As you can probably tell from the title of our website, the Bingo Spirit team are absolutely nuts about everything online bingo-related.
So, when we’re not busy celebrating our members’ successes in our Hall of Fame, brainstorming new and exciting promotions, dreaming up additional ways to reward your loyalty, and putting together action-packed online bingo tournaments, we can often be found dealing with our members’ queries.
While some of these are account-specific, many are related to online bingo in general; so, we thought it must be high time to write a blog article to address your Frequently Asked Questions…
So, if you’ve been reading our blog from the sidelines and waiting to dip your toe in the water, or you consider yourself a bingo pro but are too embarrassed to ask one question which has been bugging you for as long as you can remember, why not see what gems of knowledge you can glean from our team of experts’ answers?
How much does it cost to play?
This varies from site to site, and some operators concentrate on offering cheap and free games to their members, while others may charge more per card for seasonal promotions, where you’ll have the opportunity to play for big-money prizes. Generally, cards will cost you between a nickel and two dollars each depending on where you play.
What are BBz?
BBz is a term that’s frequently used within the online bingo community, and it stands for Bingo Bonus Money. You can often win BBz as prizes when you play free games, during chat games, by entering tournaments and promotions, and by making a deposit to your account.
As each site is different, it’s always best to check whether or not BBz are available, and how they can be earned or won.
What happens if I lose my internet connection while playing?
This question comes up a lot, and whether you’re playing on a desktop, laptop, or mobile phone, it can be a serious worry if your internet connection is prone to blips, particularly if you’re only a few numbers away from calling a full house.
Luckily, websites use software that will detect if you are disconnected mid-game, and your cards will continue to play through for you automatically, so you won’t miss out on any potential winnings.
How long does each game last?
A game runs for as long as it takes someone to win it. However, most games are completed within three minutes, unless you’re playing speed games which are designed to start and finish in a fraction of the time.
What happens if more than one person wins?
We’ve seen this happen many times, and while it can be a little frustrating if you were looking forward to getting your hands on the full house prize, it’s only fair that the prize pool is split equally between the winning players in the event that there’s more than one winner of a game.
How do I call bingo?
If you’re used to playing land-based bingo, you may well wonder how you can ‘call’ your win when you make the move over to the online variant. The good news is, you can sit back, relax, and wait for the computer to do it for you.
Plus, you can even let the computer auto-mark your cards as well, leaving you with more time to chat to your friends, play side games, or even make a drink during the game!
Do I need to download software to play?
Thanks to the powers of modern technology, most online bingo sites don’t require you to download any software as everything is Flash-based, which means it loads within your preferred internet browser (for example, Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Safari). This is good news for many reasons.
There’s less risk of a virus being transmitted to your PC; no need to worry about how much disk space you have left, and it means you can join a site and start playing within minutes, not hours.
How many other people will I be playing with?
This depends on which site you play at (some are busier than others), how big the prize pool is, and what time of day you choose to play (rooms are often less crowded during office hours and in the early hours of the morning).However, when you visit the lobby at the majority of online bingo sites, you will be able to see at a glance how many players are currently in each game.
Are all the games fair?
The numbers that are called in each game are produced using an RNG (Random Number Generator), so nobody knows (not the company director, not the chat host, and not your fellow roomies) who will win before the game starts.
Sites make their money by selling game cards, so they don’t have a vested interest in a particular person winning over anyone else.
What are wagering requirements?
Though some sites like Bingo Spirit doesn’t have wager rule requirements, majority of sites do.
From time to time, you may decide to take advantage of a promotion which entitles you to a free bonus. Before you accept it, you should always read the small print found in the terms and conditions of the specific offer. Often, you will see the term “subject to wagering requirements”.
This means that you won’t be able to withdraw your bonus as cash (or any winnings you may make as a result of it) until these wagering requirements have been fulfilled.
For example, if you claim a $5 bonus with a 5x wagering requirement attached to it and subsequently win $50 with it, you will need to stake $50 (if it is a welcome cash match bonus then it may well be necessary to wager your original deposit plus the playthrough of 5x – which on a deposit of $5 would be a total wagering requirement of $50 i.e. $5 + $5 = $10 x 5) from your win before it is released into your cash balance.
Summary
We hope you’ve found our online bingo FAQs article useful. However, please bear in mind that as each site is different, you should always double-check your facts with your preferred site. If you have any further questions, queries, or conundrums that you think the BingoSpirit team could help with, just get in touch and we’ll do our very best to help.