Bingo is traditionally played in large halls or social clubs, before you can join a game you'll need to become a member of a bingo club. Joining clubs in the UK is pretty easy, most welcome new players with open arms! If you join one of the big bingo clubs like MeccaBingo or Gala you might even get a few freebies when you join.

If you've never played bingo before then just tell the person who signs you up at the club. They will be more than happy to explain the basic rules, show you how to mark your bingo cards and most importantly how to claim a win! Don't be shy, the bingo clubs want your business so it's in there interest to ensure you know how to play.

When I first started playing bingo at my local Mecca one of the staff sat with me for a few games, giving me advice and chatting away. I would recommend that you don't try to play too many cards when you first start - it can be tricky for a new player to mark more than one card at a time.

The 'Caller' is the person who stands at the top of the hall and calls out the numbers as they appear from the bingo machine or computer. You'll need to pay attention to the caller as the numbers will come out fairly fast. Using a magic marker or dauber you must mark off any numbers called that appear on your card.

In UK style bingo (90 balls, triple chance) your bingo card will have 3 horizontal lines of numbers per card. In a bingo game you normally have three ways to win, if all the numbers on one of your lines is called then you win a small cash prize! complete two lines and you'll win a bigger cash prize, complete the whole card and you've won the 'full house' jackpot.

If you complete any of the lines or the full house you'll need to stop the caller from announcing anymore numbers. You can do this by shouting 'Bingo' or more commonly shouting 'right'. It doesn't really matter what you shout, as long as you get the callers attention.

Your card will then be checked against the called numbers to verify that you have won. Don't worry if you've made a mistake - it's pretty common. If you win you'll get your cash in a nice little envelope!

You might be wondering how much it costs to play bingo? Each club sets it's own prices, but you can expect to pay anything between £8 and £15 for a full evening session at a bingo club. That will buy you bingo cards for all the games in that session, a session normally lasts about 2 hours and includes multiple

Bingo's original roots go back as far as 1530 when the Italians created a national lottery called Lo Giuoco del Lotto d'Italia. By 1778 the French had gotten wind of this game and adapted it for their own purposes, making small changes to the game including the card which they subsequently divided into three horizontal and nine vertical rows. The vertical rows contained numbers from 1 to 10 in the first row, 11 to 20 in the second row, etc., up to 90. No two Lotto cards were alike.

By 1929 the game's popularity had spread across the world and straight to Jacksonville, Georgia, where a travelling carnival pitchman had come across the game the previous year in Germany. It was here, one evening, that Edwin S. Lowe ended up at this carnival where all but one of the booths were closed. This booth was packed with people so Lowe decided to check it out. The action centered on a horseshoe shaped table covered with numbered cards and beans. The game being played was a variation of Lotto called Beano.

The caller was pulling small numbered wooden disks from a cigar box and the players at the booth were eagerly marking them off their cards by placing a bean over the number. Once they had completed a line the player called out 'Beano'.

Lowe returned home to his native New York where he decided to have a go at operating the Beano game. His friends soon caught on to playing Beano with the same tension and excitement he had seen at the carnival. During one game, a woman, so excited at having completed a row stood and, being slightly tongue tied, shouted Bingo instead of Beano and the game as we know it today was born!

BBL, GG, BTW, GTSY, ROFL if you've no idea what I have just said then you need to brush up on your online bingo chat!

Nearly all online bingo sites have a 'chat' facility - Players can use this to communicate to each other during a game. As bingo action happens very quick, most players using a kind of short hand to speed things up. Bingo chat acronyms can be very confusing to new player. So we've have put together a list of the most common ones used online.

AFAIK.... As far as I know
AFK.... Away from keyboard
AFK2P.... Away from keyboard (to pee)
ASAP.... As soon as possible
BB.... Be back later
BF.... Boyfriend
BLNT.... Better luck next time
BRB.... Be right back
BTW.... By the way
CYA.... See ya
CYAL8R.... See ya later
FWIW.... For what it's worth
FYI.... For your information
GF.... Girlfriend
GG.... Good going (good game)
GL.... Good luck
GLA.... Good luck all
GLE.... Good luck everyone
GMTA....Great minds think alike
GTSY.... Good to see you
H&A.... Hug and kiss
HB.... Hurry back
IGP.... I gotta pee
JK.... Just kidding
JMO.... Just my opinion
JTLYK.... Just to let you know
KIT.... Keep in touch
L8R.... Later
L8R G8R.... Later gator
LMAO.... Laughing my @$$ off
LOL.... Laughing out loud
LTNS.... Long time no see
LY.... Love ya
NETUA.... Nobody ever tells us anything
NP.... No problem
OIC.... Oh, I see
OMG.... Oh my good
OTOH.... On the other hand
PM.... Private message
PPL....People
QT.... Cutie
ROFL.... Rolling on floor laughing
ROFLMAO.... Rolling on floor laughing my @$$ off
SOHF.... Sense of humor failure
SRY.... Sorry
SWAK.... Sealed with a kiss
SWL.... Screaming with laughter
SYS.... See you soon
TC.... Take care
TOY.... Thinking of you
TPTB.... The powers that be
TTFN.... Ta Ta for now
TTYL.... Talk to you later
TX.... Thanks
TY.... Thank you
TYVM.... Thank you very much
VEG.... Very evil grin
WB.... Welcome back
WTG.... Way to go
WTH.... What/who the heck
WYSIWYG.... What you see is what you get
YBS.... You'll be sorry
YMMV.... Your mileage may vary
YSR.... Yeah - sure - right
YVW.... You're very welcome
YW.... You're welcome
*G* giggle or grin
*H* Hug
*K* Kiss
*S* Smile
*W* Wink

It's a record month at Jackpotjoy, for more than one game! Bingo Gold has just smashed its previous record Jackpot, making Sarah L £63,679 richer!

"Oh my god, I can't believe it! I'm shaking. The kids have been jumping all over me. I said today was my last try, and thought that if I didn't win with my ten cards, that would be it. It's brilliant. I'm thrilled!"

Susan's win comes just in time for her children's birthdays and she's now able to buy a present that would never have entered the imagination before the win. When we told her about the record she'd set, her excitement got even bigger!

"It's the biggest Bingo Gold Jackpot ever? Wow! My husband's on a flight on his way to a business trip, so he won't be finding out! He can stay and play golf. My kids are so excited. They want to go to Florida and now they can! I can't wait for the money to go into my account"

To mark the great occasion, we're treating Susan with a trip to London to see a show in the city's West End. It's something she's never done before, and something she can barely wait for!

"I've never been this lucky before. That you very much! I love shopping in London. It will be fantastic!"