Budget Bingo Review

Everybody likes a bargain, a good deal, something for nothing, or a discount. By comparison, less of us like to admit we’re on a tight budget, and despite a particularly prominent vehicle rental firm using the word in its brand name, the word itself doesn’t exactly inspire people. We are, after all, living in an era and culture of aspiration (even if that aspiration is usually misguided and focussed on achieving less than amazing levels of notoriety- see also: celebrity culture).

With this in mind, the people behind Budget Bingo, you would hope, must have a pretty great product in their website to try and reverse the negative connotations. Well, when the URL first loads up to reveal itself in all possible glory, first impressions are surprisingly average considering what we’ve already said we were hoping. Best to note here, that doesn’t mean they are terrible, just that what is revealed doesn’t appear to be anything particularly that special.

Ticker Reveals the Deals

The homepage itself is dominated by a ticker image that reveals all the great offers and deals that are on the table for you after signing up. The one good thing about this is the fact the ticker does actually tick – as in it changes the message every couple of seconds. This alone is better than a lot of websites of this kind, which clearly have a ticker function but couldn’t be bothered to actually set the utility to work properly. Nevertheless, the decision to use just thick font writing- and not a particularly attractive font at that- with a plain black background, isn’t exactly turning many heads.

Below this you’ll see a bunch of thumbnails which reveal various slot games that are available to play. Again, there’s a positive to be taken from this – the developers have made at least some effort to showcase the fact that Budget Bingo, despite what the name suggests, is actually about much more than just bingo. The quantity of games on display isn’t enormous, however, but then this could well be a simple case of showing us a small portion of what’s tucked away deeper in the site itself. We shall see as this review goes on.

The final section of the homepage is dedicated to the Bingo Schedule. Again, points won by the site for clarifying what type of bingo is on offer, and giving us an idea of the number of games that are in play at any one time. More so, it’s helpful to see what the total prize money on offer is, and what the buy in price is. And, last but not least, you want to be able to see whether the game has started before jumping in- there’s no point in joining a game that’s nearly done, although it would be better if they showed you when the game had begun to truly avoid falling into that trap.

Bingo-ing Mad

If you click on the Bingo option on the menu at the top part of the screen things become a lot clearer in terms of what’s on offer. Firstly, there are Jackpots as a default range of games that are highlighted in the table that dominates the page. Next to this, you can filter the options down to 90-ball, 80-ball, 75-ball, 50-ball, and 30-ball. That’s a decent selection of game types to choose from – we’ve come across many in the past that are limited to maybe three types of bingo game, which to us doesn’t exactly scream out ‘expert bingo site for expert players’, but instead ‘half cocked attempt to get some people playing bingo’. So then, overall, Budget Bingo’s range is anything but bargain bin, and more in line with some of the more comprehensive offerings we have come across.

Slots and Other Stuff

We already know there are some slot games to go at once you have membership of the site, but the only way to really get your head around how expansive this section might be is by clicking on the ‘Slots’ option in the top menu. Thankfully, this brings up many, many more types of slots than advertised on the homepage, meaning our initial assumptions were correct – those displayed on the landing screen were merely scratching the surface. There are some great games to go at too, far higher standard than many other bingo sites seem to have signed up for, and certainly enough to keep you coming back for more.

Wait, There’s a Casino Too

You bet there is. Budget Bingo’s main menu also has a bunch of Casino games that can be accessed by, logically, clicking on the Casino menu in the top of the screen. Soon, then, you begin to realise that there are options toplay on 10s or better, European Blackjack, Roulette, Deuces, Keno, and more.

One criticism here would be that poker is notably absent, which seems to be a common trait on bingo websites that have a casino area. We can’t really fathom why, either- given poker is one of the most popular types of casino games to play. Nevertheless, this area is far from under-populated by the average standards.

Amazingly, considering how much else there is going on here, Budget Bingo isn’t limited to bingo, slots, and casino games. If you click on the Games option on the menu there are around a dozen other titles to choose from, which come in all shapes, sizes, and formats- the only shared trait being they are there to, hopefully, facilitate you winning cash prizes.

Loyalty Pays Off

...at first at least. Unusually for many online gambling dens, Budget Bingo doesn’t blatantly advertise or promote a VIP or rewards club that is aimed at making people become loyal, frequent players- there’s no sliding scale of membership that sees you able to redeem greater than greater prizes for playing more.

In contrast, though, there are some decent bonuses and promotions on offer that don’t necessarily look at how frequently you’re playing. This includes the Free Bingo Xtravaganza, the Newbie Bonus - 500% match on your first deposit, 350% on your second, and 300% on your third. You can also claim weekly cashback (at 20% of your spend), and then there’s a Jackpot Special, which offers even more reasons to play. Clearly these are designed to pull you in and keep you there, but notably the do not require you to play with any degree of regularity, which in some ways is actually more generous than many other websites of this kind.

We’re Fans of Budget Bingo

On the whole, we’re actually big, big fans of Budget Bingo. We don’t really like the name, or at least think there has been something of a mistake made in its choosing (the name isn’t offensive, just not particularly enticing either), and the design is a little basic, but, for a change, that’s where the real criticisms end.

On the flip side, there are plenty of positives that you should take note of. The breadth and scope of the bingo games is impressive- there are lots of games, and lots of variety in the games on offer. The number of slots is, quite frankly, destined to embarrass many websites for their paltry offerings. Meanwhile, although not particularly expansive, the Casino and Games sections are also great little additions to the overall offering. Add to this some great deals that don’t bias in favour of those who are logging in and playing every day, or indeed every week, and the package is pretty complete. Which makes a nice change.