Bingo is a game of chance where numbers from 1 to 75 are drawn randomly, in which the players match these numbers on the numbers printed on their bingo cards. The game of bingo is one of the most relaxing and socializing games in the casinos and bingo houses, where the players sit comfortable in the bingo lounge and sometimes chat with other players, taking advantage of the waiting time between each number draw.

The Bingo Card

A bingo card consists of a 5x5 matrix. Each column contains five numbers except for the third column in which the center cell is a FREE space and is automatically marked, thus, containing only four numbers. Each column is labeled as B, I, N, G, and O from left to right. The first column (B) contains five numbers ranging from 1 to 15; the second column (I) has five numbers from 16 to 30; the third column (N) has four numbers from 31 to 45; the fourth column (G) has five numbers from 46 to 60; and the fifth column (O) has five numbers from 61 to 75. In some bingo games, the numbers are arranged vertically from the highest to the lowest. The numbers are pre-printed, which means that before the game starts, each card has its own fixed set of numbers.

How to Play Bingo

Playing bingo is very simple. There is no skill required and players just rely on luck to win in the game. The objective of the game is to be the first to make a winning pattern on the bingo card. In live casino bingo games, the winner is usually required to shout "Bingo!" This alerts the other players and the caller of a possible win. Before the win is officially confirmed, it is checked first for accuracy. If the win has been verified, the prize will be secured by the winner and a new game will begin. In the case of online bingo games, the player does not need to alert the others, since the cards are electronically produced and the system can automatically detect a winner.

The caller is the person who draws (or calls) a number randomly and announces it among the bingo players from time to time. In forming a winning pattern, the numbers on the bingo card must be marked by a marker if they match any of the numbers drawn by the caller.

A fixed prize in bingo serves as a jackpot, and depending on the number of calls made before any player forms a winning pattern, the amount decreases gradually. For example, the amount of jackpot is $50,000. When a player wins within the first 40 calls, he/she can receive the whole amount. For a win on the 41st call, the jackpot may be reduced to $47,000. Then for each calls made next, the amount may be reduced by $3,000. Thus, if someone wins only on the 50th number draw, his/her jackpot will be only $20,000.

Winning Bingo Patterns

There are many different winning patterns used in bingo. Usually, each type of pattern has its own play time schedule in the actual casinos and online bingo websites.

Blackout or Coverall -The most popular of all is the Blackout or Coverall pattern, in which all the numbers on a bingo card have matches on the numbers drawn by the caller and have been marked. In Blackout bingo games, all the players are required to make the pattern, and the first one to complete the pattern is the winner.

Static Patterns -Static patterns are those that cannot be rotated in the bingo cards. This type of pattern is used in Standard Bingo games. The first player who matches every cell that is highlighted on a game pattern by marking the numbers on a single bingo card wins the game.

Transposable or Anywhere Patterns - The Transposable patterns are those patterns that can be formed anywhere on the bingo card.