Best of British Bingo and Online Bingo

Best of British bingo? Forget football being a game of two halves, nowadays, bingo is the ultimate game of two halves: land-based and online.

Popular in America and Europe for centuries before, bingo became popular in Britain as a way to raise funds for charity from around the year 1918.

During those days, the game was known as housey housey, lotto or tombola and was immensely popular. Organised by political parties, the church, working men's and ex-servicemen's clubs, the games would often attract more than 500 players, but when did it become the Best of British Bingo?

Holiday camps Butlin’s and Warner’s used to donate large amounts to charity from their daily tombola games, and of course, bingo is still used today to raise much needed money. This is definitely the best of British online bingo.

But it wasn't until the early 1960s when the true bingo boom began. During the 60s, the commercial bingo industry was often given a helping hand by organised criminals, and it was the Labour government of Harold Wilson that decided that a change of image was needed if bingo were to survive.

Bingo then became a mainstream social activity as opposed to an underworld gambling game, and soon, packed bingo halls became a feature of everyday life on the British high street.

Offering a safe yet exciting environment for people, especially women, to socialise in, Britain has certainly led the way throughout the years when it comes to calling house!

But in the mid-1990s, a new way to play bingo appeared. The Internet offered players a new and convenient way to play their favourite game.

Nowadays, the British online bingo industry is going from strength to strength, and from humble beginnings in the mid 1990s, it is now a multi-million pound industry. Bingo Hollywood is a good example of a very successful bingo site that recently splash onto the scene.

Players of UK online bingo now have a choice of several hundred sites to take their pick from, many offering enormous free bingo bonuses, life changing jackpots and incredible prizes.

Many online bingo sites have become household names, fronting enormous media campaigns and even sponsoring soaps and popular TV programmes.

The popularity of chat rooms in online bingo is another area that cannot be overlooked. Players often head there to mingle with friends, to escape the daily grind, and to make new friends. Many bingo sites host regular chat games, which adds to the fun even more and offers even more opportunities to win.

The average age of online bingo players is falling as well -- there is no doubt about it that land-based bingo attracts a more mature audience, but online bingo fans are growing increasingly younger. As long as they are above 18, they are free to play bingo in the UK.

To attract new players, the Best of British Online Bingo sites offer free money and enormous deposit bonuses when people sign. This gives them a great opportunity to explore the site, and a reason to stay loyal.

One question though.

With so many bingo sites popping up on a monthly basis, what does the future hold for online bingo? Even bigger prizes? Even bigger deposit bonuses? Or how about holographic virtual reality 3-D bingo?

Now that sounds like our idea of fun! Another example of the Best of British Bingo!