A History
Throughout bingo’s history, the game has been centred on sociability. In fact, ever since the game’s first roots in Italy in the Middle Ages, people have played bingo more for the opportunity to mix with fellow townsfolk than the actual point of the game – winning. Of course winning is always a good way to end off an evening, but the whole point of bingo is to bring people who share a common love for a pleasant game together.

In the 1960s, bingo halls shot up around the United Kingdom after gambling became properly regulated. This paved the way for many smaller towns with tightly-knit communities to come even closer together. The bingo halls became the central gathering point of these communities. Church halls were converted into bingo halls so that the previously barely-used spaces had a raison d’etre. Community functions were arranged around the bingo hall where communities would gather – not to merely play bingo, but to catch up on the past week and escape from the realities of working class England.

Changing Opinions
Although many people have the opinion that bingo halls are frequented by bored old ladies with nothing better to do than gossip about their neighbours, bingo has grown into a game for everyone. Being a relatively simple game that crosses social, economic, and cultural barriers, bingo is widely accessible to everybody. Bingo halls attract a beautiful mix of people from across all spectrums where the majority of the time the game is played in a light hearted and amicable manner.

The Introduction of Online BingoMany sceptics believed that the introduction of online bingo would diminish the game’s sociability. In theory, this was potentially true because online bingo lacks the human interaction that is necessary to be considered “social”. However, with the introduction of live chat facilities and online bingo players becoming “regulars” in certain online bingo halls, the game took a turn for the best and once again lived up to its reputation of camaraderie.
Online bingo has not taken a chunk away from land based bingo. In fact, the numbers of bingo players has been on a steady rise over the last decade. Online bingo has just added another dimension to bingo. Just as bingo developed over the years, this is just another chapter in the game’s evolution.

Online Societies
One need not look further than the thousands of online bingo discussion boards where online bingo players from around the globe swap gripes, stories of winning jackpots, tips and general banter. The fact that a Korean doctor can be playing in the same virtual bingo hall as a housewife from California just goes to show how much bingo has grown into a game for everyone. As soon as a game is widely accessible, this is when it has truly become the pinnacle of sociability.