The game of bingo is very popular worldwide, although it enjoys a notable amount of success in the UK and Australia, where it is more commonly known by the name ‘housie’. The popularity of Bingo dwindled in the UK, mainly due to it being thought of as an unfashionable game played by elderly ladies; however it is currently undergoing quite a significant resurgence.
The game is played by marking off numbers as they are called on a bingo ticket. A bingo ticket has fifteen numbers written on it, ordered into three rows of five. Players are awarded prizes if all the numbers on a particular line are called. Players with three complete lines will win the top prizes. Bingo tickets are usually bought in books of six or more.
Bingo is usually played in special bingo halls, most of which are now operated by large companies such as Gala Bingo. Several games will be typically played in one evening at a Bingo hall and every night a number of Bingo Halls across the country will take part in the National Bingo Game, where details to the numbers being drawn are relayed to all the participating clubs via modem. The prizes for the National Bingo Games can sometimes reach as much as several thousand pounds.
In the UK bingo is regaining most of it’s lost popularity and several major companies that operate bingo halls have invested in prominent advertising campaigns. Online bingo which can be played at sites such as bingo is also extremely popular.