By Graham Clifford
With the passage of time many popular games of the past give way to new and more demanding past-times but the game of Bingo has maintained its loyal fan base and continues to grow in popularity especially across the UK.
Land based Bingo clubs from Aberdeen to Brighton continue to attract millions of players with latest estimates stating over 3 million people still attend bingo halls regularly to try their luck.
However its the growth in online bingo which is really exciting those within the industry.
One report stated that online bingo is now the most popular leisure activity in the UK for women between the ages of 20 and 25 years old. This is a staggering statistic given the fact that the traditional image of the game is associated with a much older player base.
Award winning bingo sites such as Foxybingo.com have attracted new players using clever marketing and a revitalised concept of the game of bingo to entice players to log on.
Stars ranging from glamour model Katie Price (Jordan) to music manager and TV presenter Sharon Osborne have been used in recent years to promote bingo online and its no surprise that over 50,000 players play on UK bingo sites regularly.
A new aspect to bingo delivered by online bingo sites is the availability of chat rooms where players converse and build up friendships.
The introduction of the smoking ban in all parts of the United Kingdom over the past twelve months may have had an adverse affect on land based bingo attendances but it seems their loss is online bingos gain with many people preferring to play online in the comfort of their own home rather than be prevented from lighting up in bingo clubs.
As a whole the bingo industry in the UK is estimated to be worth nearly £2 billion annually.
Statistics show that a bingo player wins a prize every two minutes from land based casinos though if online bingo figures were included there would be winning players on an ever more regular basis.
So it seems the future of UK bingo is in safe hands with more and more people hoping the balls fall their way and lady luck smiles on them.