Many older people still remember the old bingo halls. Today, they are almost all discontinued and only memories, but once upon a time, bingo halls were essential places for socializing, where friends met to play. Although all the winnings were only merchandise wins or gift cards to stores in the area, it was a win like a win; it was always nice to get the bingo word after shouting.
So what happened? Why did the bingo halls disappear? It’s simple. The Finnish law, or the lottery law, prohibited cash prizes from bingo halls, and cash prizes are what makes people play, as we have seen with the lottery and, for example, the latest Eurojackpot.
Not only did the fact that you could not win money from the bingo halls stop the halls, but at the point when Veikkaus started his bingo games with money winnings online, a new gaming channel had been opened for bingo lovers, and the decline of the bingo halls began. Many bingo friends lost a large part of the social side of their lives because there are no similar gathering places for playing in Finland, and the entrances of kiosks or shops cannot be considered.
Bingo is moving online.
The monetary winnings of online bingo games attracted some bingo fans from the beginning, but not all bingo players became online players and stopped playing bingo altogether. However, online games made it possible to introduce a new generation of players to the game of bingo. This is how bingo’s recent rise toward becoming a popular game began.
What happened next is history. There were hundreds of bingo halls in Finland, and sports clubs organized bingo events as their fundraisers. There are still bingo events in Finnish restaurants from time to time, but all these bingo events are ones where players cannot win money, so it was obvious that people who like to play bingo would look for the new Nettibingo, yes myself. Online bingo didn’t need to be advertised anymore when new players found recent game locations using Google, and online bingo rooms and lotteries became one of Finns’ favorite online games. Now I get money winnings from those games, not just those coffee packages or vouchers.
As an online game, bingo started a new rise, and at the same time, new versions of the old game were published, but all of them are based on the good old bingo game, where each player has their bingo slip or more. In fully automatic games, you play against the computer, but in bingo rooms, you play against other players, and these live bingo games are running online 24/7, that is, every day of the week and all the time. For online bingo, you don’t need to go to the city or even necessarily open your computer because nowadays, bingo games also work on mobile smartphones, which means you can play almost anywhere and anytime, even when you’re on a trip to a sunny beach.
From child to adult
Bingo is one of the few games that have also survived as children’s games, and plastic bingo games are sold in many stores; therefore, it is familiar to many Finns. Of course, not everyone has played it. Still, many have heard of it, and even though many other children’s games have already been digitized, bingo still has a solid fan base as a traditional children’s game that is also suitable for an adult evening out. And then, when you are at least 18 years old, you can always register online to play bingo for real money and maybe win a few euros or more at the same time – there is plenty of choices online.
So it can be said that even though the bingo halls disappeared and, simultaneously, a part of Finnish tradition and people’s social interaction, bingo has found a new channel and perhaps even more players online. Online bingo rooms are also places for social interaction at their best because, in the best locations, it is even possible to chat with other players. The new technologies of the future will most certainly bring real live bingo from bingo in these times, if not right away in 2020, then certainly in the 20s and bingo will get even more options and players on its side, so it is an excellent pastime game even without monetary profit.
