Online bingo#Mobile Bingo

One of the earliest known online bingo games, launched in 1996, was a free bingo game called "Bingo Zone".{{cite web | author=H.B. Koplowitz | title=Cyber Bingo | publisher=hbkoplowitz.com | year=1997 | url=http://www.hbkoplowitz.com/LIC/archives/1997/bingo/index.html | access-date=July 16, 2010 | archive-date=September 11, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100911022658/http://www.hbkoplowitz.com/LIC/archives/1997/bingo/index.html | url-status=dead }} To play, members had to provide demographic information; in turn, members would receive targeted ads based on the demographics provided.{{cite web | title = Gamesville.com: Wasting People's Time Since 1996 | publisher = Virtual Advisor, Inc. | url = http://www.va-interactive.com/inbusiness/editorial/biztech/articles/gamesville.html | access-date = 2008-05-31 | archive-date = 2007-11-12 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071112050326/http://www.va-interactive.com/inbusiness/editorial/biztech/articles/gamesville.html | url-status = dead }} Another early pioneer for free online bingo was Uproar, which launched Bingo Blitz in 1998.{{cite news | title = UPROAR Unveils FREE Multi-site Online Bingo Game: Bingo Blitz | publisher = CNET Networks, Inc. | date = July 28, 1998 | url = http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_1998_July_28/ai_20953883 | access-date = 2008-05-31 | archive-date = 2008-09-13 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080913210838/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_1998_July_28/ai_20953883 | url-status = live }}

The game of bingo has been able to sidestep many of the laws which ban gambling online. In England, for instance, section 65 of the 1928 Royal Commission Report on Gambling states, “Bingo is a lottery played as a game.” {{cite journal|title=An Assessment of the Report of The Royal Commission on Gambling 1976-1978|journal=Addiction|volume=74|issue=1|pages=3–9|url=http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/store/10.1111/j.1360-0443.1979.tb02405.x/asset/j.1360-0443.1979.tb02405.x.pdf?v=1&t=hxe20v45&s=860b216c16d58e9d65d1cdb1f18cc01a5072f115|access-date=9 July 2014|doi=10.1111/j.1360-0443.1979.tb02405.x|pmid=283824|year=1979|last1=Moran|first1=E.|doi-access=free}} The report details that a game of chance is different than that of casino games, even requiring separate licensing. Since each bingo participant receives a random set of numbers, the chances of winning for each participant are equal. The Royal Commission Report has given the game of bingo a chance to thrive in the highly contested cyber gambling community.

Playing bingo online, players can make use of optional features which make playing the game easier, such as auto-daub. Auto-daub automatically marks off the numbers on cards as they are called, so players don't have to. Most software providers support other gaming features as "Best Card Sorting" and "Best Card Highlighting" where players cards are sorted and highlighted by closest to bingo.

There is variety among the different kinds of bingo games that can be played. For example, some inexpensive game rooms appeal to the player who may want to play for as little as 3 cents or 3 pence per card, some bingo games only allow players to purchase the same number of cards so they are not competing against the "high rollers" out there who buy many cards for the same game.{{cite web | url=http://casinogambling.about.com/od/Othercasinogames/a/How-To-Play-Bingo.htm | title=How to Play Bingo | publisher=About | access-date=13 May 2014 | author=Moe, Al | archive-date=6 April 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140406222453/http://casinogambling.about.com/od/Othercasinogames/a/How-To-Play-Bingo.htm | url-status=dead }}

Bingo is a popular leisure activity for people in the UK. The UK market has seen an influx in big brand names launching bingo games on their already established websites in addition to a number established land based operators including Mecca and Gala also entering the market. More recently "charity bingo" {{cite web|title=The Fall & Rise of Bingo Report: Charity Bingo Growth|url=http://www.twolittlefleas.co.uk/fall-and-rise-of-bingo/frame.html#slide-6|publisher=The Fall & Rise of Bingo|access-date=2014-10-28|archive-date=2014-10-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141028183712/http://www.twolittlefleas.co.uk/fall-and-rise-of-bingo/frame.html#slide-6|url-status=live}} has become established.

From April 2009 and March 2014 the UK Gambling Commission has been monitoring how many people are gambling. From April 2013 and March 2014 there was a 6% increase in people gambling compared to the same time last year with over £6.8 billion spent including Bingo. In the same period there was also a 22% increase in people playing Bingo on their mobile phones. In 2013, 102,715 people were employed across the gambling industry in the UK, signaling a 5.3% drop from 2012.{{cite web|title=Annual Report and Accounts 2013/14|url=http://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/pdf/gambling%20commission%20annual%20report%20and%20accounts%202013-14.pdf|website=gamblingcommission.gov.uk|publisher=Gambling Commission|access-date=5 December 2014|archive-date=7 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141207202640/http://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/pdf/gambling%20commission%20annual%20report%20and%20accounts%202013-14.pdf|url-status=live}}

Since November 2017, Tombola, a UK-based online gaming company, sponsors the British TV series I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!.{{cite news |last1=Watson |first1=Imogen |title=I'm a Celebrity sponsor Tombola hit with gambling ad ban |url=https://www.thedrum.com/news/2019/02/06/im-celebrity-sponsor-tombola-hit-with-gambling-ad-ban |access-date=19 November 2022 |work=The Drum |date=February 6, 2019 |archive-date=14 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230214235302/https://www.thedrum.com/news/2019/02/06/im-celebrity-sponsor-tombola-hit-with-gambling-ad-ban |url-status=live }}{{cite web |last1=Luke |first1=Emma |title=Something's bugging our Marketing Team |url=https://careers.tombola.com/blog/article/somethings-bugging-our-marketing-team |website=Tombola Careers Blog |publisher=tombola.co.uk |access-date=19 November 2022 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20221119114251/https://careers.tombola.com/blog/article/somethings-bugging-our-marketing-team |archive-date=19 November 2022 |date=21 October 2022}}{{cite news |last1=Ford |first1=Coreena |title=Sunderland firm tombola to sponsor I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here! |url=https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/business/business-news/sunderland-firm-tombola-sponsor-im-13715248 |access-date=19 November 2022 |work=Evening Chronicle |date=4 October 2017 |location=Newcastle upon Tyne |language=en |archive-date=16 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220516212653/https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/business/business-news/sunderland-firm-tombola-sponsor-im-13715248 |url-status=live }} Tombola had previously sponsored Emmerdale on ITV for three years.{{cite news |title=Tombola to sponsor I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here! |url=https://5star.media/2017/10/06/tombola-sponsor-im-celebrity-get/ |access-date=19 November 2022 |work=5 Star iGaming Media Marketing |date=6 October 2017 |archive-date=14 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230214235253/https://5star.media/2017/10/06/tombola-sponsor-im-celebrity-get/ |url-status=live }}

• Problem gambling

• Moubarac, Jean-Claude; Shead, N Will; Derevensky, Jeffrey L. Journal of Gambling Issues 24: 164–184. July 2010. [https://web.archive.org/web/20120417030934/http://youthgambling.mcgill.ca/en/PDF/Publications/2010/BingoPlaying.pdf Archived] 10 April 2012.
• Gainsbury, Sally (2012). [https://books.google.com/books?id=ixW7bLkt04YC&pg=PA21 Internet Gambling: Current Research Findings and Implications]. Springer. pp. 21–22.

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Category:Bingo

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