Online bingo has been steadily on the rise since the inception of the World Wide Web - and more specifically, since the smoking ban came into force in July of this year, 2007. Some bingo halls are sadly closing their doors, and bingo players are turning to online bingo for their fix of fun and jackpots. And, slowly but surely, bingo lovers' eyes are opening to all of the benefits that online bingo has to offer.

Bingo Gets With The Times

Several bingo club owners and players alike have their own theories for why so many players have switched to online bingo games. Mr. Bronson of Belper, Derbyshire, feels that change is inevitable, and that it's up to bingo operators to keep up with current trends. "They can't expect to keep serving up the same style of entertainment that they have been for the last 30 to 50 years." Mr. Bronson believes social trends towards online communities and social networking on the Internet, as well as the enormous growth of online bingo is responsible for the closure of his local bingo club, Bingorama, much more so than this year's smoking ban.

Chat During Bingo Games: Encouraged, Not Forbidden.

Ever been to a bingo hall and gotten aggressively shushed from someone who seems to hear even the slightest whisper? Or the dirty looks from across the table when you're asking a question or humming to yourself? Part of the appeal of online bingo is that chat is not only acceptable, it's encouraged! In fact, most popular online bingo websites (you can plug the word "bingo" into a search engine to find the most popular online bingo sites) feature a wide variety of chat games that are played during the game. As if bingo wasn't fast-paced enough, now there are chat hosts starting up contests and games in the chat rooms to keep you on your toes. Not only are they fun, but they can win you some extra cash to play with too. Not to mention you're sure to meet some great new friends. Newcomers to online bingo are finding the new trend toward chat room bingo to be much more social and fun than the more anti-social bingo hall version of the game.

Bingo from the Comfort of Your Home

Your car won't start. You can't find a babysitter for the children. Your husband (or wife) is home sick and needs you to stay home to care for them. I'm sure it's happened to you before; you can't always get to the bingo hall every time you want to. But the days of missing out on a big bingo jackpot are over, with the new trend of online bingo games. Yelling "Bingo!" from the comfort of your own home is sounding more and more appealing. You can do the laundry, save money on snacks, and win a bingo jackpot all at the same time. And with fancy new auto-dauber features, you don't even need to keep track of your bingo cards if you don't want to. Most online bingo websites give you the option of automatic bingo daubing or daubing your own cards. And in case you can't keep up, they keep track for you. No more missing out on a bingo because you were distracted by someone at your bingo hall table.

It's clear that online bingo is quickly becoming the preferred medium to play the traditional long-loved game of bingo. All you need to do is find your favorite free bingo website, register yourself an email and pick a username, and you'll be on your way to calling "Bingo!" in your own living room. Just imagine how big the bingo pots will be once the online bingo trend goes global!