I was recently invited to try out a game or two of online bingo but replied with a not very enthusiastic, ‘I really don’t think it’s for me’.
They replied with, “But we’ll deposit some money into your account and you can donate all the winnings to your chosen charity!”.
So hesitantly – with the promise of raising funds for one of our sponsored children – I agreed to try it out.
I am not really a fan of online bingo. Personally, I can think of better things to do with my time. It’s not something I’m very interested in and, to be perfectly honest, always thought of it as a ‘fix’.
I decided to go into it with an open a mind as possible.
The account was easy and quick to set up. Once done you have several ‘rooms’ within which you can play – some with lower priced cards offering smaller jackpots and others with higher priced cards resulting in higher jackpots. I played early on during the day so there were only about a dozen or so of us playing in total. There is a chat facility where you can speak to other players which you can keep turned on or switch off. I switched it off as to be honest I found the screen busy enough as it was.
I picked and paid for my cards and the screen counted down to the start of the next game. You can choose to set the game to automatically dab your cards – perfect if you have several cards or if you have difficulty keeping up with the game – or you can do it manually. Then you sit back, watch the virtual balls get drawn and see if you complete the pattern required on your card.
The game was easy to play but didn’t hold my attention. There was nothing else for me to do apart from choosing new cards in between games. Once that was done I’d go off to fold laundry or deal with the children or do something else that needed doing. To be honest, I simply had no interest!
I won a couple of games – maybe four in total – but lost a fair few more leaving me with 7 pence in my account after beginning with £50 and so had no winnings to send to my sponsored child which was a little bit disappointing. I can see how people could be drawn in to having ‘just one more game’ but fortunately I found it so boring I was glad when the money had run out and I could switch it off, and wasn’t at all tempted to add any more of my own money to the pot.
My verdict? Well, my initial thoughts and opinions were only strengthened. Although the site and game itself was easy to use and player-friendly I did find the screen a little busy at times. That wasn’t my issue though. I left the game having lost that money so quickly wondering how many people lost money they didn’t really have to lose in the first place. Thank you for the free money and the promise of sending my sponsored child something but really, this isn’t something I would recommend and would encourage anyone to do something else with their time instead.
Online bingo? Not for me, I’m afraid.
