Timeless Strategies to Win at Bingo

Those of us who remember the old bingo halls have all seen it before — a guy gets on a roll, picks up several wins in one night, and takes his bag all the way to a dalliance with his date in the VIP lounge at the city’s most buzzworthy cabaret. 

Who would dare challenge the luck of the Gods? To sit back in a feckless stupor and give up after three or four drawings without a win would exhibit a lack of strategy and knowledge. By understanding the math at play and sticking to the best bingo strategies, you, too, can be that guy (or gal). 

For a new generation of gaming enthusiasts, you’re more likely to skip out on the smoky local bingo hall and enjoy the thrill of the timeless game online at your fingertips. Of course, there is the fun part… Winning. Everyone has a story about bingo, and it’s not about their most relaxing night but the times they’ve won and how they spent their extra cash.

Beginners looking for tips on how to play bingo online can check out our guide. If you’re ready for the next step, read on and prepare yourself with our bingo strategy tips.

Tip #1: Find a game that meets your skill level 

Bingo is one of the world’s oldest pastimes, an easygoing parlour game that doubles as a social event, giving every player an equal chance of winning. But there is a hidden competition in every game that calls for a need for the best bingo strategy. Peak hours will have more competition than off hours, so if you’re just starting out, consider weekday mornings and afternoons.

Beginner players should consider growing their bingo bankroll over time, wagering lower amounts that allow them to play more rounds – thus increasing the chance of winning. When reviewing the different game variants, players can enter more games of 75-ball bingo quicker, advancing through the rounds and building their bankroll along the way.

Note that there are two types of jackpots, fixed and progressive – click here to learn more.

Tip #2: Consider the math

The math behind Bingo is interesting. Once everyone’s bingo cards are divvied out, it’s a fact that cards with a variety of numbers (rather than repetitive ones) have a higher chance of winning. A card with all the same numbers will have a lower probability of winning. 

Check out bingo games that feature the widest variety of ways to win, like In Superlinks 75, where players can compete in a five-line version of the game. Daily must-win jackpots like Sapphire Bingo must be won before 9:55 pm daily, with up to £15,000 in prizes at stake.

Some wizard-like mathematicians have tried breaking down the probabilities of certain numbers being called, but we like to think of bingo as a fun, social game where anyone can win. Your chances do go up and down based on a variety of factors like we mentioned – the number of players in each game, the number of bingo cards you purchase in each contest and so on.

Tip # 3: Remember words of wisdom: Joseph E. Granville on bingo

Let’s get this out of the way up front: In any fair game of bingo, whether online or offline, all numbers have an equal chance of being picked. That said, one of the most popular bingo strategies folks swear by is from an infamous stock market seer and financial advisor by the name of Joseph E. Granville. According to his obituary in the New York Times, Granville was an eclectic man who made his fortune by writing financial newsletters and crisscrossing America in elaborate investment seminars, sometimes including puppets and clown outfits.

The wisdom Granville brought to bingo strategy, unlike his elaborate seminars, is relatively simple: Bingo players who want a better chance of winning need to select cards with as many numbers on the rows containing different second digits. The mathematical odds, for instance, of winning a game of bingo with a row that has 52, 72, 12, 32, and 42 are much lower than very disparate numbers.

If you can’t handpick your cards, this bingo strategy isn’t as relevant to your game, although understanding the concept might help you understand outcomes more smartly. It could also be true that, like his contemporary L.H.C. Tippett, the strategy Granville deployed only works on a totally random basis. 

Tip #4: Consider Jackpot games are your friend

Traditional games of bingo offer prizes for completing at least one full line on your bingo card, while Jackpot games have more conditions in play – and typically a larger bag to take home for the person who either gets lucky or cashes out on a winning bingo strategy. 

You can enter bingo games with a fixed jackpot or a progressive jackpot (where the prize pool increases with each successive game played). The more people who join, the bigger the jackpot. And in 90-ball games of Joy Bingo, for instance, you are eligible for three prizes: one line, two lines, or a full house. 

Keeping your bingo strategy rooted in tip #2 with an understanding that more tickets = more likely to win, players should be on the lookout for daily free games that let you increase your bankroll to buy more tickets in progressive jackpot games. 

Tip #5: Make friends and know what’s on the grapevine 

Since new games materialize daily, each with different ways to win, using your online bingo site’s chat room to connect with others and make friends can actually boost your chances of winning a nice jackpot.
How, do you ask, would the competition help serve to assist your own chances at winning?

As “4-minute Millionaire” Niklas Göke once said, “At the end of the day, all change is in your hands… Whether you want to be rich, get fit, or find love, no one can do the work but you. What you can and should do to succeed, however, is take all the help you can get.”

In the case of online bingo, that means making friends and staying connected with other players can lead you into games with fewer people, bigger jackpots or limited-time promotions that spice up the traditional format and give players extra prizes.  Besides, with bingo being an inherently social game, half of the fun is getting into a room and sharing hobbies or interests with other players.

A lot of groups that stick together will pool their money, giving the entire group a higher chance of winning by virtue of multiplying the number of entries each player has a stake in. 

Tip #6: Don’t let setbacks discourage you

Obviously, bingo games are not designed to let you come out on top each time you play. Otherwise, we’d all be millionaires. Even those of us who come in with the best bingo strategy know to keep cool and stay motivated, even after stringing together a few L’s in a row. 

If you focus on the positives, have fun and keep in mind that it takes time to win big, you’ll have more success. The best bingo players learn from their losses and win money by sticking to the best practices found in this article and knowing their limitations.

Tip #7:  Don’t get too greedy

Like with any other parlour game, sometimes it can feel like you’re “on a roll,” but the most timeless strategy of all is to understand when to make a graceful exit. When you start getting greedy, you’re bound to take disadvantageous risks while alienating yourself from other friends who play bingo and those competing with you. 

On the flip side, if you lose more often than not, it may be time to reevaluate your bingo strategy. Always keep in mind that bingo is a game of chance probability, and every player is just a small part of bingo’s culture.

Tip #8: Be careful of side bets

Be wary when offered the opportunity to make extra cash by predicting outcomes during ongoing bingo games you’re a part of. The opportunity for additional awards might sound enticing when first presented, but it only serves to distract you from the bingo game – and returns on these types of wagers are typically fairly meagre.

Tip #9: Stick to your guns

What are your reasons for playing bingo? Is it to have fun or to socialize? Is it to win? If you’ve made it this far, you can tell that we think mindset is everything. To have the right mindset with every game of bingo, you can’t deviate from your original reasons for playing or overextend yourself in too many bingo games while losing sight of the tips we’ve outlined that can help you win.

After all, being that guy (or gal) is mostly about patience, persistence, and a little luck of the draw. The minute you lose your cool and get overheated or start feeling down in the dumps about your luck, you know you’ve lost sight of why you came to play bingo in the first place.

Tip #10: Stick to your budget

It may seem totally obvious – but let’s say your bankroll is £1,000, right? You don’t want to wager 100% of it on a single game of bingo only to feel an anxious rush over the decision of whether or not you should make another deposit and keep paying.

The best bingo strategy for managing your budget is to set a hard cap on how much you’ll spend in a given time period and use a set percentage of it per game of bingo (let’s say 5%). If you want to enjoy bingo all month long on your £1,000 and play 5 games per weekend, then don’t spend more than $50 on tickets per game. 

Here's the calculation:

Total amount of money you have to spend on bingo: $1,000
Number of bingo games you want to play per week: 5
Percentage of your bankroll you want to spend per game: 5%
Amount of money you should plan to spend per game: $1,000 * 5% = $50

The thrill of online bingo should never come between you and your regular finances or cause strife within the relationships you hold dear. Sticking to a budget will make it worth the wait for the thrill of that lovely five-letter word, “B I N G O!” and allow you to enjoy this timeless pastime for years to come.