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Bingo:  The Basics

Bingo is a popular choice for a game to play at a fundraising event - as it can be enjoyed by all age-groups, including children.  It's also often played at a regular social event for older people - for example, at an over 60's club.

There are different versions of bingo - but the general idea is the same:

• each player has a ticket or card with numbers - everyone's numbers are different
• there is a winning "pattern" of numbers - for example, all the numbers in a line across the ticket or card - which each of the players is trying to match
• numbers are randomly drawn one at a time by a bingo caller who calls each number out to the players
• players mark off the numbers on their ticket or card
• as soon as a player matches the winning pattern, they shout "bingo" 

1 - 90 Bingo (or "housey-housey")

This is the traditional bingo game in the UK - which until recently was widely known as "housey-housey".                   

Each bingo ticket has 15 different numbers from between 1 and 90 - with 5 numbers and 4 spaces on each of the 3 lines.  There are usually just three winning "patterns" to every game:

• Line - all the numbers on 1 line across
• Two Lines - all the numbers on 2 lines across
• Full House - all the numbers on the ticket

Bingo tickets are made from paper.  Players mark off the numbers with pens or dabbers.  The tickets are used for one game then discarded.

Playing 1 - 90 Bingo with a Strip of 6 Tickets

It's usual for players to play with a strip of 6 tickets - with all the numbers from 1 to 90 somewhere on the strip - so you mark off a number on one of your 6 tickets every time a number is called.

This is not as difficult as it might seem at first: the distribution of numbers is always the same (numbers 1 - 9 in the first column, 10 - 19 in the second column, and so on) - and you only need to look down one column to find the number that's been called.

1 - 75 bingo (or American Bingo)

The American version of bingo is played with 75 numbers.  The 1 - 75 bingo card is a square grid of 24 different numbers and a "free space" in the middle of the card which can used to complete a winning pattern.  Games can be based on a huge variety of winning patterns - from simple patterns like the 4 corners or diagonals; to patterns which resemble letters or objects.

The most common 1 - 75 bingo cards in the UK are in fact plastic shutterboards.  You mark off numbers by closing the relevant shutter, which are opened again at the end of the game, ready for a new game; so the shutterboards can be used again and again.

Calling the Bingo Numbers

Although you can improvise (for example, with numbered lottery discs drawn from a bag), there are basically two ways for a bingo caller to draw out the numbers for bingo games at fundraising and social events:             

• bingo cage with bingo balls - the cage is rotated by hand and it drops out balls at random, which are each placed on a numbered board for checking a winning player's ticket or card
• electronic bingo selector - which picks out numbers at random, provides a checking display of numbers for the caller, and also displays the current number to the players

The bingo caller can call out the numbers:

• by giving the constituent numbers - for example, "two and one: 21" - or repeating the number "Number 27: 27"
• or by using the UK traditional bingo calls - like "clickety-click: 66"

Bingo and the Law

Bingo can be played at an event - a fundraising event or a regular social event - where the proceeds are for charity or some other good cause.

Children can play bingo at these events. 

The law has now changed in Great Britain (but not in Northern Ireland) - and as follows:

• Prize bingo: if the prizes for your bingo games (prizes like a bottle of wine or chocolates or cash prizes) are determined beforehand and do NOT depend on how many people are playing, then there are NO restrictions on admission charges, stakes or prizes
• Equal chance bingo: if instead the prizes depend on how many people people are playing (such as the level of prize money is determined by the takings on the day), then the all-in charge for admission and tickets must not exceed £8 and the total prize money must not exceed £600.   

In Northern Ireland, you are limited to an all-in charge of £4 covering admission  - and the total value of prizes cannot be more than £400. You also have to inform the police of your event 7 days beforehand, tell participants how the proceeds will be used, and keep accounts of how the money was spent.