How to Play the Game Bingo

Bingo is one of the most popular games of chance around. In the game, you have a card that is a matrix of five-by-five boxes with columns labeled "B," "I," "N," "G," and "O." The boxes are filled with random numbers. An announcer draws random Bingo numbers, each with one of the five letters. When you fill in five boxes in a row on your card, call out "Bingo!" to announce you have won the game.

Things You'll Need

• Bingo card
• Marker
• Bingo numbers (usually on balls)
• Announcer

Instructions

1. Set your bingo card (or bingo cards) in front of you. The center of the bingo card is a "Free" space that every card already has filled. Wait for the announcer to begin drawing the bingo numbers, either in the form of balls or in some other random way.

2. Listen to the announcer. He will call out a specific combination of a single letter and number. The letter will always be either "B," "I," "N," "G," or "O" and correspond to the card's column. For example "N48."

3. Check your bingo card. First, go to the column corresponding to the letter the announcer just called. Go down the column (in this example "N"), and if you also have the number ("48"), mark your card. When the announcer reads the next number, mark your card again if you have the corresponding box.

4. Call out "Bingo!" when you cover five boxes in a row in either a horizontal, vertical or diagonal line. The bingo announcer will ask for you to check your card.

5. Call out the numbers you have marked when prompted by the announcer. If you are in a large game, someone may come around to the table to make sure your card is a winner.

Tips & Warnings

• Make sure to know what design you are trying to get on your bingo card. Usually, the shape is a single line from one side of the card to the other, but in some special games the announcer will proclaim specific instructions, such as "cover all spaces" or "four corners."

References

• DLTK-cards.com: Bingo instructions