Online bingo: the complete guide 2023

How to play bingo online?

It's hard to make it simpler than bingo. At the start of the game, bingo players are invited to buy one or more bingo card(s) (virtual or pre-printed). Bingo cards usually consist of 25 numbered squares spread over 5 columns and 5 rows. All of them have numbers that range from 1 to 75. The word "Bingo" sits in capital letters above each grid. To make it easier to read, each constituent letter is associated with a column: the B for numbers between 1 and 15, the I for numbers between 16 and 30, the N for numbers between 31 and 45, the G for numbers between 46 and 60 and the O for numbers between 61 and 75. Also worth noting is the presence of a free box commonly symbolized in the form of a star and placed in the middle of the grid .

In a classic bingo hall, a wind tunnel abacus is used to draw the numbers. In the case of online bingo, these are random number generators who take over. The host (also called the "crier" or "announcer") states the numbers in a loud and intelligible voice as the draw takes place. For his part, as soon as an announced number appears in his grid, the player concerned is required to check it. As soon as a player of the assembly succeeds in check all the numbers from the same horizontal, vertical or diagonal line (depending on the variants), he will shout "Bingo" to claim the win of the game. The room host (or one of his assistants) will be responsible for checking the legitimacy of his victory, in which case the next round begins immediately.

Some variants of bingo will allow you to win additional prizes if you manage to make up a pre-established scheme that can take many forms: a cross, a letter of the alphabet, the 4 corners, an arrow, a diamond or even a blackout (where all the boxes must be checked). The crier will continue to announce the numbers until a player manages to get the "pattern" in question. As for online bingo, the many advantages offered by computer technology will spice up your games (variety of grids, acceleration of the draw, chat room...).

What are the variants of online bingo?

In addition to the 75-ball version that we mentioned earlier, the busiest virtual casinos will also feature 30-ball, 80-ball and 90-ball bingo in their respective game library. Although the price of the cards and the patterns to be formed are likely to vary greatly depending on the version, the purpose of the game remains unchanged :

• 30-ball bingo - It is a variant with a particularly fast pace that will fully do the business of impatient players. All the numbers in your grid of 9 squares (3 x 3) must be ticked to win ;
• 80-ball bingo - It is a version halfway between 75-ball bingo and 90-ball bingo which is characterized by grids of 16 squares (4 x 4) whose color of the columns differs to facilitate the identification of numbers. The 80-ball bingo card groups all the numbers between 1 and 80 on 5 different grids ;
• 90-ball bingo - It is a variation of the traditional bingo that was born in the United Kingdom before being exported to the rest of Europe and Oceania. The numbers are arranged in 9 columns and 3 rows. The latter have 5 numbered boxes and 4 blank boxes. The numbers between 1 and 90 are divided into 6 separate grids.

What strategies can be applied to online bingo?

Bingo stands out from most of the casino games by its social dimension with an educational vocation that allows children to learn the basics of algebra and adults to enjoy a convivial moment with friends (or family). Thus, bingo has transcended generational divides. Although winning there is more a matter of luck than any other external factor, the putting into practice certain decisions that are both reasoned and reasonable will allow you to significantly improve your chances of victory. Even if you do not have the opportunity to interfere in the drawing of numbers, our team strongly advises you to take advantage of the few tips that we are going to state for modestly increase your chances of winning winnings and enhance your gaming experience . Although some of these tips may flow from the source, do not see it as an informative precaution on our part!

At bingo, reduce the competition as much as possible!

Online or in the gym, the more participants there are, the less likely you are to win. The fewer cards there are in play, the greater your chances of victory will be (even if it must mean less significant gains). Indeed, if bingo has both friendly and fraternal aspects, the different players who participate in it are no less your opponents. It would be a shame if one of them stole the show from you. Also, it's better playing outside of peak hours , at a time of day when connected players are quite rare. Online, choose to play during off-peak hours. In the gym, join sparsely attended gaming sessions. You will have understood: at bingo, the less the merrier, the more we laugh! If you only have eyes for the games that offer the most advantageous winnings and the biggest jackpots, you will inevitably have to fight with a larger number of players. By doing so, you would minimize your chances of winning. The ball is in your court!

In bingo, play several cards (different or similar)!

The more cards you play, the more this will increase your chances of winning . "Elementary, my dear Watson" you will retort to us! Possible, but too many players still ignore this wise advice. The number of bingo cards (also called "grids") that you will buy will depend on the number of participants as well as the cost of each card. In online casinos, if you buy your cards in packs, we recommend that you use the "auto-play" or "auto-daub" function, which will automatically check the numbers of your grids according to their draw. Perhaps it will help to somewhat sabotage the pleasure you had in checking them off yourself, but it will have the merit of saving you many mistakes and annoyances.

Also, if you are playing with several cards, make sure that the latter are as different from each other as possible. Choose grids whose constituent numbers are characterized by their diversity and their motley layout! Indeed, if certain numbers appear together on several of your cards, it is obvious that you would blithely compromise your chances of victory if none of these numbers ever came out. Conversely, you would significantly increase them if you managed to cover as many numbers as possible.

Some will rather encourage you to choose grids whose numbers and their layout are as identical as possible. Radically opposed to the strategy that we have just explained to you, this method will allow the player to double, triple, quadruple his winnings if the numbers drawn appear on several cards at once. This tactic of concentrating the numbers turns out to be much more daring and reckless than the previous one insofar as it assumes that the draw is advantageous to you...

At bingo, use the chat rooms and form alliances with your friends!

Actively participating in discussions in online chat rooms ("chat rooms") will allow you to keep abreast of private competitions and other special events organized in the near future. These exclusive games announced by the moderator will give you the opportunity to grab potentially interesting prizes which you would be wrong to ignore. Also use this feature to make new friends and, who knows, form alliances with some of them to boost your chances of victory... Considering a long-term or one-time association with another participant, online or in the gym, will allow you to halve your gaming expenses. If you win, you would share the winnings with your partner fairly.

Joseph Granville and Leonard Tippett's bingo theories

Even if bingo blindly obeys the implacable rules of chance, some number lovers have developed probabilistic strategies intended to making the odds swing in your favor . Joseph Granville, an American financial analyst, and Leonard Tippett, a British statistician, have taken a close interest in the probabilities of bingo and, based on their research, have come to devise theories that will give you valuable information on how to choose your grids to maximize your chances of victory .

Famous for having invented a volume indicator (On-Balance Volume) capable of determining the up or down trends of financial markets after technical analysis of the accumulation or distribution phases, Joseph Ensign Granville has written numerous financial books and participated in multiple economic symposia focused on stock market investment strategies. While carefully examining the billboard of a bingo hall on which the numbers out appeared, Granville was struck to note how the scattering of numbers obeyed a certain logic . He noticed that the draws, although subject to the laws of uniform distribution, gave rise to a relative balance between even and odd numbers as well as between the numbers of low and high value. He also found that the number of units of the majority of the first 10 numbers drawn varied systematically. Based on his observations, Granville wrote a 145-page book entitled "How to Win at Bingo? "in which he codified a set of rules that could humbly increase your chances of victory. According to Granville, choose a bingo grid that features :

• The same number of even and odd numbers ;
• The same number of low and high value numbers ;
• The same number of numbers ending in 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9.

Author of the first random number table and co-inventor of the theory of extreme values (with Ronald Aylmer Fisher and Emil Gumbel) whose applications cover many fields (meteorology, demography, hydrology...), the British statistician Leonard Henry Caleb Tippett developed an even bolder strategy than the previous one. By analyzing hundreds of draws, Tippett realized that the longer the bingo game (with 75 balls) lasted, the more figures drawn revolved around the median number (established at 38) . By analogy, the shorter the game, the more the numbers drawn seemed to cluster closer to the "extreme" numbers (1 and 75).

As long as you give credit to Tippett's probabilistic theory, you will have to choose a grid that includes a large concentration of numbers that orbit around the number 38 if the game in which you are taking part is intended to be long-term. If you are participating in a short-term game, on the contrary, it is better to choose a grid that concentrates a large number of numbers close to 1 and 75. " How to predict the duration of a bingo game? "you will retort us with reason... Easy! Tippett states that the parts in which you will have to make up simple and elementary patterns (horizontal line, vertical line, diagonal line, 4 corners...) will usually last less than those during which you will need to form intricate and elaborate patterns (bell, diamond, letter of the alphabet ...) to achieve victory.

What is the origin of bingo?

Bingo has many similarities with lottery games. Historians agree that modern bingo originates from the "Giuoco del Lotto d'Italia", a lottery game very popular in sixteenth-century Italy. Introduced in France a few centuries later, it was quickly adopted by the affluent social classes who put its recreational side to good use for instill the basics of algebra and arithmetic (especially multiplication tables) to their young children. It was not until the interwar period that Hugh J. Ward, an American from Pittsburgh, standardized and codified the rules of the modern version of bingo.

Nevertheless, it was under the impetus of Edwin S. Lowe, a salesman and toy manufacturer, that bingo acquired its letters of nobility. In December 1929, during a carnival organized in the state of Georgia, he observed a group of people playing "Beano" using beans, ink pads and number grids. The player who managed to get a specific pattern had to shout "Beano" to claim victory. Lowe brought the game back to New York where he christened it "Bingo". For what reason? Legend has it that one of Lowe's friends, so euphoric to have won, would have shouted "Bingo" instead of "Beano". The name stuck with him.

Edwin S. Lowe contacted Carl Leffler, a professor of mathematics who taught at Columbia University, so that the latter could work on the creating bingo card combinations . Leffler would have created more than 6,000! Nowadays, bingo is played at parish festivals or charity events. Usually, the winners pocket material prizes or cash prizes. The popularity of bingo is such that the Foxwoods Resort Casino (located in Ledyard, Connecticut) has a room (with a capacity of 5,000 players) that is entirely dedicated to it.

In the end, what about online bingo?

Online bingo will make you enjoy hours of entertainment without requiring the slightest brain effort on your part. In addition, the diversity of available variants (30-ball bingo, 75-ball bingo, 80-ball bingo, 90-ball bingo...) will allow you to inevitably find a shoe for your foot. Moreover, the multiplicity of patterns to be formed (letters of the alphabet, 4 corners, classic lines...), the speed of the draw and the discussion spaces (or chat rooms) will also contribute to bring a touch of cheerfulness and conviviality to your parties . From time to time, the bingo hall host will even take the initiative to set up a tournament at the end of which you will have the opportunity to win exclusive prizes! In order to maximize your online bingo gaming experience , don't forget to take advantage of the bonuses and promotional offers available in your virtual establishment. If you feel like it, also try the progressive jackpot bingo games, the prize pool of which can reach several tens of thousands of euros. Good luck!