Basic Bingo Tips

Bingo is played by people of all walks of life around the world. While there are so many variations of this game, use of bingo cards is the most common way of playing the game. The card usually contains one free space at the center and twenty four numbers. While the game isn’t difficult as such, it is essential that the player understands the basic instructions of bingo thoroughly especially the various rules and procedures involved. Here are some basic bingo instructions that will help you to get started with the game easily.

The first thing you should know about is the card layout. Basically, bingo cards are 5 x 5 tables of squares with each square having a number apart from the center one. The center square is referred to as ‘free space’ and all players can automatically mark it as completed. Each column contains a letter on the top and together, they spell the word B-I-N-G-O. B column paces are marked by numbers from 1 to 15 and I numbers range from 16 to 30. Then there are the N numbers which range from 31 to 45 and G numbers from 46 to 60 and finally the O numbers from 61 to 75. Given that each column only has five spaces or four at the middle, this means that players can make thousands of different unique number combinations for the bingo cards.

When playing bingo, the master of ceremony is usually the caller and he or she draws out and calls numbers and letter columns. For instance, the caller could call G54 and all the players are expected to be looking at their cards on the G rows specifically to see whether or not number 54 is present. In case it is there, the spot will be marked as completed. The main objective of bingo game is filling your card up as per the house rules. As such, the player will be marking numbers present in a row, column or diagonal and sometimes even filling the entire card.

When a player fills the card accordingly, he or she is required to shout ‘BINGO’ so that they can claim the prize. In case there are two or more players, they will share the prize and if the prize in question is cash money, it will be split equally among all the winners. Typically, prizes range from just small trinkets to big cash payouts depending on the game.

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