Are you interested in playing bingo? If so, do you know how to play online bingo? In essence, it is the same game; however, several nuances must be taken into account before playing online.
Before we consider the differences couched as the safest way to play virtual bingo, let’s consider a definition of the game.
What is bingo?
Bingo is defined by Wikipedia.com as a “game of probability in which players mark off numbers on cards as the numbers are drawn randomly by a caller, the winner being the first person to mark off all their numbers.”
The game is thought to have originated in Italy in about 1530 and was originally the Italian Lotto, Il Gioco del Lotto d’Italia. It moved across to France, was known as Le Lotto, and was played by the French aristocracy.
Bingo’s historical movements become a bit murky from here. However, it is believed that the game relocated to the UK and other European companies in the eighteenth century.
There are essentially two types of bingo, American and British bingo. While these games are similar, there are slight differences. Succinctly stated, the tickets and number calling mechanisms are slightly different between the two variants.
American bingo, a 75-ball version, is played of a 5 x 5 card covered with letters and numbers. Each time a number and letter are called out, players mark off the related square on their card.
The first player to get five marks in a row, or a bingo, wins the game. It’s essential to note that no two cards are alike; otherwise, more than one person might get a bingo at the same time.
On the other hand, British bingo is a 90-ball version and is played on a strip of six cards, each card with 3 columns of nine rows each.
Each row consists of five numbers and four blank spaces. Each row has three numbers. And the first column has the numbers 0-9, the second column is 10-19, and so on with the last column being 80-89 or 90.
How to play online bingo?
As noted at the outset of this article, there are several slight differences between virtual and physical bingo. Let’s consider these differences within the boundaries and parameters of how to play online bingo safely.
Sign up with a legitimate online bingo site.
While this point seems logical, it cannot be overestimated enough. The New Normal, or the world we currently live in, has seen an increase in fraudulent operations. Most of the business world, including casinos, bingo halls, and sportsbooks, have had to rapidly pivot their operations from a physical brick-and-mortar space to an online space.
And this has led to a rise in fraudulent companies whose main aims are to fleece unsuspecting online users of both their funds and their personal details, including bank account and credit card details.
Therefore, it is a good idea to look at a review site to find the best online bingo sites as these will give you an idea of the bona fide sites that you can sign up with.
Finally, it is also important to be cognisant of the fact that all legitimate online bingo sites must be registered with the UK Gambling Commission.
Therefore, check whether the site you which to sign up for is a registered site. If not, rather be safe and avoid the website.
Read the fine print
No one really enjoys reading the fine print or the terms and conditions because it is often challenging to make out the words when the font is so small. And there is often a lot of technical and legal jargon involved.
However, it is critical to take the time to read the teams and conditions, especially when accepting player promotions like the ubiquitous welcome bonus.
As an aside, other common bonuses and promotions include the daily bonus game and various free spin offers.
Manage your bankroll efficiently
It is equally important to note that gambling, or games of chance, in any form, is a high-risk venture, and you should never wager money that you cannot afford to lose.
Fortunately, there are ways to manage your bankroll so that you have money to play with throughout the month, and you can even increase your bankroll by implementing a conservative playing strategy.
One of the most important aspects of a strategy that aims to grow your bankroll without adding more money to it from external sources is to accept that you will lose individual games.
Therefore, to mitigate the risk of losing large sums of money, it’s essential to wager small amounts. This is counterintuitive to the commonly held belief that to grow your bankroll, you need to wager large sums of money.
The way to increase your bankroll through a successful wagering strategy is to bet small. You will only win small amounts, but you will also lose small amounts.
Bingo games – know the rules before you play
The usual bingo offerings are 75-ball and 90-ball bingo. However, the two most popular bingo sites, Playtech and Tombola, offer a wide variety of different bingo games such as 50-ball, 60-ball, Cinco, and Age of the Gods Bingo.
While all bingo games are based on the basic bingo rules, the themed games like the Age of the Gods Bingo are also created on a particular theme.
In this game, the full house winner is presented with nine coins that must be turned over until three matching god symbols are revealed. Each of these god awards splits the prizes between the full house winner and the other players in a different way.
For example, Hades awards the total prize just to the full house winner, and Athena splits the prize as follows: 25% to the full house winner and 75% to the community jackpot.
Consequently, it is essential to ensure that you know and understand each game’s particular rules before you wager money on a live game; otherwise, you could end up losing more money than you planned for.
