirling balls, and waiting to see which one of their hopeful lucky numbers (if any) make the grade.

Online, this visual thrill is usually replicated pretty authentically: the only real difference is that bingo sites online use a RNG (random number generator) to determine which ball number is selected, as opposed to the land-based long, pneumatic tube.

In North America, bingo is played with 75 balls and with a 5x5 (5 columns; 5 rows) bingo card or the online replica thereof. In the UK (and other international locations, such as Australia, South America and certain parts of Europe), bingo is a 90-ball game, and the bingo card is a 9x3 card (nine columns; three rows).

Winning bingo ball patterns vary greatly, regardless of whether players are playing 75-ball or 90-ball versions of the game. Know that online bingo gets very creative when it comes to winning patterns: usually, you'll find a plethora of different themes and unique patterns that make things particularly interesting.

In 90 ball bingo, you'll usually find three major winning stages: a one line successful match horizontally garners a win, a two line horizontal match usually wins a better prize, and finally, a 'full house' (all 15 numbers are marked out on one card) gets the biggest win.

In land based bingo halls, most of the dialogue is kept to a minimum - in fact, talking is highly discouraged. However, it's not unusual to hear excited yelps, disappointed mutters, and the occasional ecstatic cry of "Bingo!". The noise level online is of a decidedly different nature; here, "talking" is replaced by a chat functionality, where players can SMS or text their accolades (or mutterings) in real time to fellow winners and losers. Usually, online, you'll find that players are very friendly - in fact, etiquette is such that even "sore" losers express congratulations to winners.

Speaking of chat functionality, playing bingo is hugely popular (especially in the U.K., where's it's the most popular group leisure activity, and #2 in terms of individual leisure activity, especially among young women between the ages of 20 and 25 years old) - and chatting is a large part of its appeal. In most online bingo chat rooms, a chat moderator will play host and keep chat moving along in a friendly way. Online, it's all about community. Often, players will find a range of chat games available to help pass the time between bingo games.

Online, players can usually play for very little money (1 pence is not uncommon), and you'll even find many spots to play online bingo for free. Just keep in mind that free games may not necessarily net great dividends to winners.

Online players have the added convenience of toggling an auto-daub feature, so that they don't have to manually mark off numbers as they're called; instead, the program will do so automatically.

So, here's the final tally:

Online bingo offers up more creative winning patterns, advanced chat functionality, free bingo games, and a convenient auto daub feature that makes playing bingo online as user-friendly as possible. On the other hand, land-based bingo offers up musky bingo halls with the occasional blue-haired matron shouting "Bingo!" shrilly, and often with a decidedly superior air.

The smackdown never lies - online bingo wins, hands down.

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Brought back memories of the first time I played "English" bingo. That's what all the regular Bingo players called it in the 70's. I was in my late teens and had no money, but was lent $10 to go play this new "English Bingo" sitting in an old movie theatre.

Enjoyed playing and then I really enjoyed it. I won their 'Share the Wealth' and suddenly I had $175 cash in my hand. I still have my winning card! The luck didn't end there. Went to regular Bingo, the next day and won $50. My girlfriend heard about the big win, so the next day it was back to "English" Bingo. I won again, $25. But it kept going, I had been waiting for a tax refund and received $200 more than I was expecting. Two days later I got my pay cheque. I went from nothing to rolling in dough. Guess who went shopping!

One person's kind act brought me such joy by allowing me to be with my friends, several days of playing Bingo and engaging in lively conversation. Chat rooms cannot compare with the human interaction. I know the chat rooms can be quite lively (used to play Euchre online) but it's just not the same.

Congrats on your first win, not many people win a decent amount of money on their first game. I agree that bingo halls are fantastic to socialise and online bingo will never be able to beat that interaction between bingo players but with the internet online bingo just seems way more convenient.

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