Can You Beat The Odds in Bingo?
The process of calculating odds in a bingo game is actually very simple. All you have to do is take the number of cards you are playing and divide it by how many cards that are in play altogether. For example, if you are playing 10 cards and you know that there are 100 cards in total being played, your odds are 10 in 100 or 10 percent.
Each player in the game of bingo has one or more cards with squares on them. There are five rows and five columns on each card. From left to right, the columns are identified by the letters B-I-N-G-O. The middle square is marked as “free.”
Different numbers, drawn from the range of 1 to 15, are present in each of the five squares in column B. Five numerals are found in Column I, ranging from 16 to 30. There are four numbers in Column N that range from 31 to 45. Five numbers each from the ranges of 46 to 60 and 61 to 75 are found in columns G and O, respectively.
The difficulties come in trying to figure out how many cards there are altogether. You can find a ballpark figure by multiplying the total number of people playing by what you believe to be the average number of cards each person has, however, that is not as simple as it may sound. Remember, in progressive jackpot games, a winner is not guaranteed. Therefore, the odds do not matter. The odds of winning progressive jackpots have more to do with how difficult it will be in covering the pattern within the number of calls that have been announced. These odds are so overwhelmingly steep, it could be months before someone actually wins the jackpot.
The Effects of the Number of Cards on Bingo Odds of Winning
The first piece of advice is that your chances of winning increase as you purchase more cards. The simplest and most effective strategy to raise your possible number of wins is to do this.
The reason is that your odds of winning are one in ten if you buy one bingo card and nine other players do the same. On the contrary hand, your odds would dramatically rise to 10 in 20 if you had bought eleven bingo cards.
You can really find out how many cards are being used in your current game at several online bingo sites. This data is extremely useful since it enables you to calculate your odds correctly. You don’t need many cards to increase your chances if few were purchased by other players. However, if the game is popular and there are many tickets purchased, you might wish to buy more cards to get an edge over the bingo hall.
To summarize…
- The more bingo tickets you purchase, the greater your winning odds
- If you can determine how many tickets were bought in bingo, you can easily calculate your odds or probability of winning.
Number of balls/calls and your Bingo Odds
A specific number of calls that might result in wins appear on each bingo card. Numbers drawn at random from a ball rack or produced by a random number generator will be called out by the caller.
As you might expect, there are 30 calls for 30-ball bingo, 75 calls for 75-ball bingo, and 90 calls for 90-ball bingo. Different winning combinations and patterns exist for every game. As the game progresses, you may claim that your chances of winning rise since there are fewer balls in the rack.
Player Odds of Winning at Bingo
In the same way that you may estimate your bingo odds by knowing how many cards are in a game, you can also do so by counting the number of participants. There are more cards in a room when there are more players, so you would need to buy more of them to improve your winning odds.
The opposite is also true; your chances of winning are better if there are fewer participants in the room. On the contrary hand, a bigger prize also results from having more participants. Progressive jackpots are common in bingo games; these jackpots grow in value as more players join the game. Therefore, you must strike a balance between the number of participants and the amount of money in the pot.
Finding a bingo room with an average number of players is your best chance. Your earnings will be little if a progressive jackpot bingo room is vacant! It’s also important to pay attention to how the player counts vary during the day. Because so many people are at work, for instance, daylight hours are typically the least crowded. The bingo halls, on the other hand, could be crowded on the weekends and at night.
Based on this information, we can conclude that:
- More cards are bought when more players come to the bingo hall
- You can calculate your odds of winning by determining the number of players in a bingo game
- More players translate to bigger cash prizes when it comes to progressive bingo jackpots
- Bingo halls are typically busier during weekends & evenings and quieter on weekdays
How Do You Know Which Numbers come up the Most?
If there were numbers that came up more often than others, the chances of hitting a huge progressive jackpot could increase. The fact is that no number has a better chance of being drawn than any other number, so long as the blower machine has a complete set of balls, the balls are not flawed, and no one has been tampering with the balls or the blower.
To place it in a perspective that makes it a little easier to see, try flipping a coin three times.
One side is going to land face up more than the other. However, if you flip that same coin 1,000 times, each side landing face up will be nearly identical; this is the law of probability. With this same scenario in mind, let’s look at it from a bingo point of view.
After playing bingo for two hours, you noted that B-12 was called three times and B-15 was never called. With this information, it would appear that you should be trying to find cards with B-12 on them if you want a chance at winning. However, after about a dozen sessions of bingo, the difference between B-12 and B-15 being called is going to be very minimal.
How Do You Improve Your Chances of Winning at Bingo?
Even though there really is no way to beat the odds in bingo, you can use them to your advantage. Here are some tips on how you can try to tip the scales in your favor.
BINGO TIP 1: The fewer players the better
How many cards are in play is what determines the odds in a bingo game. So, a game that has few players provides you with less competition for the advertised jackpot that the bingo halls are legally bound to pay, regardless of the number of players in attendance.
Try attending games when bad timing or weather will help to keep crowds away. Once you have been at the bingo hall long enough, you will get a feel for when sessions are not as crowded so you can also play during off times. Each hall will have its days through the week, time of day, or holidays when people are going to be leaving town, this is your opportunity to play the odds. Keep in mind that there may be a reason for such low attendance. Perhaps the jackpot simply isn’t very impressive and people don’t feel the size of the pot is worth sitting for hours to try and win. Make sure you do your homework before you decide on a game.
BINGO TIP 2: Go to the bingo hall early
When it comes to boosting your bingo-winning chances, preparation can go a very long way. One of the most important tips for playing at a brick-and-mortar establishment is to arrive at the bingo hall at least half an hour before the kick-off of the game. You will have ample time to purchase bingo tickets, make new friends, connect with old pals, enjoy some refreshments, and set up your playing station.
BINGO TIP 3: Do not use duplicate bingo cards
No bingo card will have the same number more than once printed on them. Therefore, every card in play will have the same odds. However, players try to select cards that do have the same numbers in an attempt to maximize their chances and increase their odds.
BINGO TIP 4: Use multiple cards during your sessions
While keeping their budgets in mind, most bingo players will buy as many cards as they can play at one time. Doing so helps to increase their odds of winning. It also helps to avoid boredom among experienced players by keeping busy having to scan many cards. Does playing with multiple cards increase your chances of winning? Yes.
If 100 people, including yourself, are playing a session of bingo and every player has four cards, that’s 400 cards in play. So you buy 20 cards, thereby increasing your odds from a 1 percent chance to nearly 5 percent. Just keep in mind that while playing multiple cards does improve your odds of winning, it also increases the amount of money you could be losing.
The general rule is to look at how many cards everyone is playing and aim for the average. If you feel you can handle a few more cards comfortably, then go for it. Playing within your budget ensures that you keep your bankroll longer, have fun, and increase your winning odds.
BINGO TIP 5: Hold your cards
While not every hall will allow this, some will let you retain your cards for other sessions. Playing the same cards, with the same numbers could increase your odds; at least that is what many experienced players believe. The thought behind it is that since they have not won on that card yet, they are “due”.
The law of probability will eventually catch up, however. Even if you have a set that you have won with quite a bit, think about how many times you have not won with those cards.
Yes, you could put a few more checks in the “win” column, but you will more than likely lose more.
Holding your cards also provides you with an advantage. Once you have played your cards for a while, you will be more familiar with them, making locating called numbers faster, thereby providing you with a slight edge over the other players.
BINGO TIP 6: Stay sharp – Avoid intoxication when you play bingo
You probably have read this before, and we have said it before, but stay aware of what is happening. It’s one thing to play a session and not get bingo. But it can be very frustrating to play a session, have a bingo and not realize it. Stay sharp and stay focused on the game.
Remain positive, even when the session does not look promising: Whether it’s a coincidence or an unexplainable fact, people who stay positive seem to have good things happen to them. Some believe that they can do events they want to occur by simply thinking about them and imagining them repeatedly. Since it doesn’t take any additional effort or money on your part, it’s worth a shot.
BINGO TIP 7: Use a Bingo Strategy
Although you cannot influence the order in which bingo numbers/balls are called/drawn, you can still do something to win bingo games. Using a basic or advanced bingo strategy is one of the best ways to do this. Here are proven bingo strategies worth trying:
(a) Tippett’s Method
The technique was developed by British statistician Tippett to improve bingo winning chances. Tippett reasoned that the probability that the bingo ball drawn will be close to the medium number of 38 increases with the length of a 75-ball bingo game. As an alternative, he proposed that numbers from shorter games would be closer to the outliers 1 and 75.
(b) Granville’s Method
This is one of the most common strategies used by smart bingo players. Some stock traders and market analysts use Granville’s Method to predict price movements. Using the technique to check your bingo cards may increase your winning chances.
Choose bingo cards that:
- Include an equal number of low and high numbers
- Include an equal proportion of odd and even numbers
- Include an equal ratio of numbers that end in 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9
BINGO TIP 8: Remember your bingo dauber
When a number is called, there is no time to waste because bingo is a game of speed. This is especially true if you play at land-based bingo halls. Instead of having your cards automatically filled out like in some online bingo games, you must manually fill them out in real life.
Planning and preparation need to be well underway before you ever walk through the doors. If you come prepared, you’re far more likely to take advantage of the many bingo-winning strategies. Don’t leave the house without your preferred dauber.
A quick way to finish your bingo game is by using bingo daubers. Pens and pencils are not good enough when you need to examine their cards to determine how many numbers they need to match to win at the end of the game. You risk losing a win if you can’t see your markings or the numbers on your card.
What is the trick to winning bingo?
There is no single-most-effective trick or secret to winning at bingo. However, you can improve your chances of winning at bingo by…
- Playing more cards
- Highlighting unique game patterns
- Using a bingo strategy like Granville’s or Tippett’s Method
- Paying close attention when numbers are being called out
- Using a dauber
- Playing bingo games with smaller groups
- Practicing bingo online
Is bingo a skill or luck?
Bingo is more luck than skill.
What numbers hit the most in bingo?
It depends on the type and length of the game. Numbers close to the end of the list usually hit the most in short bingo games. For instance, 1 and 90 tend to hit the most in a short game of 90-ball bingo.
On the other hand, median numbers are called more often than extreme numbers in long games of bingo. For instance, 37 and 38 are hit most frequently in a long game of 75-ball bingo.