History Of Live Online Bingo
Since the arrival of online bingo, many operators have been searching for the holy grail that is making the online experience as good as a live bingo hall by bringing in presenters and hosting live games and chats. Leading the way in the early days was BingoCams who went as far as getting players connected up via their webcams whilst they play. Crown Bingo were one of the first bingo sites to introduce live presenters to their bingo rooms. In Bingo Studio Live you could play for real cash online bingo whilst enjoying interaction, chat and games with a live presenter - all from the comfort of your own home! This concept was soon borrowed by Chit Chat Bingo and the St Minver Network. However when that group disbanded so did Chit Chat's daliance with Live Studio games.
Gala TV & Having A Ball
In 2011, Gala Bingo moved their Gala TV product online. This ultimately put the final nail into TV Bingo. Just five years later Gala decided it was time to drop the live show altogether and in 2016 Gala TV was finished. However that didn't leave Crown Bingo and others on the Bede Gaming platform as the only custodians of Bingo Studio Live options. Perhaps the biggest shake up in this area came in 2014 when Sun Bingo launched their game show Having A Ball. Every Friday night, Brian Dowling and Rustie Lee would entertain players and play bingo for a couple of hours. Dowling eventually left and was replaced with Chris Hopkins. Jean Martyn of BGT fame was another regular and other popular celebs like Russell Grant often got involved too. Jackpotjoy also introduced their own Chat-o-Vision show. This is a mix of live and pre-recorded shows that are designed to entertain the players whilst playing at the site. It launched in 2014 and the highlight of this particular live bingo experience was when Trev & Simon took over the Christmas shows during December 2015.
Live BingoCams
It's fair to say that operators struggled to convince players of the live bingo concept. But a site on the Cozy Games network did try and made an attempt to turn the tide. Lucky Diner Bingo hoped to stand out from the crowd with their live music shows. According to their Facebook page, players could tune in to the "Lucky Diner Jukebox from 8pm for some great music" plus they'd be bonuses up for grabs. To be fair this never really got going beyond a nice idea. This pretty much left BingoCams, where you could login, switch on your webcam and join in the fun with other players. However whilst the idea was nice the bingo product dropped off and by 2023 the site had closed down. The Bede Gaming Network (Crown Bingo, Health Bingo, Bingo Loopy, Bingo Stars) did used to host Studio Live each evening but this too ended. Could anyone really do Live Bingo properly?
Live Game Shows
Whilst live bingo kind of stalled, the same couldn't be said for live casino games. In fact it's possible that the evolution of live game shows like Mega Ball and Deal Or No Deal paved the way for live bingo shows. Live Game Shows are now standard fair across most slots and casino brands. Players can play spin the wheel style games, keno, bingo style games and even slots with a live presenter in tow. This gives players the same experience as being in a casino in that they can engage with the hosts - via a chat facility - and feel that they're not just playing on their own versus a computer. The popularity of game shows has been dramatic and today there are a wide range of titles to choose from. Mega Ball however is the closest option for bingo. In fact in our review we said that it "could be the basis for a future live bingo games" and we weren't far wrong either.
Buzz Bingo Goes Live
In October 2022 Buzz Bingo introduced their Real Live Bingo. Instead of having presenters talking between games or a show running separately they put together a product that genuinely gave players the bingo hall experience. Presenters commentate and interact with players during the actual games. This has been incredibly successful for Buzz as they've expanded the number of hours their live bingo room is open. It's safe to say they are now the site to go to for live bingo. However Mecca, Gala and Jackpotjoy still offer some element of live play. Gala for example host games from 19:30 to 20:30 every evening in their Live Show room. Mecca TV livesteams across selected rooms usually on a Friday evening whilst Jackpotjoy also run live shows, but again only on selected occasions.
Where To Play Live Bingo Games
