Bingo has been wildly popular in the UK for years now, but online bingo has only recently started gaining popularity. With five million bingo players frequenting land-based bingo halls, Gala Bingo, Virgin, and Yahoo have joined to go after the internet audience. Additionally, ThinkBingo.com, the UK’s biggest online bingo site has been going for less than a year, and is already distributing more than £35,000 in prizes each day.

Residents of Britain seem to love online bingo more than the rest of the world. Experts believe that the number of UK online bingo players will top a quarter of a million in just a year, with spending of over £1 million each day. The bingo craze in the UK is expected to exceed even the poker craze. According to Dylan Schlosberg, spokesman for ThinkBingo.com: "There are more bingo players in this world than poker players. Unlike poker, everyone knows how to play bingo. In five years’ time online bingo will be as big, if not bigger, than poker.”

He added "Three or four years ago most people playing in bingo halls were pensioners. Now bingo is the biggest leisure activity for women aged 25 to 45 living outside London. Around half of online players still go to their local bingo hall too. Bingo halls are not going to disappear tomorrow but companies like Mecca and Gala have realized that having a flutter online has become big business in the UK."

Yahoo.co.uk, which only recently introduced bingo, is now announcing prizes of £1,000 each hour. Mecca Bingo currently only offers single player bingo online, but is expected to begin offering multi-player games soon. Bingo attracts many kinds of players. With its low stakes and friendly chat environment, bingo has become a social activity rather than a gambling venue. One ThinkBingo.com couple even got married after meeting on the site.