How to Play the US Version of Bingo
Besides being a popular event for the “town hall Bingo night” sect (aka: Grandma and Grandpa), Bingo is gaining popularity as a casino game as well. In fact, when visiting some smaller and/or Indian casinos, chances are you will pass by a Bingo hall tucked away in some corner with a group of players marking their cards as an announcer calls out the letter and numbers necessary to win. And it’s only a matter of time before it invades The Strip.
Do you know why this game is so popular? Because it’s one of the easiest games to play. Which we’ll demonstrate in this article.
Bingo is a game of chance that is actually very similar to the concept of playing the lottery (or perhaps Keno). In a nutshell, the game is as simple as listening for the numbers that are called, and marking those called numbers on a “5 x 5” bingo card. That’s it – listen and mark. Typically, when you get five in a row, you win.
As gameplay begins, there is an announcer who stands close to a device called a Bingo blower, as well as two flashboards. The blowers send out small balls that have letters and numbers on them (for example: “G-45”, or “I-19”). The balls are taken by the announcer, and the results are verbally relayed to the crowd so that they can mark the appropriate area on their card. Since each card is different and has a series of random numbers on it, a player may not always have the called number.
As the game progresses, the player cards will continue to fill up until a five space winning combination is completed. This can be done anywhere on the board, as long as it is done in a straight vertical, horizontal, or even a diagonal line. If a player has gotten one of these five sequential combinations, they must quickly exclaim “Bingo!”, where their card will be reviewed for accuracy, and if correct, will be awarded prizes. It is important to yell “Bingo” quickly in case another player has made his or her own winning combination. Time and speed is of the essence here. Trust us, you’ve never seen older folks move so fast as you will in a BINGO hall.
And that’s it – that’s how you play Bingo.
Like we alluded above, while Bingo is becoming a common fixture in casinos, it is more found in churches and charity organizations in the United States. This is due to its ease of understanding how to play, and overall simplicity – quite literally, anyone can pick up the concept of the game, whether is it is in a Bingo parlor, or even one of the online gaming variants.
The next time you are at an event when Bingo is being played, check it out. You may be surprised at how much fun you have.
