I found myself with nothing to do last night. It was just one of those days where so many plans are pencilled in that nothing becomes concrete, so I just decided to stay in and surf. Whilst looking for games online, I came across a curious British obsession – Bingo. Although the term was coined in the States, the game is hugely popular over there, and I decided it might be fun to try a bit of UK Online Bingo myself. It’s a very simple game, not dissimilar to playing the lottery. You pay a set amount and get a whole bunch of cards with rows of numbers on them. A “caller” then draws numbers from a generator, and you need to cross off your numbers as you hear them. The first person to complete a row must declare “Bingo!” and they then win a prize.
It’s a very simple game, but surprisingly addictive. Because the entry fees are generally low, and the game is played en masse, it doesn’t really feel like gambling. You can participate in chatting to other players, or else just concentrate on the game itself – I’m told that the social aspect to Britain’s traditional Bingo halls is the most important thing, and it certainly seems that the websites – Mecca being the biggest – are trying to uphold this communal flavour as much as is possible in a remote, online game. Reading up a little on the history of the game, I managed to get to the bottom of some of the obscure, often-rhyming terms they call out to identify the numbers they’ve drawn – from the slightly dubious (15 – young and keen) to the cryptic (80 – Ghandi’s Breakfast), to the topical (10 – Gordon’s Den), to the downright weird (3 – One Little Flea). I won’t even begin to tell you what they mean, but it’s all very quaint and charming.
In the end, I got one row to match, for which I won $25, and I still have 29 games to play for my $100 entry fee. Considering how much fun it was, I think that makes it a pretty worthwhile deal, and I’ll definitely play internet bingo again.