In the early years of the 20th century, men like Edwin Lowe and Hugh J. Ward developed the game of bingo as we know it today. Now less than a century later, the game is reaching new levels of popularity thanks to bingo websites and constant play in pubs and community centers around the world.
Whether you’re a grizzled veteran or a complete newbie considering playing real money online bingo for the first time, we welcome you to BingoWebsites.com. We have bingo reviews, bonus updates, guides to playing and much more. We want you to start quickly and finish strong with our reliable recommendations and tips.
Here are our picks for the best bingo sites in 2017:
Finding the Best Online Bingo Sites
BingoWebsites.com was founded for the sole purpose of helping people find the best bingo sites. We’ve expanded our mission since then to include tips, strategy and other information, but our ultimate goal is still helping people find safe places to play online.
A few years ago, we were just normal bingo players looking for places to play. We found out the hard way that there is a huge range in quality of bingo websites. Some sites treated us like royalty while others refused to even answer basic questions once they had our money. It was a painful and sometimes expensive process, but we eventually figured out which sites were worthwhile and which were best avoided.
We bring the lessons learned from past experiences to you in the form of safe bingo site recommendations. Not only do we draw upon our own experiences with online bingo, but we also keep up to date with the latest developments in the news, we read through the terms and conditions of major gambling websites and make sure that established sites continue to operate in good faith.
With all that said, here’s an overview of what we look for in recommended places to play.
Country Restrictions: The majority of our readers come from the UK and Europe, but we do get visitors from the US and other parts of the world. One thing we look at in all sites is which countries are accepted and which are not.
This isn’t an issue for the majority of our readers, but those from the US will quickly find that not all bingo sites accept Americans due to banking laws and gambling legislation. We want to make it clear which sites accept customers from which countries.
The Website’s Reputation: In order to maintain a solid reputation in the gaming industry, a site needs to pay its players on time, offer superior customer service, and provide games that are random and secure. There are numerous fly-by-night operations floating around the Internet, so a strong reputation is always important.
Available Promotions: Bingo websites love to offer promotions to bring in new players. This can be as simple as offering free games or it might take the form of sign-up bonuses or incentives for referring a friend.
Selection of Games: Does the site offer a wide variety of games such as blackout, full house, and four corners? The popularity of the site is also important, as it measures the amount of online social interaction the player will be able to engage in.
Deposit/Withdrawal Options: Does the site offer multiple ways to deposit and withdraw your money? It’s also important to make sure the bingo website has a reliable history of paying out prizes on time.
The Community Aspect: Bingo is a social game at heart. The community aspect is one of the primary reasons online bingo remains so popular today. It wouldn’t so fun if it was played in solitary fashion. Communities of players keep it interesting. The best bingo sites build a community by encouraging chat among players, hosting chat games, publishing the profiles of recent winners and adding features such as friends lists.
Navigating BingoWebsites.com
At BingoWebsites.com, we strive to be your one-stop destination for all things related to bingo. It’s like we mentioned above. Our first mission is to help people find the best bingo sites but we also cover a whole variety of other subjects related to bingo.
As such, here are a few of the many topics you can expect to find on our site.
Reviews: We have in-depth reviews for all the leading bingo websites as well as newcomers and hidden gems. Use these reviews to find the best bingo websites for your needs.
We don’t waste our time or yours reviewing poor or unsafe sites, so you’ll notice these reviews are mostly positive. They are objective and honestly mention the pros and cons, however.
Operating Systems: A comprehensive list of bingo sites sorted by the operating systems they support, from Windows and Linux to Mac and Ubuntu. Most bingo games are played in your web browser so compatibility isn’t a major issue. But even so, we do have specific recommendations for various operating systems.
Sites by Country: This an ever-growing list of sites that are tailored for specific countries or speakers of a particular language. If you want to find a site for Spanish-speaking bingo fans, this is the place to start. These country-by-country bingo guides also get into the legalities, deposit methods and other issues that are particular to different parts of the world.
Tips: Bingo may seem like a simple game, but there are numerous strategies you can employ to get an edge on the competition. Every little bit of advantage helps over the long run, even if it’s just to help you avoid spending too much money in an evening of bingo.
Lingo: Check this section to learn all the insider terminology you’ll encounter while chatting with people while you’re playing. A grasp of bingo lingo also comes in handy when reading reviews, strategy articles and talking to your friends about the game.
Free Websites: If you want to play for big prizes, you’ll need to pay a fee. However, free bingo sites also exist for the convenience of the frugal player. This section of BingoWebsites.com lists some of the best. Not sold on playing bingo for real money? Start with a site that lets you play for free.
On a related note, no-deposit offers are becoming increasingly common in the industry. No-deposit bonuses give you a little free cash to try the games without requiring you to make a deposit. These offers are nice because they let you test the waters of real money play without risking anything up front.
Mobile Bingo: You don’t need a computer to play online bingo. The biggest and best sites provide mobile versions of their games that you can access with your smartphone or tablet, including the iPhone, iPad and Android operating systems. See our page dedicated to mobile bingo to learn more about these options.
Security: Security is an important topic to tackle with any form of real money gambling. When you make a deposit at a bingo site, you are entrusting them to keep your cash safe and to give it back when you’re ready to withdraw. The unspoken agreement is that you risk your money in their games in return for a real chance of winning more than you started with.
Bingo websites must respect that agreement for the concept to work at all. Without trust, there can be no bingo. Security is our biggest sticking points when deciding which sites to recommend. We can live with sites that don’t get everything just right, but we refuse to budge in the slightest when it comes to the safety of your funds.
Choosing a Bingo Site: This page explains some of the big things we look at when choosing which bingo sites to recommend. Some of this is explained above, but our “choices” page goes into much greater detail on the process of selecting a bingo site.
FAQs: There’s a good chance that any question you have about internet bingo has probably already been asked by someone else. Our frequently asked questions page addresses some of most common questions people have about the game. Some of these are questions our readers regularly send in while others are questions we suspect may be common among new players.
Bingo Odds and Numbers: Understanding the odds of winning is important as it provides a realistic look at what you can expect from a gambling game. We all know the odds work against us in games of chance, but hard data helps us keep it all in perspective. Online bingo is a gambling game at heart and should be approached as a fun activity with an associated cost just like any other form of entertainment.
Prizes and Jackpots: While the above section provides a sobering look at the realities of gambling, this section covers the fun stuff. One of the reasons we all play any game of risk is the potential of winning a massive jackpot. The prizes in online bingo can range from a couple hundred pounds to more than £10,000.
Bankroll Management: Bingo is not a game of deep strategy as much as it is a game of lighthearted fun. But even so, we would like to stress the usefulness of bankroll management. This is how you manage your money so you can stay in the game for as long as possible without having to make frequent deposits.
History of the Game: Are you curious about the origins of this time tested game? If so, this is the page for you. Here, you can learn about how bingo evolved from the 1500s on up through modern times. Read about how the Italians developed the precursor to what we now know as “bingo.”
Bingo Supplies: This page serves as an overview to the various tools and equipment that are used in real life bingo games. You’ll also find a collection of links to websites that sell supplies for the game.
Closing Notes
The prospect of winning cash prizes is an awesome part of bingo, but the game offers more than material wealth. Thanks to the chat features present in almost all online bingo rooms, players from across the globe can share in a sense of community and cheer each other on.
This is one of the few forms of online gambling largely free from competitive chat, foul language and negative people. That in our opinion is one of the greatest things about online bingo. Even if you don’t win, you still have a ton of fun just chatting and making new friends. Bingo cards rarely cost more than £2- £5 so it’s not an expensive activity by any stretch.
For anyone unable or unwilling to play in a land-based bingo game, interacting with online friends is sometimes better than the prospect of winning money. Don’t get us wrong – it’s awesome to win big money. But when it’s all said and done, the thing you’ll remember most about your bingo years won’t be the money; it will be the friends you made and conversations you had.
