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>> Bingo Rules (in general)
The caller randomly
pulls numbered bingo balls, #1 through #75, places the number up on
the bingo board, and calls out the number. You are normally given a
few seconds to locate the number on your bingo cards and mark them
off. Online bingo games commonly use auto-daubers, which
automatically mark your card for you.
Typical bingo cards have five rows and columns with a random
selection of numbers. The "B" column contains random numbers between
#1 and #15, "I" has #16 to #30, "N" has #31 to #45 (containing a
free space in the center), "G" has #46 to #59, and "O" has #60 to
#75. If you are the first to complete the numbers in a pattern
according to the rules of the particular game, you yell "Bingo!" and
win the prize for the game. There are many common Bingo patterns
that may be used, so pay close attention to the pattern in effect
for your game.
When playing online bingo, your bingo cards are randomly selected
for you by the computer. Most bingo sites allow you to choose the
number of cards you would like to play for each game of bingo. The
game pattern is also displayed on your screen, so you know which
bingo pattern you must complete to win the game. Some patterns are
easy to complete, which will make for a very short game. Others are
more difficult and will take many calls to complete. The most common
bingo patterns are straight lines in a horizontal, vertical or
diagonal direction.
Play continues until one or more players are the first to complete
the bingo pattern. The game then stops until the numbers are
verified. If there is more than one simultaneous winner, the winners
split the prize or jackpot.
>> Bingo Tips
Paper cards with lower
card numbers (free space #) tend to have the numbers closer together
card #1 (B: 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, I: 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20). Longer
games like Coveralls tend to draw numbers in sperts close together.
16 17 then 19 and 20 come out. To win more coveralls, try to come in
early and get the first set of paper cards issued. On big nights
managers stock the counter with plenty cards usually the ones on top
are the lowest free space number cards. Check the next coverall for
yourself. Notice the flashboard. Lighted up numbers usually in sets
by the 30'th number called.
Be curtious to those around you. Do not yell out loud the number you
need.
Burning the number (on paper cards) does not mean that it will come
out the next time.
Buy a card for a neighbor once a night. You never know when you will
want one more game when your wallet says it's time to go.
Share the wealth when you win. Toss out a lucky dollar to those
around you when you win. If they win a larger jackpot, they could
return the lucky dollar (ten fold), especially if they win with your
lucky dollar.
If you want to win at Bingo, play bingo on nights that are generally
slower for the operators (Monday - Thursday usually less players
than weekends). Being a game of chance if there are fewer players
then there are fewer cards in play. If you have as many cards as you
can comfortably play and there are fewer cards in play, due to lower
crowds, then you have a larger percent of cards in play. Odds in
your favor? I think so, especially if the hall you play at offers
electronic bingo (computer bingo) and you have 2 or 3 cards per
game.
>> Bingo Cards
Each player has a number
of BINGO cards (players can usually play any number of cards). Each
BINGO card has 5 rows and 5 columns thus providing 25 spaces. The
columns are labeled from left to right with the letters: 'B', 'I',
'N', 'G', 'O'. With one exception (the center space is "free") the
spaces in the card are assigned values as follows: Each space in the
'B' column contains a number from 1 - 15. Each space in the 'I'
column contains a number from 16 - 30. Each space in the 'N' column
contains a number from 31 - 45. Each space in the 'G' column
contains a number from 46 - 60. Each space in the 'O' column
contains a number from 61 - 75.
Furthermore, a number can appear only once on a single card. Here's
a sample BINGO card: B I N G O 10 17 39 49 64 12 21 36 55 62 14 25
FREE SPACE 52 70 7 19 32 56 68 5 24 34 54 71 The number of unique
BINGO cards is very large and can be calculated with this equation:
// the B, I, G, and O columns * the N column (15 * 14 * 13 * 12 *
11) ^ 4 * (15 * 14 * 13 * 12) While perhaps interesting to a
statistician, the number of possible BINGO cards has nothing to do
with player's chances of winning.
>> How to play bingo
Traditional BINGO is
played in person in a large hall. Players meet at the hall, pay a
fee to get in, then the games begin. A night of BINGO consists of
many BINGO games played continuously, one after another. A single
BINGO game proceeds like this:
You will note that there are 75 possible BINGO numbers: B1, B2, B3,
... B15, I16, I17, I18, ... I30, N31, N32, ... O74, O75. Each of
these numbers is represented by a ball in a large rotating bin. Each
ball is painted with its unique BINGO number. An announcer spins the
bin, reaches in a selects a ball, and a announces it to the room.
The players check all of their cards to see if that number appears
on their card. If it is, they mark it. When a player has a BINGO (5
in a row, column, or diagonal), he or she calls out BINGO.
The game pauses while the card is verified. If indeed a winner, the
game stops and a new game begins. If the card wasn't a winner, the
game proceeds where it left off. Each BINGO game proceeds until
someone wins (there's always a winner). Chances of Winning Every
BINGO game has a winning card, so a player's chances of winning
depend on the number of cards in the game and how many cards s/he is
playing. For example, if a player has 12 cards in a game with 1200
cards, the chances of winning for that player is 1 in 100.
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