Bingo Day Review

Recently I've been checking out quite a few bingo sites and having decided I quite enjoy the game decided to head over to Bingo Day to see if my luck would be with me during a few games. There seem to be more and more bingo sites cropping up and so I was interested to see if this Playtech-powered site had what it takes to keep a player coming back for more!

Any site that decides to use Playtech software is highly likely to be respectable - after all the software is not cheap to purchase! Similarly, the 'about us' section of the site showed that the site was managed by the same people that run Titan Poker, Casino Tropez and Cameo Casino. It's always good to know a bit about the people running a site and since these guys have a good background in online gambling, I headed over the download part of the Bingo Day site without any reservations.

Although a number of websites operate using no-download software, as hinted at above, Bingo Day actually requires users to download and install their software to be able to play. However, this process is pretty easy and only needs to be performed once. Similarly, the 200k installer should take players only a few seconds to obtain. Having said that, the software then takes a further few minutes to install further files.

Once inside the software a player can then create a new account. Having not played here before this is something I too had to do. The sign-up process is straight forward and anyone who's played at Playtech-powered software before will be used to the form that is used to capture a new player's details. Unfortunately US players are not welcome at Bingo Day due to legislation in that country. As a result the play currency at Bingo Day is the UK Pound which suggests that this is very much a UK focussed site.

One thing that impressed me with Bingo Day is that even before the lobby had loaded 'Chelsea' from the support team had opened a chat window to check that everything was OK and that I was having no issues. I realise this is probably partly to ensure I go on to make a deposit, but I thought this personal service was great. I had the same thing happen on a few further occasions and I definitely got the feeling Bingo Day were pleased that I had become a member and genuinely wanted to offer support if I needed it.

Once the software had loaded and I was logged in I quickly realised players are dumped directly in the bingo room. Although a few other casino-type casinos can be accessed from a menu system, the focus of this site is clearly bingo. Of course, with only one game being available it also means that the bingo room is always likely to be reasonably populated. There's nothing worse than trying to get a game with only a handful of people logged in. Incidentally, the version of bingo played here is 90-ball where players battle it out to be the first to claim 1-line, 2-lines and a full house. This is certainly a popular form of the game, although 75-ball players will obviously be disappointed with the lack of this type of game at Bingo Day.

One thing I've always found with Playtech-powered casinos is that a huge range of deposit options are made available and this is no different at Bingo Day. Whether it's Credit Card, NeTeller, Click2Pay, My Citadel, PaySafe or pretty much any other deposit method you've heard of, it's offered at Bingo Day. This really makes purchasing straight forward and players should have no issues with finding a funding method that suits. I used NeTeller to make a £50 purchase which at current exchange rates translates to approximately $100. I also noticed my account was boosted automatically by 125% thanks to Bingo Day's sign up promotion. At a maximum claim, this bonus provides an additional £125 ($250) of playing power which certainly isn't to be sniffed at!

As stated earlier, only one game is available at Bingo Day and so after coming out of the lobby I was straight back in to the action. From here player's can purchase their bingo cards. At the time of playing cards cost £0.30 (approximately $0.60) and since I didn't see any variation in purchase price, I assume this is a standard purchase price. I did think this is a reasonably high price for cards, although players are awarded with free cards - for example, buy 2 get 1 free seemed to be available for every game I played.

One nice thing I did notice at Bingo Day is that players don't necessarily have to purchase cards for the next game to be played. Although this is the simplest thing to do (using the Quick Buy function), the Buy Cards section allows players to purchase cards in advance of future games. Should a player choose they can have cards play out even when they are not online, although I assume this function is more likely to be used by people that want to limit the amount of money they spend - e.g. players can purchase all their cards in advance of a playing session.

When it comes to the game itself, I was impressed with the number of user-configurable options available. For example, players can choose the colour used for daubing or can even configure the voice over as required. Both a female and a male voice can be used and sound effects can even be turned off if required. I also liked the graphics used by Bingo Day. Cards at this bingo room are really clear and the animation is incredibly smooth - certainly I think this is one advantage download software has over no-download sites. Finally, the way the cards auto-daub (should a player wish) and auto-arrange themselves depending on closeness to winning is also invaluable to a bingo novice such as myself!

Of course, whilst software may be good looking, players are also interested in how much they can win. Thankfully the answer here is 'a pretty decent amount'. The one and two line prices regularly hit the £2-3 mark and the jackpots got close to £10 - £15 ($20 - $30). This certainly isn't insignificant and can be a pretty nice reward on a low buy-in. However, the big money is to be won from the progressive jackpot. This is available in each and every game, which is a massive draw. Basically a player can win this if they get a full house within a set number of calls. A handy count down shows how close the call count is to the set limit and it can be really heart stopping to see you could potentially be within a few calls of winning a massive amount of money. At the time of playing this jackpot stood at over £1,500 equivalent to over $3,000!

Of course, for some people the fun of bingo is as much about the people playing as it is about the game itself. Chat is a big part of bingo entertainment and making and chatting with friends whilst playing is a really fun way to pass the time. Initially, I didn't think that Bingo Day had a chat function which I found surprising. However, this is because the chat window isn't automatically presented, rather a player has to click 'Chat' to join the action. The chat window then pops up which operates independently of the main chat room. Of course, all the people chatting are in the same bingo room though so you can still go through that anxious period of waiting for the magic winning ball to be drawn! All chat at Bingo Day is moderated by someone employed by the bingo room. Not only does this keep chat clean and engaging, but also means bonus money can be won! Chat games are played throughout the day which is really cool. For example, I took part in Donkey Derby where every player selected 5 balls. The first person to then have their balls drawn won free money! These games are great fun and mean a player can win even if the balls aren't being kind!

On this occasion, although I lost much of my bank balance, I decided to cash in my remaining £15 (approximately $30). A quick trip to the cashier is all that a player needs to do to get their money back with withdrawals sitting in pending for about 48 hours. After this time the money the request then heads to the accounts team with funds being returned in another 24-48 hours. My personal withdrawal was processed without problem back to my NeTeller account.

So far I was pretty impressed with the Bingo Day offering and so I decided to check whether this site's customer support lived up to the high standard set so far. On checking the appropriate web page I learnt that support is offered via telephone, email and of course the live chat facility that I had experienced earlier. The telephone support is free for UK and Canadian players which is OK, but I do think that more toll-free numbers could be introduced. However, given the wide range of support options available I think this is a minor point and certainly not one that should stop people playing here.

In conclusion I found Bingo Day to be a really entertaining site. Although the 1-room, 1-game type set-up may put some people off, this shortcoming is more than made up for with the excellent graphics, great sound effects and smooth animation. Similarly, the configurable options are a great plus and the chat room certainly adds to the fun of the game. The banking function works well and customer support really cannot be rated. The sign-up and on-going bonuses are not the biggest I've ever seen, but a demand for more free money is really just being greedy! Certainly for a fun online bingo experience with a trustworthy site, Bingo Day should fit the bill nicely.

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