Bingo is generally there to be enjoyed by over those of the age of 18 and over. There are some exceptions to the rule such as prize bingo arcades that welcome those of any age but generally laws are there to protect vulnerable members of the public such as children when it comes to gambling. From time to time though mistakes do happen and someone underage manages to not only play but also win. In all cases it is maybe not such a good idea to be advertising the fact that your not old enough.

While most online bingo sites are not regulated by the UK Gambling Commission they all still only accept deposits from those age 18 and over. However, there have been many examples throughout the years of underage players managing to breach the rules and gain access to a bingo club. It can be very difficult if youngsters look older than they really are and no doubt most bingo managers have had to deal with this problem at one point or another. We don’t hear so many stories of underage bingo players playing online bingo but as reported recently it clearly does happen from time to time.

According to the Daily Mail one 16 year old played bingo on the Sky Bingo website and then having won £180 decided to tell the world about his lucky day on his Twitter account. It wasn’t long before people started to ask questions on why a 16 year old was playing online bingo in the first place, alone asking questions about whether he was entitled to the winnings.

It seems that the readers of the national newspaper were somewhat undecided on whether this was simply harmless fun or up there with some of the more serious crimes. There was also some debate on whether the bingo operator was diligent in the checks it makes to ensure players are in fact of 18 years of age or not. There is no doubt that online bingo operators that want to advertise in the UK and take deposits off UK residents will be regulated by the UK Gambling Commission in the near future. But other rules that the UK Government are reportedly looking at introducing will actually make age verification much more difficult. Currently players that deposit and withdraw funds from a credit card have to be over the 18 years old in order to have a credit card in the first place; however the Government are looking at stopping credit cards from being used for online gambling as is the case in land based gambling establishments. This could make it even more difficult for operators to ensure that players are over the age of 18.

This brings to another problem in that many online operators have made it really difficult for online bingo players to make withdrawals from their bingo accounts without providing extensive, unreasonable or at times unobtainable information. Clearly if there is an emphasise on bingo operators ensuring players are over 18 years old, some operators may abuse the rules even more than they do now making it even harder for online players to get their money.