Rules of Bingo

Nowadays the game of Bingo has become extremely diverse, especially online Bingo. With different types of games for every type of player, you will surely find exactly what you want. This means that the rules vary somewhat from website to website but there are some basic, general rules that every Bingo player should know.

A bingo card contains a grid of twenty-four numbers and one free space arranged in five lines and five columns. Above the columns the word BINGO is spelled out, each letter of the word being assigned to a column. The numbers under B go from 1-15, under I from 16-30, under N from 31-45, under G from 46-60 and under O from 61-75. Numbers are then randomly selected and called out as B3, I27, O63 and so on and so forth. As the numbers are called out if a player has the respective number on their card they mark the space.

The process continues until a player has covered the required pattern needed to win, and these can vary from game to game. However, the most basic pattern is to cover a line all the way across or a column all the way down, but all manner of patterns are played in different Bingo games. So make sure that you know what pattern you’re playing for before you start a game.

Once the pattern has been covered that player wins the game. In a real brick-and-mortar bingo hall, the player would need to yell “BINGO” loud enough for the caller or spotter to hear and usually before the next number is called or else they forfeit the card and the game. When it comes to online Bingo players only need to click the “BINGO” button to let the site know who won the game. However some sites have eliminated that extra click, as well as eliminated the need for the player to mark their number, they automatically mark the cards and call bingo for a player.

If there are more players who have completed the pattern on the card at the same time they will all win after their cards are verified. In an online game this will happen instantly while in a bingo hall the pattern is verified by the bingo caller. In the case of multiple winners, they will either split the jackpot equally or receive the total jackpot.

As you can see, Bingo is a very simple game to play but with so many variations around you need to make sure that you understand the rules to the particular game that you’re going to play.