According to recent reports, the number of online bingo players in the United Kingdom doubled over the past twelve months. A statement released by the Gambling Commission says the number of online bingo players went from 250,000 to 500,000 in one year in the country’s 243 registered websites.

“Online bingo is booming everywhere,” the CEO of an important gambling operator said. “But it's a mistake to link it to traditional bingo because that's a completely different proposition. People are cutting back on leisure but they are staying home and spending only in the low tens of pounds a month with the chance of winning some extra cash. The beauty of it is there are very low costs and a huge number of players.”

Meanwhile, the British traditional bingo industry is in the middle of a crisis that has caused the closure of several bingo halls across the country. The crisis is due to the smoking ban, the restrictions imposed on gaming machines and the double taxation which means bingo operators have to pay both a gross profits tax and the VAT.

Although land-based bingo still is the favorite pastime of middle-class, well-off women over forty, online bingo sites have attracted a new kind of players who prefer to play in the anonymity of their homes.