Our verdict
8.0/10tombola is still one of the best UK bingo sites if you want cheap tickets and company. Tickets start at 1p, chat is staffed round the clock, and the first-deposit match carries no wagering. Against that, it takes debit cards only, splits bingo and slots across two apps, and slots are a thin side offer. Strong for bingo, ordinary for everything else.
Best for: UK bingo players who like low stakes and live chat
What we liked
- Bingo tickets from 1p, with bingo Lite from 2p
- Over 200 chat moderators across 80+ rooms, open 24/7
- First-deposit match carries no wagering on winnings
- In-house games that rival sites do not carry
What held it back
- Debit cards only for deposits and withdrawals, no e-wallets
- Bonus funds cannot be withdrawn and are barred on roulette
- Slot selection is small and sits in a separate app
- User reviews split on win rates and withdrawal reviews
Key facts
- Operator
- Tombola International Plc, owned by Flutter Entertainment per BingoSites
- Licence
- UK Gambling Commission
- Ticket price
- From 1p; bingo Lite from 2p; slots from 5p
- Welcome offer
- 100% match up to £50 on a £10+ first deposit (BingoSites)
- Wagering
- None; bonus money itself cannot be withdrawn
- Minimum deposit
- £10 (BingoSites)
- Minimum withdrawal
- £10, no fees (BingoSites)
- Payment methods
- Visa debit, Visa Electron, Mastercard debit
- Chat
- 200+ moderators, 80+ rooms, 24/7
- iOS rating
- 4.7 from 66k ratings, age 18+
tombola has been selling cheap bingo since 2005, and the case for it is simple: tickets start at 1p, somebody is always in the chat room, and the welcome match carries no wagering. The case against it is just as short. You can only pay with a debit card, the slot lobby is small, and the loudest complaints from players concern wins and account reviews, not the games. Gambling is entertainment with a built-in house edge, and bingo at 1p a ticket is a cheap evening, not an income.
What 1p actually buys
The maker's own App Store listing is the best source for prices. It says "give us a go from as little as 1p", puts bingo Lite from 2p and slots from 5p, and promises chat "in every game" with friendly Chat Hosts. BingoSites puts the general ticket range at 1p to about £2.
At 1p, a 90-ball game with a few hundred players is a very small stake against a very small prize. That is fine. What matters is that you can sit through a whole session for a couple of pounds. The listing counts over 100 games across bingo90, bingo75, bingo60, bingo Lite, themed rooms and instant-win Bubble games, and the app has a 4.7 rating from 66k ratings. Apple marks it 18+.
The chat is the product
Here is where tombola separates from a plain ticket shop. BingoSites reports more than 200 moderators across over 80 chat rooms, open around the clock. Casino.org also notes that the chat rooms are moderated by tombola staff and that the brand has a long record in the UK.
The flip side comes from user reviews. Some players say the chat managers quickly shut down criticism of the site. One review claims a bot now runs alongside the hosts, but we found nothing to confirm that and treat it as unverified. A busy, hosted room is a feature if you want company and a drawback if you want an unfiltered opinion of the place.
The welcome match, and a discrepancy
BingoSites states the offer as a 100% match up to £50 on a first deposit of £10 or more. Winnings can be withdrawn, bonus money cannot, and there are no wagering requirements. Bonus funds are barred from the roulette games. Casino.org describes a 200% match to £50 instead. Offers change, and we could not load tombola's own site from our location, so check the cashier page before you pay.
The practical reading: a no-wagering match is among the better bonuses in UK bingo, but because bonus money itself stays locked, what you can cash out is only what you win with it. Spend it on tickets, not on trying to turn £50 into a profit.
Paying in and getting out
This is the part to know before you register. BingoSites lists Visa debit, Visa Electron and Mastercard debit only, for both deposits and withdrawals, with £10 as the minimum for each and no fees. There are no e-wallets and no vouchers.
Withdrawal speed is reported inconsistently. BingoSites gives "up to 3 working days" in its table, with Visa debit in about 1 to 2 hours in the text and other cards taking 3 to 5 working days. Casino.org quotes 1 to 2 days, with customer reports of 3 to 5. Verification can add up to 24 hours. Expect hours at best and a working week at worst, and request your first small withdrawal early, before the account holds real winnings.
What the customer reviews say
Reviews.io, which collected a few hundred reviews at the time of our capture, shows what the affiliate pages leave out: a mix of praise for simple payouts and complaints about suspended accounts, winnings held during review and the impression that the same names keep winning. These are anecdotes, not audited data, but they are consistent enough that we would not deposit more than you are happy to lose, and would read the review and verification terms first.
Who should play
Play tombola if bingo is your main game, you want 1p to 10p stakes, you like hosted chat and you hold a UK debit card. Pass if you need PayPal or Skrill, want a deep slot library, or expect a bonus to turn into profit. BingoSites lists two apps as a drawback: bingo and slots are split. We give it 8.0, the highest we would put on a bingo site whose cashier is this narrow.