Online bingo is an industry that has grown immensely over the last few years since the first website launched in 2006. Back then the systems used were very basic and the software was very limited. In the modern world players are positively spoilt for choice with well over 200 different bingo sites to currently choose from. The growth of the industry has been dramatic and not a single week seems to go by without a new site being launched in one form or another.
The system that is used behind the scenes is a known as a Random Number Generator. In its very simplest form it means that numbers are drawn, or called in this case, in a very random order. It means there is no way of predicting what the winning numbers will actually be. This means that systems have to be very clever as there are strict laws in place to ensure that games cannot be fixed or manipulated in anyway.
With such a huge rise in operator sites, it means there has been expansion for a number of bingo software operators to cover the market. There are a few main players and these include Dragonfish, Cozy and Playtech. There is also the smaller Jumpman Gaming software as well as a number of sites that have chosen to develop their own games software. These websites are fairly limited in numbers due to the incredibly high development costs associated with creating your own software. These high costs mean that more and more website owners are choosing either Dragonfish or Cozy to power their websites.
So what does that mean for the average bingo player? Essentially it means the world of online bingo has been flooded. There is such limited choice that website owners are coming up with clever ways to try and fool players. This is often down to the design and layout trying to make it look different. However it is not until a player has been duped into making a deposit that they realise it is identical to the last website they were playing at.
You could be forgiven for thinking the days of high street halls are over. However you would be wrong as names like Gala and Mecca still dominate most high streets, and often you’ll see a gaggle of excited players standing outside waiting for the doors to open. There is something that online bingo has not been able to take away from the everyday bingo player. But this has not stopped the incredible rise of the industry.
At the time of writing it is said that the online bingo industry is currently worth of £1 Billion – a truly astronomical number. It is then not a surprise that the UK Gambling Authority has recently chosen to seriously tighten its controls. These tight controls saw a number of dubious websites close their doors as they were clearly out to make money and rip players off. The tightening of regulations has meant that while the future of the industry continues to grow it will at least remain a safe one.