Bingo Basics

You walk in to a Bingo hall, you a pay a fee and get a certain number of cards for a certain number of games; generally called sessions. More fees bring you more cards and/or games and specials.

There are actually two main variations of Bingo played world-wide 90 ball and 75 ball Bingo. In North America 75-ball Bingo is most commonly played. Balls are numbered 1-75 B1-O75. The 75 numbers are spread evenly over the 5 letters of BINGO in the following manner:

• B: 1-15
• I: 16-30
• N: 31-45
• G: 46-60
• O: 61-75

And a sample card would look like this:

The game is played when balls are pulled randomly and announced by the Caller. If the number is on your card(s) you mark it off! The first player to complete the pattern being played yells out Bingo! The game is stopped, the win is check, and if it's verified the game ends and the winner gets paid.

4 Corners? 6-Pack? Hat-Pin Patterns and Game Variations.
Bingo isn't just the straight line games most of us played in our youth. These days sessions consist of a variety of patterns and different types of games. There are three basic types of patterns:

• Static or standard bingo patterns. Patterns cannot be moved or shifted.
• Crazy bingo patterns. Patterns to be rotated in 90 degree increments for a winning bingo pattern match (by 90Á, 180Á or 270Á). (Crazy U, Crazy T)
• Wild bingo patterns. Scattered patterns. The bingo pattern stays in the same place (static) but can be located anywhere on the card.
• You can get a good overview of Patterns Here http://www.creekbingo.com/patterns.htm

Odds of Winning
Your winning odds depend on the number of cards in the game and how many cards you are playing. For example, if a player has 9 cards in a game with 900 cards, the chances of winning for that player is 1 in 100.

Payouts
Payouts depend upon how many cards are purchased for each game and an algorithm for profit for the hall.

Online Bingo Free, Subscription and Pay to Play sites.
There are a lot of options to online Bingo. Online you'll see free, subscription and pay Bingo sites. You'll have to register to begin playing.Registration usually consists of your name or username (online persona) and email address. Sites that give away prizes will want your mailing address and maybe a telephone number.

Free Bingo sites are advertising supported. That is why on some sites you have to click on an advertiser banner to start a game, or, watch ads between games. Annoying sometimes, but free.

Subscription sites charge a monthly fee and can play all the games that you want. You can generally use your credit card although many sites take PayPal or other online payment options.

On pay Bingo sites you deposit a minimum amount and buy cards for each game you want to play. Because of restrictions you will probably have to use an online payment service such as NETeller to deposit to a pay-to-play site. Each site has it's own deposit options and instructions.

Game Software
Online games come in two categories, no-download or download required. With web-based games, generally flash or java, you register and play immediately. Just click on a game button and after a brief time loading, play.

With download games you need to download and install software, launch the software and then you can play. They're generally more stable and have more bells and whistles.

Winning
Free sites very often pay in points that you can redeem as a discount on purchase or use as a ticket to a lottery which pays in cash or prizes.

Subscription sites usually have a mix of points and cash; money is deposited into your bank and/or checks are sent.

Pay sites. Jackpots are deposited directly into you.