There are Bingo players and there are Bingo players. Like they say, not everybody is made equal. So is the case with Bingo players. It is getting increasingly difficult to tell whether the game makes the players or the players make the game! Bingo players bring with them a certain style and attitude and this contributes to how the game is played. Conversely, Bingo games bring with it share of joys and sorrows which in turn shapes a Bingo player.

It is the habits of  Bingo players that has given the Bingo world distinct groups of gamblers. Some are so used to playing at one particular bingo site that they stick to it like glue! They shy away from exploring other Bingo sites and don’t like to even try out different kinds of bingo games. So much so, they play the same game every single day and even look for tickets with their lucky numbers. Obviously it must be paying them something, so who are we to complain? I call them Conformists- and they are not much different from the players who play at one local Bingo hall year after year.

The industry does see them as loyal players, and showers gifts on them. Not that they don’t try to lure away the loyal players on other sites! Easy prey to such allurements from Bingo websites are the adventurous players who buzz around from one bingo site to another and from one Bingo game to another. Such players are daring and like to play on bingo cards with different numbers every time. Indeed they live up to the name Livewire players, being energetic and always on the look out for more money! We suspect that they believe being at one place brings bad luck!

Then there are the Nomads. They keep logging in and out of Bingo games rooms throughout the day and their luck on an assorted variety of games. However, even if they have good fortune, they move on other games, not because they are superstitious but more because they feel the urge to move. Often, such players are guilty of not staying on long enough to reap rich benefits too.

The exact opposite of Nomads and Livewires are the Bingo Fanatics. They log in early in the morning, almost as if it were a ritual and stay on a site till the late hours. They play Bingo as if there was no tomorrow and are mindless of whether they are winning or losing. Such a Bingo habit, is the most dangerous and injurious to the health of bingo players. They are unable to concentrate on a game, can neither strategise to win nor relax and take it easy when they lose. The best advice to such players is: “Why don’t you take a little break, go out for walks, cook an amazing dish for your family. The Bingo site will not go away!”

In the final analysis, the best group of players are the happy-go-lucky types. They love to play bingo on a regular basis but don’t get addicted. They are bingo enthusiasts who pursue the game equally for pleasure. As long it gives them happiness they play and if they find themselves losing , they are wise enough to call it a day.

Which Bingo player-type are you?

I have been playing Bingo in land-based Bingo halls for years. I love playing Bingo but I have grown old now and find it difficult to walk even to the nearest Bingo hall in my neighborhood. This made me depressed and irritable. One day my grandson suggested that I should try out online Bingo halls. He even helped me open an account at a good online Bingo site and I proudly took on my new ID- JACKIESMOM.

The moment I entered the Bingo room, I was bewildered by the atmosphere. I saw the Bingo cards and they looked familiar enough, alright. But the chat window, the automatic and manual daub options, graphics — they were all so very different compared to land Bingo halls. I am so used to seeing people, and have always concentrated on the numbers called. Daubing the numbers is a project by itself.

To confuse me further, as soon as I typed in “Hello” in the online Bingo chat window, the chat host replied “YW JACKIESMOM HUN!” The term YW left me a little perplexed. When I asked the chat host about it, he told me that YW stands for “You are welcome” in the new-age Bingo terminology.

Understanding that I was new to the world of online Bingo, the chat host guided me on how to buy Bingo tickets and wait for the game to begin. When I thanked him, he replied, “YVW!” It was not too difficult to figure that out — “You are Very Welcome?” and I began to feel at home.

But my comfort was short-lived. The chat-host asked me, “Would you like to play our new CG JACKIESMOM?” I was confused. The friendly chat host told me all about chat games. Wow! A sub-game that players can play while the main Bingo game is on, with the auto dauber in operation! Now, that is what I call a Bingo edge. Soon, I was playing chat games as well as betting on the Bingo patterns like a veteran online Bingo player. I even won a chat game and was richer by $2, thanks to 2BBs (bonus bucks) awarded by the CG. See, I am catching on

But there was one other problem. I excitedly typed in Kelly’s Eye when the number 1 was called. One of the player’s asked me what I talking about. I found that the new players and even the Bingo Caller on this site was sticking to straight calling. Many of the online Bingo players were totally oblivious to all those funny calling terms that good ‘ol Bingo is known for!

I took it upon myself to introduce my new Bingo friends to the classical Bingo lingo. The response was, “WTG (Way To Go) JACKIESMOM!”

One of them politely directed me to sites where callers use older terms as well. I visited them, but soon tired of typing in Choo Choo Thomas (for 58) and Jump and Jive (for 35). I was missing out on the CGs and felt like the OL. (That’s chat lingo for Old Lady, dearies…oops, QT). So I decided to play Bingo the way it is played online.

Soon, I was chatting, playing CGs… and guess what?  Whoever said,”When In Rome Do As the Romans Do” sure knew what he was speaking about. TTFN.