Uk Bingo Betting

Online bingo operators seem to be loosening their purse strings, but bingo players should be cautious before joining a site offering an unrealistic bingo jackpot prize.

While bingo has got bigger and bigger, more and more people played online bingo in 2006 than ever before. This is despite the recent changes to American law and also the proposed changes to the UK Gambling Act which will soon to come into force.

And as bingo gets bigger, and as more people play, this can mean only one thing – bigger jackpot prizes.

In 2006 the size of bingo jackpots grew incredibly, compared to that of 2005. It is now common to see progressive jackpot prizes averaging £30,000, with the St Minver network paying out £91,000 and £32,000 only three weeks apart, toward the end of 2006.

A few years previous, no-one would have thought the online bingo phenomenon would produce such massive jackpots to compete with those in land-based bingo halls, but it seems that they will soon start to take over.

So what are the reasons behind the increase in jackpot sizes? Is it simply down to an increase in player numbers, or is it that bingo operators are loosening their purse strings in order to grab the attention of players in what is a very competitive market.

Well, if a bingo operator is part of a large bingo network, then player liquidity comes into play. A network like St Minver will have players from all around Europe contributing to large pots of money. Experts believe the growth in jackpot prizes simply mirrors the growth in player numbers. The more players playing, the more bingo cards are sold, and therefore the bigger the prizes will be.

However, it is also true that operators may be funding “loss leaders” via their massive marketing budgets, in order to put constant pressure on the competition, in the fight to provide the best sign up bonuses, cash match and jackpot prizes. It seems that this happened when Gala bingo launched its new product after parting company with St Minver not so long ago. It would never have been possible for them to offer the kind of jackpots they were unless they were funding the jackpots themselves.