If you’ve read our “Online Bingo: Rules of the Game” guide you’ll already be familiar with how Bingo works. If you’ve never played Bingo before or would like to know the basic rules, that guide is a great place to start. If you’re already familiar with the rules having read our guide or played previously, then this is the guide for you.
Here we’ll be talking about ways to increase your chances of wins and how to get the most out of your time playing Bingo. As you know, Bingo is a game of chance as the numbers are randomly arranged on the tickets, and there’s no way to influence which numbers are called out. However, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t ways to improve your chances while playing online Bingo.
At SlotsBang, we’re big fans of playing Bingo both online and in real life. We’ve built up a lot of experience in the game over the years and enjoy passing on what we know about the game to new players. Whether you’re playing just to have fun or because you want to go for the big jackpots, we can help you increase your odds and get more enjoyment out of online Bingo.
Read on to learn some top tips and strategies that can boost your chances and make online Bingo even more fun to play. We cover some basic strategy, helpful tips, and ways to win.
Online bingo tips
Although Bingo is a game of chance and there’s no way to alter which numbers get called, there are plenty of ways to improve your chances. We’ve written up this list to give you an idea of how you can improve your chance of winning and give you the best possible online Bingo experience. Most of these are fairly self-explanatory, but we have some more in-depth strategies later on in the guide.
- Know the rules – This is an obvious one, but there are lots of players out there who jump into games without knowing the rules. This usually won’t impact your chances too much, but it certainly doesn’t help if you have no idea what’s going on. Learning the rules of the game type before you play will help boost your chances and make the game much more enjoyable for you. Make sure you check out our guide on playing online Bingo to discover all the different types and rules available.
- Know your limits – Gambling online can be great fun, but when you’re playing for cash, you’re always at risk of losing money. Make sure you set a limit on how much you can afford to lose each month and don’t go over it. If you do find that you’re having trouble staying within your limits, most sites will allow you to set up a deposit limit. This allows you to place a daily, weekly, or monthly limit on how much you can add to your account. This way, you can keep playing without worrying about losing more than you can handle.
- Choose the right site – There are hundreds of online bingo sites out there, and some are a lot better than others. Before you sign up to any site, make sure you check it out thoroughly and work out if it’s right for you. Does it have the kind of games you enjoy? Are there good promotions and bonuses on offer? Is the site trustworthy to use? If you’re unsure about whether a site is right for you or not, check out our online Bingo reviews. We only review the best and most reputable sites and let you know all the features on offer.
- Make the most of online Bingo bonuses – The vast majority of online bingo sites offer a nice welcome bonus to new players. In most cases, these will just require you to sign up and make a deposit. Bonuses include matched deposits, free Bingo cards, free entry into prize draws and more. You can use your Bingo bonus as a way to play relatively risk-free. Just make sure you read through the full terms and conditions before you sign up to claim it.
- Consider the times you play – If you want to increase your chances of winning, you’ll want to be playing in a room with fewer people. Generally, the smaller rooms will give you a much better chance of winning. Online Bingo sites and rooms tend to get a lot busier around peak times. Early evenings and weekends will usually see rooms fill up much faster and if you want improved odds, you should stay away at these times. However, some games have progressive prizes that get bigger the more people enter, so it’s not always the best choice to play off-peak.
- Be on the lookout for big jackpots – A lot of online Bingo sites offer progressive jackpots. These are potentially huge jackpots that increase over time as more players join. Often, they can only be won under specific conditions such as reaching a full house within a certain number of balls. These jackpots are much harder to win than regular prizes, but the money can be life-changing.
- Get involved in the community – You’ll find online chatrooms available at most Bingo sites. These are a great way to have more fun while playing, and a lot of sites have strong, close-knit communities. Joining in the community isn’t just more fun though, sometimes random prizes and free Bingo tickets are given out in chat.
Online bingo strategy
No matter what type of Bingo you play, the numbers will be called out at random. This goes for live Bingo which uses real balls, and online Bingo which usually uses a random number generator. While this is a luck-based game, there are still mathematical models of probability involved in which numbers get chosen.
If you want to give yourself the very best chance of winning at Bingo, there are two main strategies to follow. These are both based on probabilities and will require you to pick a Bingo card that contains certain numbers. Some Bingo games will allow you to pick your own numbers, provided they’re within the correct range which is ideal if you’re following these strategies.
Some online Bingo games will simply assign you a card, however. In which case, you won’t be able to use these strategies, and it will mostly involve luck. You can usually see which numbers are on your card before you buy it, though. If that’s the case, you can simply choose not to buy and go to a different room if you have unfavorable numbers.
These are the two main strategies that players use to get ahead when playing Bingo:
Tippet’s strategy
This method was developed by a British statistician L.H.C. Tippet. Tippet theorized that in a game of 90 Ball Bingo, the more numbers that are called, the higher the probability that balls called will be closer to the median (the middle). When fewer numbers are called, there’s a higher chance that numbers are closer to the two extremes, one and ninety.
This rule also applies to other types of Bingo, such as 75 Ball Bingo. It means that if you have a rule set that takes longer to find a winner, i.e. one that requires a certain pattern to win, players with more middle numbers are more likely to win. If you know the game will be shorter, for example, it only requires one or two lines to win, then looks for a ticket that has numbers closer to either one or the maximum number.
Remember that this strategy won’t automatically win, but it should increase your chances of winning.
Granville’s strategy
Joseph E. Granville was a financial analyst who did some research into the randomness of numbers in Bingo. He found that it’s possible to improve your odds of winning by selecting Bingo tickets with certain numbers.
Granville found that over a long period of time, an equal amount of odd and even numbers would be called. He also found that there was an even distribution of numbers at the high and low ends of the scale.
Finally, he also found that there’s an equal chance of all number endings. For example, there’s an equal chance between numbers ending in two, three, four, and so on.
If you want to use the Granville strategy, you’ll need to select a Bingo card containing an equal number of odds and evens, and an equal number of high and low numbers. It should also have an equal number of numbers ending in each single-digit number.
Is it better to buy more cards or less?
When you’re playing Bingo, it’s often tempting to buy as many cards as possible as this feels like a sure-fire way to increase your chances of winning. Most games allow you to buy multiple Bingo cards, known as strips. A lot of games will also allow players to buy multiple strips, though there’s usually a limit on how many you can buy.
Buying more cards will, of course, increase your odds. But it won’t guarantee our win, and you’ll be risking more cash, so is it really worth it? We examined the probabilities of the game and took a closer look to find out.
For starters, imagine you’re in a Bingo room nine other people, ten in total. You each have one Bingo card, giving everyone a one in ten chance of winning. If you bought eleven Bingo cards, however, your odds of winning would increase to ten in twenty. In other words, you’d have an even chance between winning and losing. This would definitely be worth it provided the prize money was at least double the price of eleven Bingo cards.
Of course, it’s not always this simple, and many other players will have a similar idea. Here’s where you’ll have to balance the risk vs reward of investing more money into tickets to get better odds and risking more of your money. Some online Bingo games will allow you to see how many cards have already been purchased when you go into a game. This will give you a good idea of the odds and help you to know how many cards to buy.
You can also look at how many players there are. More players usually mean a bigger prize but a smaller chance of winning. Balance your risk accordingly and stay within your limits to get the most out of the game. Ultimately, whether you play with more cards or not comes down to personal preference. Sure you can increase your chances of winning, but you’re also risking more. We recommend trying out two different methods of playing it safe or playing aggressively to see which you prefer. Use your bonus when you first sign up to practice risk-free.
