If you’ve ever wondered what the catch is when it comes to free bingo sites, it is really simple.

Provide a free game, attract hundreds of players, and then attempt to convert just some of those players to your cash site or another cash site from whom you can earn a percentage of anything they spend.

This is pretty much the model for all the free bingo sites out there in one shape or form, although some bingo portals provide a free game in order to attract more visitors, but ultimately the idea is to earn some revenue from you.

Only a few years ago there were loads of these sites, and the competition between them was fierce.

The main players these days are FreeBingo.co.uk and WooHooBingo.com, but in the past there were many more including LiveBingo.com.

LiveBingo.com is an interesting example as they first launched as a free game and were providing some pretty impressive prizes. The prizes you could win every single day included toasters, trinkets and relatively low-value items, but added together made for quite the expenditure on prizes when you also threw in the big weekly and monthly prizes too, which were often things like laptops.

As a result, LiveBingo.com got a huge following and the site was buzzing with players every day. However, they then got ambitious and launched themselves as a pay site, relegating their free game to a new URL named BingoPals.com.

The big prizes were removed for a ‘win points exchange for prizes’ model that wasn’t as appealing, and their team’s focus went full on into where they could make the most money, on their pay site.

Now BingoPals.com sits there with very little love shown to it, and you are lucky to see more than half a dozen players on the site at any one time.

Another great free bingo site that made a similar fall from grace was FreeBingo.net.

FreeBingo.net was the very first free bingo game in the UK, and utilised the same software that FreeBingo.co.uk currently use. However, they didn’t do much with it but still managed to run a fun site with a number of prizes to keep the players interested.

FreeBingo.net was run by the bingo portal BingoBase.com, and a decision was made to move the free game over to the portal so that perhaps their free bingo players would then use BingoBase and in turn generate revenue.

However, this failed spectacularly as FreeBingo.net was kept open, but the log-in panel was moved to BingoBase. Players would land on one site, but have to go to another site in order to log-in. It was all terribly confusing and overnight player numbers evaporated as people just couldn’t figure it out.

The free game still exists as part of BingoBase.com, but like BingoPals, it suffers due to the parent company focusing on their more important projects such as the portal itself and also their pay sites.

FreeBingo.net is still online but it is no longer a free game, and instead just a site full of bingo advertisements.

With the rise of facebook bingo games, it has become harder and harder for free bingo site owners to attract players and stay profitable, which is why many sites no longer offer the same experience and prizes as they once did.

Only FreeBingo.co.uk and WooHooBingo.com continue to offer what we believe to be a worthwhile free experience with a genuine chance of winning prizes.

They do so because they are offer the right balance between the free game and the advertising required to keep it profitable as a business. Many other sites just don’t put the time and effort into doing so, which is why players vote with their feet.

So when you are choosing a free site to play at, take a look at the number of players in the bingo rooms. If it is less than the number of fingers on your hands, then we suggest it is so for a reason and you should avoid.

Playing free bingo online is always fun, but when you get to actually win real money, the game just got a whole lot nicer. While many people play bingo online only trying to win those jackpot payouts, there is actually a whole online bingo community set up where cyber friends actually become mates.

Everyone gets to know the whole life story of other players, and God forbid someone miss a day! The whole bingo chat room is off looking in all the other online free bingo games to see if their mate was there today. Unless you have ever played a game of bingo online, you have no idea just how close the players actually get.

It is more than a game of bingo, although the prizes are always welcome. The real fun in playing free bingo online is meeting new people who share a common interest. You got it! B-I-N-G-O! There is plenty of time in between balls to have a friendly chat, and that’s where most of the fun takes place.

Picking on the caller for calling every ball but yours, or calling ‘him’ stingy is half the fun. There are a number of online free bingo sites in the UK and they are each set up a bit differently. Some have special days for jackpots while others have a daily or hourly special prize. You are likely to find the same people hopping about from site to site as jackpots are won. It’s time to try your luck on a new site, or a new room, but it’s still just part of the excitement. Free bingo UK really is £s of fun!