Bingo is no longer a game played only in smoke filled recreation centers. There is still appeal in hearing the caller announce “B – 7”, dabbing that square with your favorite pink bingo-dauber then hearing the word “Bingo!” roar out of your mouth the second you realize you have a line, but more and more people are trading that pink dauber for a keyboard and mouse.

There’s no disputing the fact that online bingo is an immense business. Now a multi-billion dollar industry, online bingo has come a surprisingly long way. Since 1999 Bingo.com offered online bingo with both free and pay-per-card games, and in just six short years, 1.5 million players have registered with their site and billions of bingo cards have been served. Now, unless you’re a bingo player yourself, you’re probably thinking “Wow, I’m amazed all those old fogies are actually on the internet indulging in their favorite pastime.” But, according to Bingo.com only 2% of free online bingo players are over the age of 65, thus eliminating the common belief that bingo is a game played only by our senior citizens. In fact, males and females aged 41 represent the average age of an online UK gambling player, 80% of them between the ages of 25 and 55.

In the UK, several huge brand names have responded to demand by adding bingo to their existing websites. Virgin, AOL UK, Yahoo! and MSN UK are just some of the major corporations who’ve pleased the masses by serving up cards to anyone who wants them. It should come as no surprise seeing as bingo is the top leisure activity for 20 to 25 year old women of the UK. One can’t help to be amazed that this simple game has gained so much popularity considering it originated as a carnival game called ‘Beano’ where a caller would draw marked disks from a cigar box and players would mark their cards with, yep, you guessed it: beans. It all started in 14th century Italy, then in the 1770’s the wealthy and elite of France enjoyed the game. After that, the free online casino game found its way to Germany where it children employed it for educational purposes, and finally in 1929 it found its place in the United States.

There are two versions of bingo, both of which are very popular online. 75 ball, which is the North American standard, is played on cards with 25 squares with the center square typically marked ‘free’. The 90 ball variety uses cards that are 9x3, this version is most prominent in Australia, Europe, UK and parts of South America. The object of the game of course is to mark off numbers in accordance with the phase of the game, be it one line, two lines, or a full house (all of the squares filled). The online version of the game varies only slightly from the paper version. Instead of a churning cage full of numbered ping-pong balls determining weather or not you hit that jackpot, a sophisticated random number generator is used. A display window shows the number, sometimes with accompanying audio instead of a traditional caller. With the online version, players also have the option of letting their computer ‘auto-daub’ their cards, ensuring no numbers are ever missed. This of course gives players the option of enjoying the game of bingo while checking their email, cooking dinner or even watching their favorite TV show.

The ability to chat with other players through text-messaging is nearly always an option with online bingo; bingo, after all, is a very social game. It is so social in fact, that online bingo communities are formed with bingo ‘regulars’ playing in the same online room every day, and keeping up with the excitement of each others lives, all online. Chat games are another popular feature of online bingo, they add a great social aspect to the game as players can choose to participate in text chat games like trivia to make a few bucks and have even more fun while hoping to hit the jackpot.

Though there are many online providers of this classic game, getting started with it is almost always a user-friendly experience. Typically, you would go to the site of your choice, register for a free account and start playing through a Java or Flash applet. Some sites though require that you make a small download of the bingo program. To be able to play for the big jackpots, players must hold an account balance of real money with the site. Nearly all the sites accept e-wallet service providers such as Citadel, Neteller, Prepaid ATM and Firepay so you don’t even need to hassle with a credit card. Sometimes, websites will offer incentives to get you to start using real money, such as access to exclusive bingo rooms, and matching a percentage of your first deposit.

Online bingo tournaments are also becoming more popular. Many sites offer special tournaments where players can choose to play a series of games in a row, or play for a set number of hours for especially high jackpots and even special merchandise. Some tournament winning criteria can include ‘most bingos’, ‘most cards played’, or even something as specific as most ‘T’ shaped bingos. For those with their eyes on the money, there are always jackpots to play for, some as low as $5 some as high as a $1000 all for anywhere from $0.05 to $0.50 per card. The promise of easy cash is a major draw and since there’s no tricky element of skill involved, you don’t have to worry about being taken for your money by the more advanced players than you, which is often the reason why people don’t risk money by playing online poker, for example. From its humble beginnings in 14th century Italy, bingo has earned a place in nearly everyone’s mind as a way to pass some time, catch up with friends, and maybe, just maybe hit that big jackpot and be one of the growing number of people to scream ‘Bingo!’ to their computer screen.