Online bingo sites offer games other than the game of bingo.  These games are called side games because they are played on the side of the screen in the area around the cards.

These games serve several different purposes.  The online bingo software has features that allow it to purchase the cards, check the cards and auto-daub the numbers and signal bingo when one is made. This leaves the player with nothing to do but to sit there and watch the software marking the numbers.

The side internet casino games are a way of filling in the time.  They give the player something to do while the bingo game is in progress. Side games are also important because they give the player another way to win.  They cost money to play but they can represent additional winnings for the player that the player wouldn’t have without playing the side games.

Side games are another form of internet gambling and as such they are another way to attract players to get involved with other forms of gambling. The player may find that she likes playing video poker so much that she wants to try her hand at poker and joins an online poker room.  Other players may find that they like the online slots game and table games enough to join a casino online. This is how bingo functions as a way into a national market for a gaming company.  People being with bingo and then try other forms of gambling offered by the company.