Are Machines the Future of Bingo?

Bingo has long been held as a game that takes place in church halls and, more recently, on the Internet. Likewise, machines have always been reserved for video poker and slot games held in casinos. That’s why it seems highly unlikely that the game of bingo and the concept of gambling machines would ever be a match. But a series of casino regulations in certain areas as well as the growing popularity of machine-based gambling games could forge a very unlikely union that could become the future of bingo.

Slot machine regulations

Any time you walk into a casino you’re likely to see rows and rows of slot machines. This is why it’s hard to imagine there being any sort of regulations on the amount of slot machines a casino can have. However, it’s a fact that certain states and regions can impose their will on casinos when it comes to slots. Some areas only allow casinos to have so many slot machines in their establishment and this is especially true of American Indian casinos. Fortunately for the affected casinos, they can find creative ways around these laws to ensure that they have the amount of machines needed to turn a profit.

Since some casinos find themselves in a position where they can’t have the desired number of slot machines, their floor space needs to be filled with something else. And when searching for something to replace the slot machines, casinos need to make sure that they are not violating any laws or restrictions. This is where bingo machines come in because restrictions against having too many slot machines normally don’t cover bingo machines. And since there are no laws against the amount of bingo machines a casino can have, many of these places are using the devices to take the place of the slots they can’t have.

Popularity of machine bingo

Bingo in machine form is a relatively new concept and many casino patrons are just finding out about it. Bingo machines are usually built to look and play just like slot machines and many versions of the game even have slot features such as spinning cherries or other icons. And since bingo is such a popular game on its own, the thinking behind creating bingo machines was that the popularity of machine-based games and bingo would spawn an instant hit.

Unfortunately, bingo machines have yet to catch on and this could be for a variety of reasons. And the chief reason is that bingo machines haven’t been around long enough to garner any substantial attention. In fact, the average casino estimates that bingo machines only bring in about a third of the revenue that their slot machine counterparts do. Since this is the case, people are starting to question whether or not machines are really the future of bingo or if they are just a temporary fix for casinos that aren’t allowed to have enough slots.

The future of bingo machines

Even though bingo machines aren’t pulling in the amount of money that slots do, it doesn’t mean they won’t eventually catch on in the future. One only needs to look at the history of video poker to know this. Video poker machines were largely unpopular after their introduction in the early 1970’s and it wasn’t until the 80’s that people began to realize video poker was a quality game. 

Of course this growing trust came largely as a result of improved features to video poker machines and there’s no reason to think that bingo machines can’t copy video poker’s path to success. After all, bingo is a wildly popular game and people should eventually warm up to the idea of it being on a machine. However, it’s difficult to see bingo machines ever totally replacing the traditional and online versions of the game.