When is a Bingo Site a Standalone Bingo Site?

Recently, we have seen the launch of a few new bingo sites but none have been curious to us than the launch of Rio Bingo. When we first clapped eyes on the site, we did our usual digging to see who was running the show and how they were doing so. Initially, our findings were pretty straightforward…until we quizzed support about the bingo rooms.

Rio Bingo is owned an operated by Mandalay Media, which also owns and operates big ‘standalone’ bingo sites such as Fancy Bingo, City Bingo and Sing Bingo. However, we have dug up some interesting facts about the bingo rooms and games at these high profile bingo sites.

What exactly is a standalone bingo site?

Simply put, a standalone bingo site is a site that has rooms that are exclusively open to players at that particular site. Possibly the most famous standalone bingo site is Tombola but there are many of them across the internet.

A ‘network’ or ‘community’ bingo site is an online bingo site that shares its players across a network of sites, in a bid to create bigger jackpots and busier bingo rooms. The Live Bingo Network is a great example of a group of bingo sites that pools its players. Every room you enter while playing at sites such as Landmark Bingo and Comfy Bingo on LBN will share the same players, tickets, chat rooms and prizes.

While we were reviewing the new Rio Bingo site, we found great difficulties in identifying whether or not the bingo rooms on the site were standalone. We spoke to support, contacted live help and emailed dozens of messages across with a variety of conflicting replies. Finally, we received an email from Dayle, a support manager at Rio Bingo, who told us that “Rio Bingo is a skin of another network, and therefore all of the bingo rooms are shared. There are no standalone Rio Bingo rooms.” So, what exactly did this mean, we wondered? So, we did some more digging.

The usual way we would establish if one bingo room is linked to another on a different site is to log into both rooms and chat to yourself. However, this was not possible at Rio Bingo because the chat rooms are exclusively open to players at Rio Bingo and not open to players at other sites – even players who are sharing the same games with you! Instead, we had to open dozens and dozens of bingo rooms, comparing one room to another and the results shocked us.

The ‘so called’ standalone bingo sites of Fancy Bingo, City Bingo, Sing Bingo and Rio Bingo are actually all joined, with players from each of the three sites sharing games and jackpots…but not all rooms are shared with all players. For example, the Beach Shack bingo room at Rio Bingo is networked with Karaoke Nights at Sing Bingo but not with any rooms at Fancy Bingo. Whereas the Big Bucks Fountain room at Fancy Bingo shares players and games with Party Central at Rio Bingo. As you can see, this isn’t your typical, straightforward bingo network.

What are the drawbacks to network bingo rooms?

In theory, more players and busier bingo rooms are generally considered to be a good thing, as more players buying tickets means bigger prizes. However, the obvious flipside to this is that busier bingo rooms are harder to win prizes in but, as a rule, players consider busier bingo rooms best.

But what if you didn’t know you were sharing your bingo games with players from other sites? Firstly, it looks quite bad when, for one game after the next, no roomies at your site win any prize because they’re all being won by players at another bingo site, in another chat room. This is the kind of thing that has previously had players crying ‘fix’, especially in the early days of online bingo. Of course, we now understand the legal requirements that reputable bingo sites adhere to but this kind of network arrangement with exclusive chat rooms can lead to a lot of uncertainly.

We can’t blame Mandalay Media for this particular tactic, as bingo networks are rarely publicised to players and this far from an exclusive arrangement. Another example of a similar arrangement is the relationship between Health Bingo and Bingo Stars, which also shares bingo rooms but has exclusive chat rooms. This appears to be a growing trend and something that players should really be aware of before depositing cash and buying bingo tickets.

Overall, we find the hiding of bingo networks a little deceiving – especially when the rooms have their own chat rooms and hosts. However, you ARE still getting a fair game at these sites, only you’re not sure who’s in the game with you!