Millennials Play Bingo More Than Any Other Age Group: Survey

Posted on: October 19, 2022, 07:49h. 

Last updated on: January 10, 2023, 11:26h.

Corey Levitan Read More
Expertise: Commercial Gaming, Entertainment, Expert Insight, Las Vegas.

According to a surprising new survey, the stereotype in your head of a typical bingo player probably needs a refresh. Bingo players with blue hair may also sport nose rings and tattoos. Milwaukee’s Potawatomi Hotel & Casino recent survey claims 59% of bingo players are millennials. They’re followed by Gen Xers (21%) and Gen Zers (14%) The baby boomer set came in last at 6%.

Young people playing bingo
Young people enjoy their grandmother’s game at a bingo club in London. (Image: theguardian.com)

The survey, published on paysbig.com, a website operated by the tribal casino, found that fully 80% of those who play bingo regularly were under 41 years old. Yet almost half (45%) of its respondents still believed that bingo was an “old person’s” game. The website credits bingo phone apps – such as Bingo Blitz, Absolute Bingo, and Bingo at Home – with exposing the Justin Bieber set to the game beloved by their Grandma Irma.

Other surprising facts turned up by the survey included that more than 1 in 10 Americans plays bingo, and that those who do play it often. Almost one in 10 play daily, while 32% play weekly, 53% play monthly, and 6% play yearly. In addition, 12% of Americans began their bingo fascination while stuck home during the pandemic, and another 9% picked it up as recently as March 2022.

According to the casino, which offers bingo, it surveyed 1,000 Americans in August 2022 about their bingo and gambling opinions and habits. Respondents were 49% female, 49% male, and 2% transgender/non-binary. The age range was 18 to 84, with an average age of 38 years old.

Bingo Across the Pond

Across the pond, London’s Dabbers has found success offering “bingo for hipsters.”

“With cheesy hits from Chesney Hawkes’ The One and Only’ to the Beatles’ ‘When I’m Sixty-Four’ used to call out some of the numbers which are pumped out by a contraption which looks like a combination between the Tardis and Kerplunk, it’s a long way from swirly carpets and “two fat ladies – 88, ” the Guardian reported.

In America, playing bingo for cash is only legal in churches for charity, in Nevada casinos, and in Indian casinos such as the Potawatomi.

While Casino.org could not find any stories corroborating the paysbig.com survey’s conclusions  about younger American generations embracing the game, we did locate a recent story in TheHolcad, the student newspaper of Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pa. It reported that bingo is “sweeping” the residence halls there following a resurgence during the pandemic shutdown.

The first bingo night of the semester in August had a “massive turnout” of 157, according to Kent Dunn, treasure of Westminster’s Campus Programming Council, who noted that it was “the largest number I’ve ever seen.”