Free bingo is obviously something that most of us online bingo fans would like to see more of, giving you the chance to win without parting from your pennies. And although the heady days of wall-to-wall free bingo games across sites are few and far between, there’s still some free bingo hero’s out there that we figured deserved an honourable mention. In honour of Costa Bingo’s upcoming £100k free bingo game, we thought we’d a guide to some of the biggest free bingo games ever held, alongside details of the latest promos and free bingo sites you can still get involved in.
Don’t forget! Current games can be found at the bottom of this post, so scan through if you want to get to the good stuff…
A Little Bit of History…
Free bingo games were one of the starting points of online bingo, with a now defunct US online bingo site called Bingo Zone offering players the chance to win free money on bingo games in return for swapping their personal details. Despite the trailblazing attitude of Bingo Zone, relatively few other online bingo sites offered much in the way of free bingo games for a long, long time; companies thought of the game as pretty damaging for their profits (and not surprisingly so).
Then came the arrival of Cheeky Bingo in 2009, which was officially the UK’s first dedicated free-to-play online bingo site. Started by Cashcade, the parent company of the already then successful Foxy Bingo, Cheeky Bingo’s proposition was put simply – “play for free, win for real”. Real cash prizes were given away in games that offered free bingo cards.
Despite many initially feeling Cheeky Bingo wouldn’t last, the site managed to nab a fair few awards and fans in the process, boasting 6 free bingo rooms that were often packed with online bingo players. According to the then head honcho of Cashcade, Simon Collins, Cheeky Bingo’s initial success “…surprised us. When we had the idea, there were many people internally who felt the cost of the free games would drive the site out of business within a few months.”
Running round the clock free bingo comes at a cost – in the same interview with online bingo portal Playing Bingo, Collins estimated Cheeky Bingo’s spend at £1.2 million on free bingo games alone in just a few short months.
Free Bingo gets Competitive…
And then came the competition.
Seeing the popularity and success of Cheeky Bingo, several other sites began setting up shop, including the aforementioned Costa Bingo. The main rival of Cheeky Bingo, Costa Bingo set up offering a free no deposit bonus and round the clock.
Other sites began getting on board, with a glut of free bingo style promotions run across big name sites, as well as smaller free bingo sites opening their doors. Jackpots were kept deliberately small, with the maximum cash jackpot in the region of £50 in 2009. The idea was the games came thick and fast, meaning most free bingo jackpots were in the region of £1 or £2, with special daily games of £50.
Bursting the Free Bingo Bubble
But of course, nothing good lasts forever. With the growth of online bingo as a whole, operators became less focused on acquiring new players – and more concerned with keeping them on site, and spending money. What then happened is that most free bingo sites began attaching conditions to their offers.
Instead of being able to play no-deposit free bingo games (which meant players could sign up to a site without ever having put in any money to their account, play a game and technically win free money from nothing), operators began asking their players to be funded before playing free bingo games. The number of sites offering round the clock free bingo or no deposit bingo dwindled as it became clear the “gold rush” was over.
Top Tip: Hit the bottom of the page, and we’ve still got some top picks for the best round-the-clock free bingo sites!
Silver Linings – Welcome Big Money Free Bingo
The upside to the shift away from round the clock free bingo games was that the jackpots got bigger. Sites began running special one-off promotions with huge money jackpots.
Proving that quality mattered more than quantity, many sites adopted this approach, leading to big name bingo sites like Foxy Bingo, Wink Bingo and JackpotJoyBingo adding the occasional free bingo game into their promotional mix.
We’ll take a pause for a trip down memory lane as we run through the top four biggest free bingo games ever…
888Ladies Bingo, £50k game, March 2011
The one that started it off in our opinion wasn’t even technically meant to be a free bingo game. But When 888 Ladies launched a £50k Golden Ticket jackpot, the option to earn and win free bingo tickets into the game definitely set the mould for all the pre-buy games you see now with free bingo tickets.
Cheeky Bingo’s Free £50K Giveaway, June 2011
Clearly one of the first free bingo sites out there would also be one of the first to run a big money free bingo promotion. Their £50k giveaway heralded the start of a summer that also gave away £10k in selected one-off free bingo games. Jackpots at the beginning of the £50k giveaway were set at £20, climbing over the course of a week to a huge £5,000 – with all tickets absolutely free.
Costa Bingo £100k Birthday Bash(es), June 2011 and 2012
Wherever Cheeky Bingo goes, Costa Bingo is not far behind, often with something a little bit flashier. Their current £100k second birthday bash offers one player the chance to walk away with £100k absolutely free. Started last year, the game proved so popular that the guys replicated it this year.
Foxy Bingo £100k Born Free Promotion, 2011 and 2012
Foxy Bingo got on board the free bingo train with several HUGE money giveaways, most recently in March this year. Having given away some £300,000 in their recent Born Free £100k Free Bingo games, the guys then followed up with £10,000 daily free bingo games in what must surely be one of the most expensive online bingo marketing plans in history! Currently, the guys are running one-off £10k free bingo games, which we’ll be covering in depth in the next couple of days.
Don’t forget! We really want to give Red Bus Bingo an honourable mention, as the guys have been running a £1,000 nightly free bingo treat since 2010.
The Free Ride games takes place at 9.15pm every day, consolidating Red Bus Bingo’s previous three daily free bingo games into one unmissable nightly event.
The thing is, you can still get your share of free bingo at plenty of sites. Facebook sites have also become popular for getting free bingo kicks, and there’s a multitude of bingo portals that have also set up free bingo site spin offs.
The Best Free Bingo Sites:
And although round the clock bingo is a bit thinner on the ground, we’d definitely point you in the direction of the following sites for 24/7 free bingo games that are more than worth your while:
Foxy Zero:
The free bingo spin off of Foxy Bingo offers a free bingo game every 5 minutes, with £1,000’s in free bingo jackpots waiting to be won every single day.
City Bingo:
Mandalay Media sites definitely lead the charge with free bingo sites. City Bingo offer a £5 no deposit sign up bonus, alongside round the clock free bingo games.
Sing Bingo:
Free bingo reigns supreme at Sing Bingo, who also happen to be part of the Mandalay Media group. Highly recommended amongst us lot, there’s also a massive £10 no deposit bingo sign up bonus to get you started on the right note.
Costa Bingo:
Naturally we couldn’t miss out on Costa Bingo, who have one of the biggest number of dedicated free bingo rooms. Some are no deposit, some require you to be funded, but with games happening every couple of minutes, you’ll be able to get your fill of free bingo – including their £100k free bingo game this June.
Cheeky Bingo:
The original is still one of the best, and although Cheeky have cut their free bingo emphasis over the last few years, you can still find 24/7 free bingo games.
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