888bingo

What Software and Games Does 888Bingo have?

Software

888bingo is powered by Dragonfish, an in-house 888 company that developed the site’s bingo offerings and many of its slots; there are also many such slot games from different software developers.

Dragonfish

This is an independent B2B software company that is a division of the site’s 888 parent company. They have developed over 300 online games and over 100 mobile games. 

The company was established in 2007 and has licenses and certifications in multiple jurisdictions including the UK. Dragonfish specializes in online poker, bingo, and slots.

Other Software

Outside of Dragonfish, 888bingo also works with a variety of software developers who provide the multitude of varied and exciting slot games for the site. 

These vendors include:

•     NetEnt
•     Eyecon
•     Pariplay
•     Thunderkick
•     IWG
•     iSoftbet
•     Big Time Gaming
•     Scientific Games
•     Blueprint Logic
•     Random Logic
•     Williams Interactive

Games Available 

Bingo

The main attraction at 888bingo is, of course, the bingo games. These fall into three basic categories comprising three styles of standard bingo games, coverall jackpot games, and progressive jackpot games.

Standard Bingo Games

90-Ball Bingo

Also known as European Bingo, this is the most popular style of bingo in the world. Players buy cards with six boards on them, showing numbers randomly filled in certain slots. As the numbers are called, you cover or “daub” the numbers with a marker pen. 

There are three winners in this game. The first winner is the person who covers one line, the second-place winner is the person who covers two lines, and the Full House winner covers all three lines on a single game board.  

75-Ball Bingo

Popular throughout North America, this is the style of bingo that most people in the U.S. are familiar with. It features a 5x5 game board and the middle square is usually a free space. The winner is the first player who successfully covers 5 spaces in a row either horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.

High-5 Bingo

This is known as Swedish Bingo as it’s the Swedish version of 75-ball bingo. The game is played the same way as standard 75-ball bingo but instead of crowning just one winner per game, there are five winners, who make one line, two lines, three, lines, four lines, and a full house or coverall. The name High-5 Bingo is unique to Dragonfish-powered sites.

Coverall Jackpots

These are daily games where, in addition to the standard game, there is a jackpot associated with covering all the spaces on the bingo card. These jackpots range from £50 all the way to £1,000,000.

Progressive Jackpots

These bingo games start with a seed jackpot amount and as more people play without winning the jackpot, the jackpot grows. 

On 888bingo, the seed jackpots start at anywhere from £5 to £500, and the games take anywhere 0.5% from every wager made and add it to the jackpot. This, of course, means these jackpots can rise to incredible heights, but the biggest ones are usually won at £2,000 or so. There are progressive jackpot games for every style of bingo the site offers.

Slots

888bingo also offers up a nice change of pace in the form of video slot games. Many of these are exclusive to Dragonfish-powered sites but there are plenty of slots from different developers as well. The site offers slots in a number of different themes, including both generic and officially licensed ones.

The slot game variety includes both 3-reel classic slots and 5-reel games. The most popular games can be found in their “Featured Games” section, where titles include popular games like Fruit Shop, Paradise Reels, Sands of Fortune, and Bruce Lee 2.

Other Games

While you come for the bingo and maybe the slots, there are a few additional games that 888bingo offers, including a selection you’d usually find in online casinos such as Keno, roulette, baccarat, and the ever-popular scratch cards. 

These games are made available by different developers and are a fine addition to the site, keeping it lively and fresh--but this is primarily a bingo site so they are not the star by any means, and are somewhat pared back.

Can I Play 888Bingo On My Mobile Phone?

One of the best features of 888bingo is their phenomenal mobile capability. Being powered by Dragonfish software, this is a major strength. Everyone knows Dragonfish has mobile gameplay absolutely nailed. 

So, be assured you can play 888bingo from anywhere right on your mobile phone, with the iOS and Android apps. The site works well no matter what device you play on, too, because the company has an optimized user interface for each device.

The browser experience for mobile is also very good for 888bingo. Users report that the site loads very fast, the gameplay is smoothly delivered, and the graphics remain crisp and high-res. There are very few reports of crashing or connectivity problems. You can also access your account very easily from mobile devices and that’s just an added bonus at 888bingo.

What Bonuses and Promotions Does 888Bingo Have?

Bonuses

The site does offer a Welcome Bonus for new players upon their first deposit. 

The amount and the cap are not that great, but the fabulous news is that the playthrough requirement for the bingo bonus is set lower than other sites. The bonus is £50 for every £10 deposit. However, this is capped at £100.

The downside of this bonus is that it is rather small compared to other sites that may offer bonuses capped at 10x or more that limit. Also, the bonus is only available on your first deposit where other sites offer bonuses on your first two or three. 

What is nice is that to turn your bonus into actual winnings, you only have to put it in play 4x in bingo games to make that happen. With other games, though, the playthrough is 80x which is not good. That is, in fact, unusually and somewhat scarily high!

Let’s move to more positive news; there is also a Happy Hour bonus every Monday where the site will match 100% of your deposit, up to £100.

Promotions

888bingo has many different daily, weekly, and monthly promotions. You can take advantage of these promos by playing different games at different times. The promotions on 888bingo include: 

Mystery Jackpot

Every day there are 51 games with a random jackpot between £10 and £500

Daily Jackpot Games

Every day has a low-priced game with a large jackpot. These have names like Terrific Tuesday and Wacky Wednesday, sure to bring a smile to your face.

Free Bingo Games

888bingo offers six free games where you can win small amounts of real money or bonuses.

The 2 Million Race

This is a loyalty-plan promotion where players get points for doing things like depositing $50 per day, referring friends, or getting BINGO! on the number 2. The first forty players to reach 2 million points get free additional loyalty points that can be redeemed for cash and prizes. 

Late Night Show

Every night, seventy-five players are invited to a free game to win a share of £100.

WOW!

A Sunday-through-Thursday bingo game that will win you free slots spins. 

Happy Hour

Every Monday, the site offers a matching bonus as well as double loyalty points for a two-hour period. 

The Big 10K

A monthly game on the 10th of every month where everyone who plays is guaranteed a share of the £10,000 total prize.

Loyalty Plan

The site offers a standard loyalty plan that resets monthly. Players who deposit and play a lot can earn good rewards each month, although the plan is a little more complicated and difficult to understand initially than it needs to be.

The first step in the loyalty program is earning jewels; you earn twelve of these for every £1 deposited.

As you cross jewel thresholds, you advance to a new level. These are:

• Bingo Pro – 1 – 599 Jewels
• Bingo Master – 600 – 2,399 Jewels
• Bingo Champ – 2,400+ Jewels.

These levels each unlock different levels of rewards that come in the form of bonus cashback, free spins, and free entries into The Big 10K game every month. The rewards at each level are:

• Bingo Pro – 5% bingo bonus cashback, 0% game bonus cashback, 5 free spins, 2 Big 10K tickets
• Bingo Master – 10% bingo bonus cashback, 5% game bonus cashback, 10 free spins, 5 Big 10K tickets
• Bingo Champ – 15% bingo bonus cashback, 10% game bonus cashback, 15 free spins, 10 Big 10K tickets.

What Deposit and Withdrawl Methods Does 888Bingo Offer?

888bingo offers deposits and withdrawals in four currencies: British Pounds (GBP), Euros (EUR), Canadian Dollars (CAD), and U.S. Dollars (USD).

Deposits

There are a number of ways to deposit money into your 888bingo account to get started playing bingo and to keep your account funded. The minimum deposit is £5. 

Deposit methods include:

By Phone: You can deposit money into your account in various ways by calling a support agent. They provide toll-free (freephone) numbers to call for both the UK (0800 901 2510) and international customers (+44 (0) 800 901 2510). 

Debit Cards: The site accepts Visa debit cards only in all applicable currencies. This is one of the two fastest deposit methods. 

Credit Cards: The site accepts both MasterCard and Visa credit cards in all applicable currencies. The site does state they “prefer” Visa. This is one of the two fastest deposit methods. UK players should make the most of this, however, since changes to legislation mean that very soon, UK players will not be able to fund gambling by credit card. 

Paysafecard: You can deposit funds by purchasing this prepaid card at a retailer and funding it.

PayPal: 888bingo allows UK residents only to deposit funds from their PayPal eWallet and accepts these deposits in all applicable currencies.

Bank Wire Transfer: Deposit funds directly from your bank account and into your 888bingo account with a secure wire transfer.

Apple Pay: Deposit funds from your Apple mobile eWallet. While 888bingo will allow deposits in all applicable currencies, this feature is only available to UK residents. 

Withdrawals

To take out your winnings or clear your account balance on 888bingo, you have the same methods available as you do for deposits. 

All withdrawal requests take two days to process and then varying amounts of time to complete, depending on the method. 

The withdrawal options include:

By Phone: Withdraw money from your account to your bank account by calling a support agent. The same toll-free numbers (that’s freephone if you’re British!) apply for the UK (0800 901 2510) and international customers (+44 (0) 800 901 2510). 

Debit Cards: The site offers withdrawals to Visa debit cards only in all applicable currencies. This is one of the two fastest deposit methods. Withdrawing via a Visa debit card takes five business days to complete.

Credit Cards: You can withdraw to both MasterCard and Visa credit cards in all applicable currencies, although the site does state they “prefer” Visa. Withdrawing funds with Visa debit card takes 5 business days to complete and a MasterCard takes 2-3 business days. Again, be aware that if you’re UK-based, credit card transactions to and from casinos will soon stop. 

PayPal: The site will process withdrawals to your PayPal eWallet in all applicable currencies, but this feature is also only available to UK residents. Withdrawing funds with PayPal takes 2-3 business days to complete.

Bank Wire Transfer: Deposit funds directly from your bank account and into your 888bingo account with a secure wire transfer. Withdrawing funds through a wire transfer takes 4-7 business days to complete.

Apple Pay: 888bingo will process withdrawals to your Apple mobile eWallet in all applicable currencies, but this feature is also only available to UK residents.

Is 888Bingo a Safe Place to Play?

The biggest controversy to strike 888 Holdings came in 2017. As part of gambling addiction prevention programs, players are allowed to self-exclude from sites so that they are no longer allowed to wager if they think they have a problem. This is a regulation that all respectable gambling sites have to allow, and a key part of the ‘responsible gambling’ initiative.

In May of 2017, the UK Gambling Commission opened an investigation into 888 Holdings and their self-exclusion practices. What the investigation found was that self-excluded players were able to place bets for up to thirteen months after they self-excluded. This action affected more than 7,000 players who kept access to their accounts after self-exclusion. 

Due to these findings, in August of 2017, 888 Holding was slapped with a record fine for disregarding these regulations. Never shy when it comes to prosecutions, the UK Gambling Commission fined the company a whopping £7.8 million. This caused an 8% drop in 888 Holdings’ stock the day it was announced.

As for criticism, there is a small one about depositing and withdrawing. Although it is generally easy to get money in and out of the site, there are a few downsides with the deposit and withdrawal options. 

First, the site does not accept eWallets other than PayPal and Apple Pay, and these two are accepted from UK residents only. Also, they have not started accepting the cryptocurrency Bitcoin yet, like many other sites have.

Bottom Line

The bottom line with 888bingo is that it is a solid-to-pretty-good bingo site for hardcore bingo players. The company running it is very reputable despite that 2017 glitch for 888 Holdings, and the look, feel and ease of use of the site are all very good. 

There is a wide variety of bingo games and you can win good money on many of them. 888bingo also has a lot of good promotions running all the time.

On the negative side of the ledger, there are a few things not to love about this site. Outside of bingo, the games are somewhere between ‘reasonable’ and subpar--however, as we said earlier, this is a bingo site so we forgive them for this factor. 

The Welcome Bonus is not great and the loyalty program is just a little convoluted. They also do not allow players from the U.S.

All in all, though, if you are a big-time bingo fan, you could do a lot worse than 888bingo--but you might also do a little better.