What Honest Online Bingo Reviews Should Always Tell You?

We've all read at least one review that was a blatant fluff and gave you no useful info but was trying to make you sign up ASAP. Or the sites that have dozens of banners, pop ups and pictures but their content has no real value. This is something we hate seeing, let alone doing. Our reviews are based on hard facts. We don't embroider the truth and we don't hide uncomfortable details. Here's what we actually do before we decide to recommend a bingo site:

We check the Licensing of the operator

Not long ago the operators used to get their licensees from remote gambling jurisdictions such as Malta, Gibraltar, the Isle of Man etc that were white listed in Great Britain. But in 2014 changes in the UK law were introduced and now all gambling operators who want to advertise or offer their services to UK citizens are required to get a license from the UK Gambling Commission. All trustworthy bingo sites have already received one but we will specifically point this in the respective review together with the licensing number.

We try to find as much information about the Security as we can

This includes details about the Random Number Generators used (these is the software that guarantees fair results), the testing agency that has certified the RNG and an RTP (Return to Player) report. We also look for the so called trust seals by companies for data privacy protection. This guarantees that your private information and your banking details will be protected by an SSL encryption and other methods when you are on the site. And lastly we pay attention to the player protection policy. Most sites are members of organisation that encourage responsible gambling such as Gambleaware, Gamcare and so on. They also restrict underage gambling and help parents control the content their children see by providing links for filtering software.

Make our best to negotiate a special deal for our readers

In other words offer you something that is a bit higher than the regular Welcome Bonus. We have been working in this niche for quite some time and due to our good reputation we have built strong business relationships with many partners. This puts us in the position to require a little bit more special attention. We have many promo codes that are exclusive and you will not find them anywhere else. Usually we are able to add at least a fiver to the regular offer but often it is more.

We tell you what is the Software provider of the site

The leader software developers in the gambling industry are Dragonfish, Virtue Fusion, Cozy Games, Microgaming, Gamesys and a few more that are not as popular. They also have networks of bingo sites that use the roughly the same software. This means you can expect to find similar games or promos which is a bit of a drawback at times. But other times this is a great advantage. For example Mecca and Gala both use Virtue Fusion Software and both have DOND bingo in their lobby which happens to be your favourite. Gala, however, also offer Corrie bingo which is also your favourite but is not included in Mecca's selection of games. So you just avoided making a hard choice.

Play a few bingo games ourselves...

Hey it's for research purposes only! No seriously, we always check the Game Selection and the number of bingo rooms in the lobby. The time when having both 75-ball and 90-ball bingo in your lobby made you a perfect bingo site are long gone. Now a truly impressive site has to work a bit more to deserve our attention. There are new variations like 30-ball bingo that was created by Cozy Games. It's basically a very fast-paced game. The 50-ball Coconut Island that is exclusive to Gala is also a quick game because the balls are fewer than usual. But there is also Speed 90-Ball Bingo on many sites. Since making up a completely new bingo game is not that easy what most software providers and operators do is introduced exclusive rooms, or TV-show/film based games. This way the fans of Coronation Street can spend some time with their favourite characters at Gala till they wait for the new episode. Or you can show your inner star in Britain's Got Talent Bingo and X Factor Bingo at Mecca. Those Who Want to Be a Millionaire can try to get rich at Sky Bingo and if you think that you can sell the banker at Deal or No Deal Bingo your box for a hefty wad of bills can try their luck at Paddy Power.

Then take out our tablets and smartphones and play some more

Just to check the compatibility of the Mobile Site or the Bingo App you know. This takes up quite some time very often because we'd like to compare the rooms and the promos available for PC clients and mobile players. We test how functional and intuitive the app/mobile site is – is there an integrated chat function in the rooms, can you deposit and withdraw, can you contact the support, can you manage your account, redeem Loyalty Points, are the icons large enough on the significantly smaller mobile devices and much more. Basically we want to make sure that anything you can do on the PC site you can do on your smartphone/tablet as well.

Find how often the operator includes new Promos

...and whether they do it weekly, monthly or seasonally. Sometimes we don't include all the promotions because they are valid for a very short time but we will always remind you to look out for those if we find that the operator updates their offer on a regular basis. We also check whether there is a blog, a Facebook page and a Twitter account of the operator because often these are exactly the places where you will find lucrative temporary promotions, bonus codes and prize draws.

Contact the Support Agents

We try to reach Support and see how quickly they respond, how helpful they are and how patient they can be...just kidding, as you know we're always professional. If they have an email we send them some questions and see how quickly they answer it, if there's a live chat we keep an eye on the time need for the agents to connect. We ask various questions to see how willing they are to help and whether they can provide easy to understand answers.

We always list the available Payment Options

In our detailed reviews we also provide info about the time needed for the execution of a transaction as well as the minimum/maximum deposit/withdrawal amounts. We tell you how the transaction will appear in your bank statement so you know in advance what to look for. We also browse through bingo forums to see what real players say about the payment practices of the operator.

And finally, we look for prestigious Awards

There are not so many reputable organisations for gambling awards – the eGaming Review magazine holds an annual ceremony and there are the Which Bingo Awards. And while the jury in the eGR are industry experts, Which Bingo count on the players to nominate and then vote for the winner. This is great for us because we can actually see whether the opinion of the professional judges corresponds with what the bingo community thinks about the operators. We have noticed that in the last few years the categories are quite similar and surprisingly or not the winners are also the same.