Online bingo has often been attributed to bringing a new lease of life to the traditional game of bingo. What was once considered a game played by pensioners in seaside towns is now enjoyed by an increasingly diverse and younger range of players. Statistics point to 25-35 year old women as one of the key markets for online bingo, with the game attracting many women looking for a fun alternative to a night out. With the smoking ban and the recession, online bingo has definitely provided some light relief and opened up a great way to have fun and meet new friends for a new generation. But despite online bingo significantly decreasing the average age of a bingo player, it seems there is a new growing demographic of bingo fan – the bingo centenarian!
It seems like the young guns are being given a run for their money when it comes to eyes down action, with a growing number of traditional bingo fans now hitting the ripe old age of 100 – and beyond. With research highlighting that participating in regular social activities that occupy the brain can significantly decrease your chances of suffering from old age problems like dementia, bingo can, surprisingly, increase your life expectancy!
As proof, there have been three reports in 2010 alone regarding some old school bingo fans notching up a century! The most recent report involves one bingo player from Salford, Ethel Jopson. As a long term fan of bingo, Ethel recently celebrated her 100th birthday, and whilst it is not the only reason for her fantastic achievement, it seems that her regular sessions at local bingo clubs have most certainly helped her live a full, active life that has allowed her to reach the ripe old age of 100!
But perhaps the interesting point is that it marks a big gulf between the generations. With online bingo players becoming increasingly younger, and offline bingo players looking increasingly older, we wonder if the two shall ever meet – or is this a generation gap that is perhaps too wide to reach across?!
There have been many stories of offline bingo clubs being forced to “evolve or die”, with Mecca Bingo perhaps most notably trying to revamp its local bingo clubs in a bid to attract new customers, with club nights and swanky décor that is a far cry from the bingo of yore. But does this alienate it’s more elderly fans?
And in terms of online bingo, have operators really seized the opportunity to convert long term fans of bingo played in clubs into fully fledged online roomies?? Yes and no. Sites like 888Ladies bingo and Foxy Bingo have been great when it comes to offering dedicated support and fun tutorials that can turn any bingo novice – no matter how old – into a bingo pro. With automated daubing, the actual playing of online bingo is something that anyone could master. And sites like Think Bingo have fantastic forums which can be a lot easier to master than launching head first into the fast paced chat rooms of some online bingo sites.
But we still think there could be a great chance for online bingo to bridge the gap in terms of simplifying procedures and designing a site. Call us sentimental, but although it seems that technology – and online bingo offerings – may be rapidly evolving, it’d be nice to think that the real bingo pros are not being left behind.
