Bingo

This exquisite piece of article is solely dedicated to beginners and of course, the pros if they’ve forgotten how to play Bingo. We’ll be discussing some exceptional facts on how to play, and tips on Bingo. So, feast your circles and eyes on this exclusive guide to Bingo. And, before you set out to get your hands dirty on deck, you’ve got know the lay of sheer rolling number luck, so to speak, on how the game is really played

The Basics

Bingo is a fun game of chance that anyone can play. The game is played on a scorecard that’s made up of 25 squares — if you get 5 squares in a row, you win!

• The Pack: 2 standard decks of 52 cards
• The Deal: From the first deck of cards, five cards are dealt to each player face up. There will be players and one “Caller” who will call out the card values that players must match in order to complete their “Bingo” hand.
• The Play: From the second deck of cards, the “Caller” will select a card, one at a time, and call out the rank and suit of the card — for example “queen of hearts.” The player with the called card turns it face down. The first player to turn all their cards faces down wins.

Setting Up Bingo

Follow through this extensively detailed guide, and beginners take note!

1. Get at least 1 scorecard for each player. Bingo scorecards have 25 randomly numbered squares on them, with the word “BINGO” written across the top. Your goal is to cover 5 of those squares in a vertical, horizontal, or diagonal row.

• You can find Bingo scorecards online at your local hobby store.
• If you’re playing Bingo with kids, you can print blank Bingo scorecards from off the internet and write in your own words, symbols, or pictures in the squares.

2. Explain to everyone how the game’s letter-number combinations work. In standard Bingo, there are 75 different letter-number combinations. Each letter-number combination corresponds with a square on the scorecards.

• For example, all of the numbers in the “B” column on the scorecard correspond with “B” letter-number combinations. If the caller chooses “B-9,” you would look for the “9” square under the “B” column.
• If you’re looking for a simpler version of Bingo to play with kids, you can use pictures or words instead of letter-number combinations.

3. Choose a player to be the caller. In Bingo, the caller is the person that reads out the letters and numbers that determine which squares get covered on everyone’s scorecards. The caller still gets to play the game with everyone else.

• If you’re playing at a Bingo hall, there will already be a designated caller. In that case, the caller will not be playing with everyone else.

4. Pass out scorecards to all the players. Each player needs at least 1 scorecard. Players can use more than 1 scorecard, as long as they can keep track of all the letters and numbers on the different cards.

• Playing with multiple scorecards increases your chances of winning, but it’s trickier since you have more squares to keep track of.
• When you’re playing with multiple scorecards, it’s possible to win on more than one scorecard in the same game.

5. Give each player a pile of Bingo chips. Bingo chips are what players will use to cover the squares on their scorecards. Any small objects will work as Bingo chips, as long as they can fit inside the squares on the scorecards.

• You can use poker chips, coins, or even small pieces of paper as Bingo chips.

6. Place a chip on the square in the centre of your scorecard. In Bingo, the square in the centre of everyone’s scorecard is considered a free space. Everyone starts out with 1 chip over that space.
7. Give the caller the letters and numbers they’ll call out in the game. These letters and numbers can be written down on small pieces of paper and then folded up, or you can use actual Bingo balls that have letters and numbers on them. They just need to correspond with the letters and numbers on the scorecards.

• Put the pieces of paper or Bingo balls in a bucket, bowl, or Bingo spinner so the caller can choose them at random.
• If you’re playing Bingo with kids and the scorecards have pictures or words on them, give the caller corresponding pictures or words to choose from.

How to Play Bingo?

Now that we’ve cleared the basics, follow these steps and learn to play bingo like a pro!

1. Has the caller read out a letter-number combination? The caller should grab a letter-number combination at random, without looking, and read it out loud. Have them call out the combination a few times so everyone hears it.

• For example, if the caller pulls out a piece of paper or a ball that says, “N-7” on it, they would say, “N-7” out loud.
• If you’re playing Bingo with pictures or words instead of letter-number combinations, have the caller read out the word or describe the picture to the other players.

2. Place a chip on your scorecard if you have that letter and number. After the caller reads out the letter-number combination, check your scorecard to see if you have the letter and number they called out. If you do, put a chip on that square.

• For example, if the caller says, “G-46,” you would look for the number “46” in the “G” column on your scorecard. If you have it, you’d cover that square with a chip.
• If you don’t have the letter and number the caller chose, you don’t have to do anything.

3. Continue playing until someone gets 5 chips in a row on their scorecard. Have the caller continue to call out different letter-number combinations. Players should keep placing chips on the squares on their scorecard whenever a corresponding letter-number combination is called.

• A player wins if they get 5 covered squares in a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal row.
• There’s no limit to how many letter-number combinations the caller reads out. They’ll keep choosing new combinations until someone wins.

4. Shout “Bingo” if you get 5 squares in a row. When a player gets 5 covered squares in a row on their scorecard, they should yell “Bingo” so everyone knows they won. When someone shouts “Bingo,” the caller will stop choosing new letter-number combinations.

• If more than 1 player shouts “Bingo” after the same letter-number combination is called out, all of those players win.

5. Have everyone clear their scorecards after someone wins. Once someone has called out “Bingo” and won that round, everyone should take all the chips off their scorecards. You should always start a new game with a clear scorecard, except for the chip on the free space in the centre.
6. Mix up all the letter-number combinations for the next game. To start a new game of Bingo, the caller will need to mix all the letter-number combinations they called during the last game back into the bucket, bowl, or spinner they’re using. Always start a new game with all of the letter-number combinations mixed together.

The Bingo Lingo

Here are some phrases you must understand while playing bingo —

• Alert Ball: This is a number drawn before regular games start. If a player has purchased the toonie pot game and they bingo on the number called after the Alert Ball they win the toonie pot prize.
• Bingo Board: A display board, usually electronic that lights up showing each number as it is called.
• Bingo Books or Booklets: A number of different colored bingo sheets/cards bound together to form a book/booklet to be played one for each game at a bingo session. They are usually bound in the order in which they will be played.  A “3 up” book will contain 3 Bingo Cards per page, a “6 Up”, 6 cards per page and a “9 Up”, 9 cards per page.
• Bingo Card: A card containing 24 numbered spaces and one free space (blank), with which you play BINGO. The numbers are assigned at random on each card and are arranged in five columns of five numbers each by five rows (5 x 5 = 25 in total including the blank square). The numbers in the B column are between 1 and 15, in the I column between 16 and 30, in the N column (containing four numbers and the free space) between 31 and 45, in the G column between 46 and 60, and in the O column between 61 and 75. Players have thousands of unique (unduplicated) cards to choose from.
• Blackout: A pattern where you must cover the whole card to win.
• Blower: A forced-air device that mixes the bingo balls and dispenses them to the caller who announces the number and displays it on a bingo board.
• Bonanza Bingo: It’s a different game every day. If you’re the first Bonanza winner, match three or more of the day’s lotto numbers and you automatically win cash! Six lotto numbers are picked fresh each day. Bingo in 48 numbers or less and win $1000. Match all six numbers and you win the jackpot!
• Buy-in: This is a simple term that simply means depositing money in exchange for participating in a Bingo game as in buying an admission packet or opening an electronic account
• Break-open: A multi-ply card, with perforated breakopen tabs. The gameplay area of the card is covered to conceal numbers; some of which have been designated in advance as prize winners.
• Caller: The person who calls out the bingo numbers as they are drawn.
• Cashier: The person that sells paper cards and electronic accounts to the players. They are also the person in charge of making sure runners have everything they need to sell specials to the players.
• Consolation Prize: The prize or prizes offered on some special games if there is no winner in a predetermined number of calls on a progressive game.
• Coordinator: The person that issues and returns all the paper cards not sold in order to set a prize payout for the game being played.
• Dauber: Bingo dauber is ink-filled bottle/pen with a foam tip on it used to mark called numbers. When you touch the bingo card with the foam tip it marks the square.
• Doubles and Triples: A set of books, usually with fewer cards such as a 3up, that have been designated to pay at double or triple the price. In most cases, a REGULAR gamebook must be bought first.
• Early Bird: A regular length or short game of bingo that precedes the main game. More than one game may be offered as a warm-up
• Free Space: The center square of the card, which does not have a number assigned to it. It’s like a Joker or a Wild square. You get it free every game and it can count towards your winning pattern.
• Game Board: An electronic display that is attached to the bingo board to show the pattern needed to win that particular game. It looks like a bingo card and shows what variation of bingo you are playing on that particular game on the program. For example four corners, blackout, etc.
• Hard-way Line: Bingo in a straight line without the use of the free space.
• Jackpot: A big prize usually awarded for achieving a difficult pattern, such as a blackout, within a specified number of balls.
• Late Night Bingo: Session of bingo that starts late at night, usually about 9:15 pm.
• Pattern: The shape you need to cover on your card with called out numbers, usually it is in a straight line; horizontal, vertical, and diagonal.
• Postage Stamp Pattern: Matching four numbers to form a postage stamp (a 2 x 2 grid)
• Progressive Jackpot: A Jackpot that gets bigger until it is won. It builds daily, or weekly, if it is not won in a specific number of calls. If there is no winner in X number of calls, consolation prize(s) of lesser dollar amounts are paid. Different variations of progressive games add dollars or numbers, or both, to the jackpot. There is a separate buy-in for Progressive Jackpot games.
• Race Track: The oval counter situated in the center of the bingo hall where the Coordinator, Cashiers, bingo cards, and specials are located. Also the counter runners are to come when called to return cards, and cash out.
• Reno Number: Some games will carry a Reno Number. The last digit of the first ball out for that game will become a wild number, making all numbers ending in that number wild. For example: if B13 is the first number, all numbers ending in 3 on your cards are considered called.
• Runner: The person that sells cards (specials) on the floor to the players, as well as calls in Bingos when a paper Bingo is called. This person is the main representative of Chances Gaming Entertainment and should provide players the utmost of Customer Service.
• Screened: An expression meaning that the one number you still required to complete the pattern and yell Bingo was on the TV screen but not yet called
• Sealed Card: A closed, sealed card with perforated tear-off edges designed to conceal the card numbers until opened. This is to keep knowledge of a certain number or amount of numbers unavailable to the customer until bought and revealed. An example would be an Odd/Even game
• Set or One Away: An expression meaning that only one number was left to complete the pattern and have you yell Bingo!
• Validation: Once you call Bingo, a Bingo caller or computer program online will check to make sure that you have correctly marked off the right numbers
• Serial Number: The minimum five-character number printed by a manufacturer on each set of cards. Each card in a set contains the same serial number.
• Series: Indicates the number of unique faces that a single set will contain. For example: a 9000 Series has 9000 unique faces.
• Session: An entire program of bingo consisting of regular and special games. A session usually lasts somewhere between two and a half hours and three hours.
• Special: Games that are played with a different set of cards than the books purchased for regular games.

Looking for online casinos that provide Bingo? Heres a list below, and also make sure to check our reviews on online betting —

• Gensis Casino
• SpinIt
• 888Casino
• LeoVegas
• Rizk Casino
• Royal Panda

If you are a beginner with no experience of playing the Bingo game, then simply find an online casino that offers this game to play for free to learn the rules and get expert before playing it for real cash. Consider vital things in your mind while picking any site including online casino bonuses and promotions, licensing and regulation, reviews and ratings, banking methods, game selection, and software providers.

We hope this article was helpful to you!