Bingo Play

A Guide To Playing Bingo!

In a very crowded place, I walk through rows and rows of tables finding a perfect spot to lay all my bingo cards down. Of course, I wanted a spot wherein I can easily see the big electronic board where all the numbers that were mentioned are alighted. And as I greedily mark one number after the other in order for me to get the pattern blackout, I suddenly realize that I have about 2 numbers left. I silently prayed, 'please let me have this' over and over again. As the next number was called, I held my breath� BINGO!

No! No! No! That was supposed to be my prize! As the elderly lady was approached by the runners of the event to check whether she did get all numbers correct, I sat there thinking, bingo is definitely a game of chance. Darn! I guess lady luck decided to stray farther away from me and nearer to that old lady.

Some people say that bingo is a game of chance that is quite similar to lotto. It is usually played by a large number of persons in competition for a certain prize.

The objective of the game bingo is to complete a game pattern on the bingo cards that you have before any other player does. If a certain pattern is completed, "bingo" is achieved and a winner is announced.

Whether you are playing bingo in actual or online, the rules are the same, as you will soon see in this bingo guide. With bingo online though, cards are randomly selected for each player. Usually, players receive three or four cards at the same time. Other sites offer more cards.

When you play online, the bingo game has a caller or a display board that helps different players see what numbers are being called and also keeps track of numbers that has already been called.

In bingo, it is very important to pay attention to the pattern that is being played. The pattern at play is always being displayed in clear view for every player. To hit bingo, you have to complete the current pattern. Some patterns are easier to achieve than others. The very basic pattern of which are straight lines that is either in horizontal, vertical or in a diagonal direction. Another simple and popular pattern is the "blackout" or "coverall" which is when all numbers are covered on the card for the player to win.

Numbers are called out very quickly which is around 10 seconds apart. It is essential that you pay careful attention to that numbers that are called and mark them quickly and accurately on the cards that you have. Some websites though offer auto-daubers that automatically mark the numbers that were called but I personally believe that these auto-daubers take the fun out of the game because, marking your own bingo cards is half the fun of playing it.

The game continues on until one or more players calls out a bingo. Once that bingo has been achieved, the numbers are then verified and the game is over. In the event that miscall of bingo has been done, the game continues on where it last stopped. When the cards have been checked over, the prize is awarded and a new game with a different pattern begins. In a case when two winners are announced, the prize will be split in two.