Australia has a relatively underdeveloped bingo market as compared to their UK cousins, though this is said to be growing thanks to improved marketing and a higher general interest in the world of online bingo. At the moment it’s following the same trends as the rest of the world, with around 85% of online bingo players being female and female players dedicating around 50% more time to online bingo than their fellow male players. The average amount an online bingo player in Australia spends per month has been measured at around $250 Australian Dollars, which suggest that while there is certainly enthusiasm and people are willing to invest money in their past-time, there’s a lot more people who would be willing to inject money into the market but aren’t yet.
Like the Europeans the Australian bingo game of choice is the 90 ball variety with bingo cards having 3 rows and 9 columns filled with 5 random numbers and four blank squares. The Australians themselves refer to Bingo as ‘Housie’ and in the UK Bingo used to be called Housey Housey until a few years ago when the Americanised form of the game and the bingo brand crossed the Atlantic and changed the bingo vocabulary for good. Nowadays Housie is usually used to denote a game of bingo run as part of a charitable or fundraising event in both Australia and New Zealand, with Bingo usually denoting a commercial game for big cash prizes.
The one way in which Australian bingo can be seen to be behind the times is the relatively unattractive or underfunded design of the bingo sites. In the UK it’s all about glitzy, flash looking interfaces and fun animations, but the same cannot be said for Australian bingo sites at the moment. However, that doesn’t mean that Australian bingo sites are lacking funds in other areas, with loads of sites offering big jackpots, some up to $20,000, so you shouldn’t worry about low jackpots plaguing the Australian online halls. One of the biggest hindrances to the growth of the Australian bingo market both online and off is that gambling legislation within the country doesn’t permit sites based locally to give particularly large prizes in their bingo games. As a result many Australian nationals resort to using foreign bingo sites. It’s a pity that this is the case because there is clearly a market for online bingo in Australia and it could generate significant revenue for their economy, but with citizens spending their money on foreign sites the cash is all getting taken abroad.
Australian Bingo sites, like those based in the UK or the US, offer additional bonuses to their regular users as well as incentives to their new customers. This can include the matching of initial deposits, free bingo games with real cash prizes or the winning of non-monetary prizes such as holidays abroad. The popularity of online bingo in Australia has mostly been nurtured in urban areas and has resulted in a number of bingo halls springing up in Melbourne, Perth and Sydney to name but a few. Check online to find the best deals and bonuses, as well as for information on any local bingo halls that you can head to in Australia.
By James Harrison
Online marketeer and keen online gambler!