Do you want to know what bingo mania is? Bingo mania is starting with five websites devoted to bingo in 1999 and then exploding to 105 websites in just four years. The online bingo industry is capturing a bingo mania that has existed since 1929 when the first bingo game was played in the United States at Edwin S. Lowe's apartment in New York.

Bingo, a game that has been around in many different forms leading back to the invention of the Italian lottery in 1530, has always been a popular form of entertainment. Today over 1.6 billion people claim bingo to be their favorite form of entertainment, beating out the runner up, movies, by over a half billion.

But over the last 60 years the old fashioned game of bingo has been too often associated with being old fashioned. Especially in today's market, where a young person would rather spend hours in front of a computer than hours in a bingo hall sitting next to his grandmother.

Even with 1.6 billion players bingo still takes on the moniker of being an old lady's game.With the continuing growth of online bingo the game has never before had such a chance to reach so many new markets starting a new bingo mania to carry the game into the next millennium. There are bingo websites out there for every kind of person, from grandmothers to grandchildren. For grandmothers there are classic bingo rooms with traditional bingo games and low key chat rooms. For grandchildren there are non-gambling websites devoted to introducing the game to young people. There are even educational websites using the game of bingo as a teaching tool.

Still the real bingo mania has come from the possibilities available for rising jackpots. The stereotyped $20 jackpot bingo has been growing for the last couple of decades. High stakes bingo developed on Indian Reservations and in conjunction with casinos. Online bingo takes the rewards of high stakes bingo and brings them to a low stakes forum. Bingo players can win thousands of dollars or exotic vacations by spending less than a dollar on bingo cards.

Online bingo mania is still young, and has not completely removed the 'old lady's game' stamp, but the bingo market is growing younger. The average age of an online bingo player is said to be around 41 years of age. Bingo mania still seems to hold a predominantly female audience, with over 80% of the bingo players being women. Still, online bingo mania is revitalizing the game. With chat rooms, growing jackpots and the versatility bingo has shown through the years; don't be surprised if online bingo keeps growing. Bingo mania is back, and it's not just for old ladies anymore.

The math is simple, more players equals larger jackpots. The old fashioned bingo hall cannot compete with online bingo. Online games are more numerous, quicker, and are easily accessed. Some grandmothers, believe it or not, are playing bingo online with the same enthusiasm that they played with in a church basement. Chat rooms help to give online bingo a community atmosphere. Players can talk to each other in real time from anywhere in the world there is internet service.Prizes are larger and the old prize of a roll of quarters cannot compete with the thousands of dollars that can now be won playing online bingo.