When you attribute the varied success of bingo as a game and a social event ever since its humble beginnings more than five centuries ago, it’s hard to see how the game itself fell upon such hard times. At one stage, particularly in the 1990s, bingo had become a bit of a joke.
People weren’t going to the halls anymore and it’s position within gaming and society had come under incredible rebuke and ridicule for a long time. It looked like bingo may be dying out at one stage.
However, the online bingo scene has helped to revive the game – both on the web and in halls. Today, it’s more popular than it’s been for a long-time and offers a casual and social dynamic to the gambling industry that isn’t really available in such friendly terms elsewhere.
From the rise of the bingo hall in the UK to the 1960s to its rapid decline, followed by the rebirth using the web as the origin, bingo has had a very intriguing and dramatic history in the United Kingdom.
If you are interested in hearing more about the positive and cheery nature of the life and history of bingo halls in the UK, this fantastic report by Two Little Fleas is a fine starting point.
So, what effect has the birth of online bingo had on the offline equivalent?
Well, in 2011 it was estimated that 49 million visits across 3 million people were made to UK bingo halls. When you consider that the number of bingo halls in the period running from 2001-2011 witnesses the closure of 200 out of 600 bingo halls across the UK it’s a very powerful statistic. This incredible turnover of users tallies well with the 150,000 daily users that Mecca bingo receives.
While the online changes that have been made to bingo have helped to contribute massively to the positive growth of the game, the real positives can be seen from the consistency found once again within bingo halls all across the UK, helping to rebuild communities.