In the UK and much of the Western world, Bingo has long since been recognized as a “sport of chance”. In the US, Bingo is simply a game of probability where each player matches pairs of numbers printed on separate cards with the randomly selected numbers that the game host chooses from a hat. Bingo cards are printed with the numbers 1 to 10, inclusive. The goal is to be the first player to get all of the ten cards in a set sequence, or to be the last person to complete the set.
To do this, one must determine the number of columns on the bingo card. Most players choose five, but you can be more creative with your decision. For instance, you may prefer a single column, or two columns or even three columns. You can also choose to use a larger font on your bingo cards if you prefer a large amount of free space for the name and picture of your caller.
You will then choose the number of bids to play, and once this is decided, you will place a number of pieces of paper on the table that indicates how many cards are actually remaining on the bingo cards. These pieces of paper are called the “jacks” and they will indicate the position of the jackpot. These jacks also let you know how many more cards are left on the cards in the “card pool” so that you can play those cards and hope to get them into the jackpot.
The names of the caller and the words “Bingo” will be printed on top of the bingo cards. Following these will be the random letters and numbers that will form part of your “line”. Once all of these items are placed on the card, the game host will draw one or more cards and then say the word “Bingo” before revealing the names of the players who have purchased tickets for that particular game. The game then begins.
Each of the five numbers on the card represents one of the five columns on the bingo card. You must identify these five columns before drawing any of them. For example, if there are three columns on a card, the corresponding number from those columns is A through L. Drawing numbers in any order is not permitted.
If no player ends up with a winning bingo card after playing the game, then that means that another person has won. The person who bought the tickets is the winner. When these tickets are counted, the person who buys them first is the winner. This person then becomes the “prize winner” of the prize. The reason why there is a prize winner and why only one person is deemed the winner is because any winning bingo card would have an equal chance of winning against any other drawn in any drawing of the same set.
