Sunday, April 27, 2008

Bingo is like a lottery

Bingo is like a lottery - it is a game of luck. Further, learning how to play Bingo is both easy and fun. There are lots of variations in the way that Bingo is played and learning how to play Bingo and all of its variants can prove to be an exciting pastime; one with many different prizes at stake.

However, the basic principles remain the same and you will discover that while learning how to play Bingo, all of the principles apply to the all important Bingo card.

The Bingo card is printed with its own unique grid of numbers, usually ranging from 1 up to 90, and is arranged in columns and rows. There is a caller who calls the randomly selected numbers for the players to mark off their card. It will be decided before the game begins what pattern of numbers are needed to win. For example, the player may need to get every number on their card, known as a full house; or a row or column, or perhaps two rows, etc.

Bingo originated from a game called Beano; so called because players covered up the numbers on their cards with beans. Nowadays players commonly use what is known as a dauber or dabber to mark their numbers. These are often fluorescent in color so that when playing in a darkened hall they can still be seen.