About Bingo Game
Bingo is one of the traditional card games that have been in existence for quite sometime now. However, with changing times, this game also underwent some changes and out came the modern online bingo. This game is played using cards known as bingo cards. Online bingo is very popular and played in huge numbers across several casinos located in countries like US and UK.
Bingo is one of the traditional card games that have been in existence for quite sometime now. However, with changing times, this game also underwent some changes and out came the modern online bingo. This game is played using cards known as bingo cards. Online bingo is very popular and played in huge numbers across several casinos located in countries like US and UK. The game is played by calling out a number randomly.
Although there are several versions of this game, two kinds of bingo are quite popular. In the first kind of game, a 75 ball bingo is played on a 5*5 card. This kind of game is quite popular in North America. While countries like UK, parts of Europe, Australia and South America play a 90 ball game using a 9*3 card is used. The desired pattern which players aim to achieve in a 75 or 90 ball game varies drastically. However the ultimate aim of the game is always the same i.e. to mark off the numbers and achieve the desired pattern.
A 90 ball bingo game is played in three stages i.e. one line, two lines and house full. In a one line game, players need to mark complete horizontal lines across one card. The aim of a two line game is to complete any two marked lines horizontally across one card. While full house would mean marking off all the numbers on one card. The prize for full house is always largest prize in any game.
When it comes to typical bingo game, it is played with different kinds of bingo cards. The cards used for bingo games can have pre printed numbers on it or can be absolutely blank ones. Similarly cards can be made of paper or any other disposable material. The bingo card once used is no longer valid and is generally thrown away.
Players receive new set of bingo cards for every game they play consisting of 25 squares of 5*5 grids. Every square except the middle one (free spot) is assigned a number. The first column from the right of the card is assigned the alphabet “B” and includes 5 numbers ranging 1 to 15. The other four columns are assigned “I”, “N”, “G” and “O”.
Column I would contain 5 numbers ranging 16-30. The same sequence is followed for the remaining three columns until the last column is reached. The last column contains 5 numbers in the range of 61-75.
Usually bingo is played with a regular deck of 52 cards. A bingo card is drawn is drawn from the top and players need to match this number with a card in their hand. As soon as the player runs out of cards, they have bingo and they win the game. There are different variations to this game and it is known by different names in different countries.
In UK, Australia and New Zealand, the game is played differently than what it is played in US and Canada. In UK bingo players use printed tickets of 15 numbers in order to match it with the random generated number. This game is also referred to as Housie and it has nine rows with three columns thus housing 27 spaces in all. Numbers are called out randomly unless there is a winner.
Resources:
Keith Jones is the author of this article on Bingo.
Find more information about Bingo Cards here.
