Millions of people play bingo and millions more are keen to give it a try. Online bingo now makes it possible for almost anyone to play without leaving the comfort of your home. But if you are new to bingo or it’s been a few years since you played, you should make sure you know the rules.
Now this is not a difficult task because the rules of bingo are both few and easy. Learn the rules and then give yourself some fun – and possibly even some winnings – with a game of bingo.
In short you have a caller, a person who runs the bingo game. He or she calls out individual numbers. These numbers are selected at random by either choosing a card with a number on it or choosing a numbered ball from a box of numbered balls. It’s simply a game of chance although you must have your wits about you.
Every player must have at least one bingo card and the word BINGO must be clearly shown on the top of the card. If you want to increase your chances of winning, you can purchase more cards. Each card will have a series of numbers in columns. The aim is to draw a line between five numbers as they are announced by the caller.
There are other items a player can purchase to play bingo but the minimum is the correct bingo card and a marker to mark your bingo card if your numbers are called.
Some bingo games have variations to their rules. Sometimes the five numbers must be in a certain line or pattern or in any pattern or sometimes they must simply be the correct five numbers.
It’s important that you understand the required version of the correct numbers before you start to play each game. This is where knowing the bingo rules, the simple bingo rules, are so important. You don’t want to obtain the correct numbers only to have them in the wrong pattern. Most bingo games require the winning player to have a single line between the five winning numbers.
The caller always places every called number to one side once each number is announced. This is so any player who claims to have the correct numbers can have their claim verified. Usually the caller is the judge or person who examines any card which claims to be the winner but some games will have an independent person to do this – someone other than the caller.
The end of each game of bingo is clearly defined in the rules. A game is over when the first player to claim all five numbers in the pattern announced for the game has had their claim verified.
One interesting aspect of the formal rules of bingo is that prizes are optional. If you wish to play online bingo or any game for that matter, check to see if there is a prize or reward for the person who wins the game. A prize will be great but for many people the reward is the fun and enjoyment of the game and the people you meet in playing bingo.
By: Sheila Danes
If you mention the game of “bingo” to somebody, chances are that will be familiar with the game, and how it is played. It is a very simple game, one that can be learned in minutes, but which nevertheless provides enjoyment to many people. What you may not have realized however is, with a few simple modifications, bingo can be adapted for classroom use, and used by teachers as an educational tool.
Bingo can be an enjoyable activity for many students, and of course this can help them engage with the subject, but it is also ideal for classroom use since it does not require expensive or specialist materials, and the game is flexible enough to be adapted for teaching almost any subject.
The main way that the game is adapted to different subjects, is by using bingo cards printed with items chosen by the teacher, instead of standard numbered bingo cards. The items on the cards can be anything that the teacher feels appropriate for the subject in question, be they words, phrases, or perhaps math problems or musical symbols. Additionally, in some cases, the game rules may also be modified somewhat.
Examples of educational variants of bingo include
* Reading Bingo – This game is indented for younger students learning to read. They must simply find words on their cards when they are read out. Very often the words are chosen from the Dolch sight word list, or similar introductory word lists
* Math bingo – The bingo cards are printed with math problems that the students must correctly solve in order to check off the corresponding square. The problems could be equations, reducing a fraction, etc.
* Foreign language bingo – These version of the game could be played in a language learning class, be that French, Spanish, German, Italian or any other language. The bingo cards are printed with words in that language, and the students must find the correct matching word when the teacher calls out the English equivalent.
By: Sunil Tanna
