This is for those of you who play, or are thinking of playing, on-line Bingo. I’ve played both online bingo and live in Bingo Halls, and my preference is the latter. That may be flying in the face of the current trend- Bingo halls shutting down and on-line Bingo booming, but then I was never a dedicated follower of fashion as the Kinks might say!

The best things about real Bingo are the sights, the sounds, the smells (honestly!), and even the bloopers! Here goes-

The sights and the sounds: Many of the remaining Bingo Halls in the UK are majestic in their faded grandeur, and really do give you a sense of history (well, the 1950′s and 60′s). Many of the people you meet there are “characters”, quirky and with interesting accents and angles on things. You can’t get a slap on the back or give someone a beer on-line. The banter and comedy of the better (usually older) callers can be priceless There’s also a degree of skill needed here. You have to listen carefully for the numbers, and be agile enough to use your marker to quickly stamp the number called on your cards, before the next one is called. You can spot “newbies” losing it big time if they’ve bought too many cards!

The smells; ok, not always good if you’re in with someone unwashed at the next table, but some of these places do have a magic aroma- a mixture of damp plaster, polish, beer and popcorn, that cannot be captured on-line.

Finally the bloopers. I’ve seen them all. The container of balls falling off its pedestal and sending 90 balls skittering all over the floor, a person shouting Bingo and arguing that a certain number was called when everyone else, and the caller, begs to differ, and best of all, an inebriated caller who kept putting the numbers called back into the container to be called again until he was nearly lynched by the crowd, and a punter take over his job for the rest of the evening!