Bongo’s Bingo turns social bingo into social distancing bingo

As the spread of Coronavirus continues, people are still urged to stay indoors, keep a safe distance from people and avoid social gatherings. This is causing some problems in the gambling industry as casinos are forced to close and major sporting events are cancelled. Bingo halls across the country are closing too, which not only means the players can't enjoy bingo, it also means they lose the important social aspect too.

Recently, social bingo night organiser Bongo’s Bingo announced that it would be cancelling its upcoming club events, causing disappointment for bingo fans and partygoers alike. Bongo’s Bingo events combine bingo and a club night out into one unique event where you can hang out, drink, dance and maybe even win some money playing live bingo at venues across the country!

In a rare piece of positive news right now, instead of letting their fans down totally, the guys at Bongo’s Bingo instead decided to use the technology we all have in our homes to create something else entirely by streaming bingo live to players across the entire country, completely for free! 

Streaming over on Twitch this past Saturday night, over 30 thousand people tuned in to watch the live draw, which was hosted by some entertaining characters and filled with jokes, games and even some celebrity appearances for over 2 hours. Everyone watching was invited to join in, but instead of bingo cards and daubers, you only needed your phone. How could players take part in online bingo with a mobile phone?

To play all you needed was a UK registered mobile number and a pen and paper. By taking the 0 off of the front of your number and grouping the remaining 10 numbers together, you’d have your 5 bingo numbers to play with. For example if your phone number is 07123456789, your bingo numbers would be 71, 23, 45, 67 and 89. Pretty intuitive way to create a social bingo experience out of thin air.

In the end, the stream turned out to be a hilarious variety show that was exactly what those who were following government guidelines by staying indoors needed! As uncertainty seems to be the norm for the foreseeable future, we can only hope that these lads continue to stream these events for the time being. 

You can watch the whole live stream over on the Bongo’s Bingo Twitch channel. Keep your eyes peeled for future events by following them too.