Best Online Bingo Sites

Online gambling caters to many interest groups from sports fans to racing fans to card players and slot gamers. Somewhere in the myriad of gambling games you'll find a lot of bingo action even though it doesn't receive as much attention from gambling sites as it does from players. While land based bingo gaming revenues have declined worldwide as more casinos open, online bingo revenues have increased. Although it's hard to pin down, online bingo revenues appear to exceed $2 billion as of 2016.

The fortunes of both offline and online bingo gaming have risen and fallen with the times but despite the loss of local bingo parlors in the United States and United Kingdom, the strength of the online bingo industry has withstood recession and competition from popular online casinos, many of which now include bingo in their game lineups. And yet the majority of the online bingo market is dominated by hundreds of bingo sites, not casino sites.

Players have more than enough options to choose from when it comes to playing bingo. You should set your criteria high to weed out sites that don't compete hard enough for your time and entertainment budget. When you select a bingo site you want to look for:

• Great bonus opportunities
• A variety of game options
• A community environment
• A great reputation for working with players

With thousands of online gaming sites and hundreds of bingo sites to choose from, we feel the players have the upper hand in deciding where to spend their gaming time. To that end, we have spent many hours checking out online bingo sites so as to make the best possible recommendations. We reserve the right to change our opinions and to expand or revise this list of recommended bingo sites.

• Bet365 Bingo
• Downtown Bingo
• William Hill Bingo

And let's face it: our own reputation is on the line here. If we make bad recommendations you are less likely to trust our other suggestions for you. Even so, no gaming site is a perfect match for everyone. You still need to check each one out for yourself and see if it fits your needs, comfort, and playing style. And you want to find sites that you can enjoy for years to come. With so much competition in the bingo marketplace it is impossible to promise none of these sites will go out of business.

We look for sites we believe have the staying power to ensure you enjoy a consistent, high quality online gaming experience. We also prefer sites with good reputations for integrity and honesty. A newer bingo site needs time to establish itself in the marketplace.

Finally, we also look for sites that offer reasonable if not generous bonuses and player reward programs, and big jackpots. While they are in business to make a profit, you're looking for the best available entertainment experience. Don't lower your standards.

As in the old adage "you cannot judge a book by its cover" you cannot judge a bingo site by its name. Don't worry about what name the site goes by. Look at the details of its signup offer, its terms and conditions, and its playthrough requirements. Know what you are getting into before you get into it.

The Three Types of Bingo Sites

Most bingo websites operate as standalone operations but some major gambling sites, like Bet365, offer bingo parlors where their members can play bingo. Among the standalone sites there are two distinct profiles: sites that offer only bingo and sites that offer casino games in addition to bingo.

The majority of standalone bingo brand sites have smaller player communities but a few have achieved flagship status within their industry. The widespread appeal of casino games, especially slots, has gradually altered the online bingo gaming market. The inclusion of casino games on bingo sites is most likely due to two factors: first, as more major gambling sites add bingo to their offerings they encroach upon the traditional online bingo marketplace; second, some bingo network operators run full online casino sites and benefit from an economy of scale in supporting their bingo brands.

Fully developed standalone bingo sites invest heavily in community building. They offer newsletters, publish blogs, and in some cases host forums and chat rooms for their members. Community is important to these brands because they depend on customer loyalty.

The larger gambling sites add polished bingo games to their offerings and even provide bingo bonus programs but they are seeking to enrich their general members' club experience by increasing the variety of games in their gaming catalogs.

Full range gambling sites cater to casual bingo players among their regular members rather than seek to attract and focus on dedicated bingo players. A typical general purpose gambling site features its casino games on its home and promotions pages. Any bingo offerings are usually given secondary importance, and other types of gambling including sportsbooks, racebooks, and card rooms may also be included.

While there are thousands of general gambling sites in operation today, the larger, more well known sites have been adding live play table games to their offerings. Bingo just does not stand out very well on these types of sites.

Hybridization is nothing new to the world of electronic bingo. Native American casinos, in order to compete with commercial land based casinos that provide Class III slot games, have relied upon electronic bingo games that operate like slot machines for years. These Class II games use bingo to determine their outcomes but otherwise offer a rich slot-like gaming experience. Inexperienced slot gamers often mistake these games for slot machines that offer bingo games.

Online hybridization works differently. The hybrid bingo site provides access to pure bingo games and emphasizes those offerings on its home and promotion pages but also offers a selection of slot games and, in some cases, table games. These hybrid bingo parlor / online casino sites tend to be members in networks of gambling sites that offer very similar games and bonuses.

Hybrid casino sites do not offer card rooms, live play, racebook, or sportsbook betting although who knows what the future will bring?

Dedicated bingo sites are the specialists. The best dedicated sites put every resource into making their online bingo play the best possible experience. They usually publish newsletters, offer bonus updates, and host regular tournaments. These sites offer premium bingo games with more options or features or variations on the basic bingo rules.

These sites do whatever it takes to ensure they retain as many players as possible.

The less successful or less well known bingo sites are made from off the shelf software offerings and they only cater to the bare minimum needs of the bingo player community. They tend to provide fewer bonus options, fewer tournaments (if any at all), and usually the most basic of play. There may be no community assets on the smaller solo bingo sites although game play can be just as good as at many general gambling sites.

Conclusion

Although you may have learned to play bingo in school, it really is not a children's game. Playing bingo for real money can be as fun and rewarding for the right players as playing blackjack or poker is for serious casino game players. To each their own is the best philosophy to take with online gaming and if you are curious about what it is like to play bingo for real money, there is no reason not to try. There are enough different types of sign up bonuses for you to choose from that you are almost guaranteed to find a bingo program you'll enjoy playing.

If you are not ready for competition bingo don't despair just yet. We provide a comprehensive bingo guide and also break down the different types of bingo games for you. We have everything you need to get started right here.