How do you play bingo cards?

Last Updated on , written by Amelia Cassiday

The game of bingo is one of the easiest to understand and play in the iGaming industry and has been around for at least a couple of centuries with Italy considered to be where the game first originated, when it was played every Christmas Day.

Typically, the game of bingo as we all know it consists of having one or more bingo tickets, or cards, which essentially have grids on them which are three * nine in size.

On each grid there are 15 numbers which range from one to 90 with five usually distributed on each line. Every player who is taking part has a marker which accompanies their bingo card as well.

In most games of bingo there is usually an announcer who reveals which number is drawn each time, almost like a lottery draw and players are required to mark off each number if they have it on any of their cards.

There are stages in a typical game of bingo, which accounts for the prizes that are on offer for certain milestones and achievements with the game and usually this begins with getting all four corners.

How do you play bingo cards

However, because of the way that numbers are distributed on some cards (completely at random), it means that there are those players who don’t have the opportunity to win a prize for this benchmark.

The next prize after this that is usually on offer is for anyone who successfully marks off an entire line and following this the next achievement is for two lines and then three, which counts as a ‘full house’, in which case the winning player would shout “Bingo!”.

However, due to the way in which the numbers usually appear on the cards or tickets, when someone successfully wins a line (if they are the first) and as such wins a prize, they might even be close to getting two lines, depending on how everyone else is doing.

This is because they may have two lines, each with four numbers marked off, which means the very next number out could result in them completing a second line. While the odds for this eventuality are considerably rare, this isn’t to say that it can’t happen.

 

Have more cards to give you a greater advantage

One of the ways in which you can gain more of a competitive advantage over other players is to buy more cards, which means you will likely have a bigger range of numbers. The chances are that if you have between six and 10 cards, you will be ticking off numbers on one or more card with every reveal. As a result, not only do you increase your chances of winning over the other competitors but also this means that you could end up with three or four tickets that are each close to being completed quicker than other people, who may have just one ticket or card and haven’t even filled in half in the time that it has taken you to get nearly full houses.

Of course, this is all ifs, buts and maybes, however, there is no denying that having more bingo cards every time you play, substantially increases your odds of winning. However, if you do this, it is important that you are able to pay attention and concentrate, otherwise, you might miss some numbers.

Successful bingo players who play with a series of cards have to be highly skilled in being able to watch each one simultaneously and quickly identify the number which has been called out, which requires an immense amount of concentration.

This is why generally, more of an older generation play the game, mainly because it helps to keep their brain active and sharp as it is quite a considerably taxing mental activity.

Editor-in-Chief

amelia cassiday profile pictureAmelia Cassiday is an online bingo writer and player for the past 5 years. Her expertise and knowledge of the online bingo industry are utilised when covering the latest news and trends. Amelia particularly enjoys reviewing new bingo sites as well as writing detailed game guides. When offline, she can be found maintaining her garden and reading a good book at her home in Newcastle, UK.