Bingo Rules and Strategy
Bingo is a wildly popular lottery style game that is played around the world for cash prizes, rewards and to raise money for charitable causes. It's popular with people of all ages and backgrounds because it's easy to play, it's readily available in most cities and it has a relaxed, social atmosphere.
Bingo Rules
The rules of the game are pretty simple. Each player gets a bingo card that has a grid of 25 numbered squares. Each column of the grid is topped with a letter, starting with the letter "B" above the far left column. The letters along the columns spell the word "BINGO."
After each player has a card, a person who works for the bingo hall (a "caller") draws balls out of a machine that looks like a lottery hopper. Each ball is marked with a letter and a number. The caller announces the letters and numbers as they are drawn and the players look for matching combinations on their cards. If a player finds a match, he marks it with his bingo dauber, which is a large ink pen with a spongy tip.
Here's how a typical call would go in an average bingo hall: the announcer draws a ball out of the machine and announces something like "B 12." Each player would then look for the number 12 beneath the "B" heading. Anyone who has a 12 places a mark on that spot.
You win the game by being the first person to fill a complete line, diagonal or other predetermined pattern. When you complete a line, you usually announce it by calling out "bingo!" The caller or another bingo hall employee will then come and look at your card to verify the bingo. If your bingo is determined to be a winner, you will win the prize.
The rules for each bingo game can vary according to the location and organizers of the event. When you show up to a bingo hall, look around for special rules postings or handouts. A lot of the time, you'll find a list of winning bingo patterns.
Bingo Strategy
Bingo is a completely random game so there's no such thing as a winning strategy. Even so, there are certain bingo tactics you should keep in mind when playing. If you play bingo and use the following strategies, you'll be able to make the most out of your time and give yourself the best odds possible.
When you play online bingo, you can play many games at once but it's easy to miss qualifying bingos. Most online bingo sites have an "auto-dauber" option that will allow the software to automatically mark matches and announce bingos for you. This will keep you from accidentally missing out on bingo rewards.
If you're playing live bingo, start out by playing just 1 or 2 bingo cards at a time. It's not a good idea to jump right in and try to play a bunch of bingo cards at a time without any practice. You have to really pay attention and keep up with all the rules so you don't miss out on anything.
Do a little research before settling on a single bingo hall or bingo site. You'll want to know how many people usually show up for the game and how big the prizes are. Bingo games with larger numbers of players usually have bigger prizes - but not always. Look around for bingo games that have the best prizes and the fewest players. It's a bit of a balancing act but if you find the right combination, you'll be more likely to walk away a winner.
This is just the basic bingo strategy. Head over to our full bingo strategy article for additional strategy information.