Playing at an internet bingo site today and checking out all the new bingo side games that they have launched something grabbed our attention when watching the comings and goings in the bingo chat rooms. The chat host kept posting macros* about ‘bingo raiders’ and mentioning ‘raiding’. This leads to the question bingo raiding, what is it and who are bingo raiders?
When the question was asked after a chat host on duty posted a macro* using the word “raider” the response from the other bingo players was that bingo raiders are “people who book tickets but leave the room”. Surely the whole point of having multiple rooms at any given internet bingo site is so that players can buy in whichever room they choose? On a request for further clarification of bingo raiders it was explained that the chat game being played, where bingo players could win bingo points, required that the bingo player be in the room in order for another player to win points.
There are many bingo chat games available to chat hosts to play but the game that was being played at this time was one called Upper. The rules for this game is that when someone wins the game the player above them in chat wins bonus points. However, should a player not be in chat for any reason then a points award cannot be made.
Surely then, whilst the bingo players in the room are understandably up in arms that they cannot win points because someone is not in the chat room, that a) the chat host should play one of the bingo chat games not dependant on the winner of the game b) a player who has the choice of being in chat or not should not be subject to ridicule for choosing to play out of chat?
Bingo raiding has also been defined as when a player buys bingo tickets in multiple rooms, again, a personal choice, but other players who maybe can’t afford to buy in multiple rooms do get frustrated at not winning.
It is quite obvious that being labelled a ‘bingo raider’ is not a compliment but something other players’ feel you should be ashamed of. Many internet bingo sites however allow their chat hosts to participate in the naming of a bingo raider and this was obvious in the congratulatory remarks made by the bingo chat host on duty.
An example:
#CH[chat host name removed]#: 2 Line Winner: BallszyLove,Slipperee *** WTGGGGGGGGGGGGG
Whilst the “WTGGGGGGGGGGGGGG” for a player out of chat at this internet bingo site was replaced with “RAIDERRRRRR”
Many bingo sites appear to advocate the use of the term raider by their hosts in the bingo chat rooms, and this site isn’t the only one that allows their hosts to differentiate between a player in or out of chat.
*A macro is a single computer instruction that stands for a sequence of operations. Chat hosts use programmes so they don’t need to type every single key stroke.
