The Benefits of Bingo

Although bingo could be viewed as nothing more than an enjoyable pastime with the potential for winning cash prizes, the game can actually benefit players in a number of other ways. In this article we will look at some of the main benefits, and offer advice on how to make the most out of them.

Benefit 1: More Happiness

The amount of happiness an individual experience tends to be related to the amount of time they spend with friends. Bingo is one of the most sociable games in the world, so it makes sense that people who play bingo with their friends on a regular basis will generally admit to being happier than those who spend the majority of their free time alone and isolated.

Whilst traditional bingo clubs are more obviously social than their online counterparts, it is perfectly possible to enjoy the same social benefits of bingo when playing online. Chat rooms allow you to converse with a room full of people, share light-hearted comments and generally experience the same kind of verbal interaction that you would get at your local Mecca or Gala bingo hall. However, in order to experience the benefits associated with online companionship you do need to take the initiative and interact with the other players – simply reading the conversations being enjoyed by other people will be no more beneficial than listening to conversations on the radio.

Benefit 2: Mental Agility

Any activity that demands mental focus and concentration is good for our mental agility, and this is why crosswords and other newspaper puzzles are often recommended to individuals in their golden years. But bingo is just as effective at keeping the human brain agile as puzzles are. In fact, it could be even more beneficial, because it requires you to keep your ears and eyes on the numbers being called, to rapidly check your tickets and to mark the numbers off if you find you have them. A University of Southampton researcher by the name of Julie Winstone actually took the time to study the effect of bingo on mental health, and she found that the game helps to prevent a decline in cognitive ability, providing invaluable scientific proof of what bingo players have been saying themselves for decades.

Of course, the online game of bingo does not usually require as much focus and concentration as the traditional bingo hall game because when you are playing online your tickets are usually daubed automatically. Online players should therefore try playing one or two games in each session with auto-daubing turned off. When doing this it is a good idea to use just one or two strips of tickets, as more than this may be too demanding. Another way for online players to maintain their mental agility is to participate in chat-based games, as these often require players to listen out for certain numbers being called and make a claim in the chat window in order to win.

Benefit 3: Better Health

This third benefit is a natural result of the previous two. We have already seen how bingo can make a player happier and more mentally agile than a non-player, and the good news is that both happiness and mental agility help an individual to enjoy a better state of health. Happiness, for instance, results in lower levels of stress, which automatically lower the risk of develop stress-related illnesses. And greater mental agility increase mental health because it gives an individual more flexibility in the way they are able to think about things, which can also decrease stress levels and therefore the risk of developing stress related illness.

Of course, it would be a big mistake to think that bingo can benefit one’s health to the same degree as regular exercise, adhering to a balanced diet or avoiding toxins such as cigarettes and alcohol, but it is nevertheless encouraging to know that bingo can actually be good for a player physically as well as mentally and emotionally.

Last Updated: 07/02/2008 15:04:32