While surfing online bingo sites a while ago, I came across an online site called BlackBingo.Com. They call themselves the first Afro-American/Hispanic Bingo Hall online. It was a bi-lingual site with everything in both English and Spanish. It sometimes seemed more like a community centre or even support group than a Bingo site, with a great section on cheap and easy to make recipes. These included cheese casserole and Pumpkin cookies. Mmmmm!
The site had the usual collection of offers, bonuses, prizes etc. But if you took part in the "black chat back chat" rooms, then you got additional bonuses, which encouraged people to engage with others, have their say, and make friends. Alas, Blackbingo seems to be no more and you're redirected to Amigobingo.
I did wonder whether non-African or Hispanic Bingo players would be deterred from joining, but there seemed no prejudice whatsoever in the Black Chat rooms when they were functional. That got me thinking whether the online Bingo market is now so large, that there will be more and more "specialist" sites, like ones aimed at the ladies "Foxy Bingo", ones for the men, such as the subtly named Bingoformen and Blokes Bingo. I was chatting to a mate, who said "next thing they'll be having Children's Bingo sites". I don‘t think so. There is or was a Heavy Metal Bingo site a year or so ago, but I can't seem to find it now, or it might have changed its name. But I guess that no-one wants to turn anyone away by restricting their appeal or membership, as Bingo online is fiercely competitive! It seems that most of the time it will come down to which sites have the best offers, the games you like best, the graphics and sounds that you prefer, and of course, the most luck for you!
What types of specialist online Bingo sites would you like to see? Would you want them so diverse as to mirror all walks of life, and cater for those of a particular race, colour, creed, religion, sexual orientation, and beliefs? I come back to the fun I used to have with my folks when visiting Bingo Halls for live land-based Bingo (there was no online in the 1960-70s!). Part of the fun was meeting and chatting to people you didn't know and making new friends. My parents met a family with a boy, Max, about my age, who only lived round the corner from our house. We subsequently became mates, and even got our parents to buy as a Bingo card each for each session, which our parents would mark off for us, and call out if we won- but we'd get the prize money. Woo-hoo! My concern would be that specialist sites might become too insular and inward looking. I subscribe to the "variety is the Spice of Life" School. I'd be prepared to join any Bingo site, based on the quality and value of what's on offer. Actually that's a lie, I would not be happy joining a site with a target audience of Cross-Dressing Llamas- that would be just too weird.