Bingo - The Play of the Game Bingo

An announcer, known as the caller, calls the letter and number of the released bingo ball over a loudspeaker. If, for example, B5 is drawn, players whose cards bear a 5 in the B column place a cardboard or plastic marker over it. This is called covering the number. The caller then places the drawn ball on a master board, which is often connected to an electrically operated panel that lights up the number on a large flashboard so that it can be seen as well as heard. The master board is also used as a check on the drawn numbers.

As soon as any player succeeds in covering five numbers in a straight line on her card, vertically, horizontally or diagonally, she shouts "Bingo". A floor man or floor woman goes to the player and reads the covered numbers on the player's card aloud to the caller or a tally man for verification. If the caller confirms that these five numbers have been drawn, the player is declared the winner of the bingo game and the prize.

In many game parlors the jackpot game is a two-way play. Some parlors have added three- and four-way plays, although the jackpot is the important factor. The bingo player who first covers a straight-line combination wins a prize, but the big prize, or jackpot, goes to the player who first covers her entire board. This is called a cover-all or blackout.

If two or more players get a winning position at the same time, the prize money is divided equally.

Many parlors also feature a four-way play, or round robin, in which there are four winning positions:

• The covering of five numbers in a straight line in any direction.
• The covering of the four numbers at the four comers of the card.
• The covering of the eight numbers which surround the center "free play" square.
• The covering of all the numbers on the card.

Some Bingo parlors consider as winning plays the covering of two or three straight lines when they cross or intersect so as to form the letters X, U, L, H or T. Some parlors give a double bonus for specific straight-line positions of five numbers such as the top line or the bottom line.