ABC Bingo Review

Bingo is the operative word when it comes to ABC Bingo online casino, if indeed you can properly call it an online casino. We’re not 100% sure on first impressions, largely because the landing page seems squarely aimed at what you might call the ‘bingo crowd’. If that’s not too sweeping a generalisation on who would probably go in for a bingo website.

In terms of the overall design, it’s pretty typical of the UK bingo website market- this being a .co.uk URL we can safely assume it’s targeting the Brits. Fluffy, friendly, cartoonish even, the pinky-red hues and light blues are definitely pointing us in the direction of a female-focus for the clientele, although again that may be being rather presumptuous.

Still, we can only go off our instincts, and the instinct here says that there’s some good quality bingo to be had, given the aesthetics look very polished and up to date. Even using the site on a Mac that’s seen better days (think of an old, weary dog complete with arthritic limbs and a dodgy eye) the landing page was rapid to load and the nicely curved boxes pleasing to look at, even if we are only seeing things through a veil of cataracts and nastiness.

Hidden Menus

Digressions and health concerns aside, if there’s one immediate criticism it’s the fact that the menus for this website are a little hidden. Sure, they have lovely handwritten fonts being used, but tucked away in tiny writing in the top right hand corner of the screen doesn’t do anyone any favours, and would make you think that all this site has to offer is bingo.

It doesn’t, in fact, but the majority of the home page is dedicated to bingo goings on. Scroll down from the top and you’ll find some thumbnails pertaining to individual games on offer, none of which have a description of what they actually are, and below this a Bingo Schedule complete with winnings ticker, so you know the kind of numbers people are walking away with in terms of cash, and when new bingo games are starting up.

But You Said It’s Not Just Bingo!

That’s right, it isn’t. Check the top right – you know, the bit we already complained about it being hard to see – and you’ll find there’s also an option for slots. We’ve seen elsewhere people try to combine a bingo focus with a secondary offering of full range casino, and while this is great in some ways the difference it pretty significant. Put simply, the target audiences, fundamentally, are different, and so those looking for a full range casino are not really going to be pleased with the aesthetics of a bingo website, and those after bingo fun will be largely uninterested in playing serious video poker.

Alas, then, here we have something that makes far more sense- combining the innocent fun of bingo with the equally innocent fun of slot machines. The real question is, though, does ABC Bingo do slot machines particularly well, because that’s going to mean the difference between the slot section being for nothing, and actually serving a very real purpose.

Panic Over

The good news is, when you click on the Slots, you’re immediately taken to a page which has a sort/search bar powered by the alphabet. This would imply there’s a full A-Z of slot titles, but this is also where things begin to get a little confusing. Here’s why.

The first games that load up in this section include blackjack, baccarat, and deuces. All are card games, and all are the kind of card games that you would usually find on a full range casino. Out the window goes our earlier point on keeping things nicely focussed on the fun side of online gambling. Similarly, it also exemplifies the whole point about pointless additions to bingo websites. Not only are you unlikely to be in this digital neighbourhood for anything other than bingo, the developers have failed to show you that you can play cards on the loading page, increasing the chances of people bouncing off to another website in search of their dealer based fun (that’s card dealer, not any other type you may be thinking of).

On With The Bingo

Click on Bingo – again in that hard to find bit in the top right hand corner of the screen – and you’ll be taken through to a section of the site that is all about what you’re almost definitely here for- Bingo!The bingo schedule dominates the most part of the page, and shows you how long is left in each game, how much a card costs to play, and the current top winner along with their winnings. It’s all in real time, which adds to the realness (obviously) but also gives a sense of urgency to join. Or helps you avoid diving into a game that’s as good as over already.

In terms of options, it has to be said that we’ve seen better and more varied- ABC Bingo only has 90 Ball, 75 Ball, and 5 Line available, which is a shame. Nevertheless, all are thoroughly entertaining and enjoyable, so no complaints on quality.

Three for a Pound

Promotions have grown to be the lifeblood of the online gambling world, helping carbon copy websites differentiate themselves from their peers and lure in new players. ABC Bingo excels at this aspect it has to be said. You’ll receive a bonus just for signing up, 10% cashback, a bonus for referring a friend, and, bizarrely, you can win a full year’s worth of school supplies.

Needless to say, nobody of school age should be gambling online (18+), but this also means we were perhaps correct to assume this is primarily aimed at women, or more accurately, mothers.

On the (Bin)go

The mobile provision for this site is exceptional with a fully responsive stand-alone model set up just for mobile gamers. This is far and away a vast improvement on other bingo sites, so well done to the developers for making something so up to date. After all, we’re all browsing predominantly without computers, so this makes perfect sense.

In Conclusion

ABC Bingo looks very nice when the website first loads up, and the imagery used is definitely very enticing. There’s an obvious problem, though- looks will only get you so far, and all looks eventually begin to fade with time. Put simply, we could easily expect to come back here in three years and the site, if unchanged, would look like an out of date ghoul where once this pretty young thing stood. And that is why ABC Bingo is not on our recommended casinos list. Click below to find those that are.