How to improve your chances winning at bingo?

Recently, there seems to be an uptake in bingo players looking for ways to win – especially in online bingo, where the jackpots are bigger than ever.

Here are some common-sense strategies that are sure to get your bingo wheels whizzing round.

1. Bankroll Management

Let’s start off with the serious bit. The first and most important thing that all bingo players should learn is bankroll management. Players should have a specific set of rules in place that control how much is spent on bingo, including bingo related activities such as bingo promotions, prize draws and deposits. Plus, its good practice for a player to never risk anything more than 3% of their total bankroll in one single session. So, if someone’s bingo bankroll is £1,000, then they shouldn’t spend anything above £30 per session/per day.

2. Game Selection

After you’ve got a bankroll management plan, it’s important to think about which style of games you want to spend cash on. There are literally hundreds of different bingo sites and games to choose from on the internet these days, and chances are you won’t be equally as good or as lucky in all of them. Instead of heading into any old bingo room, you should choose a game you understand, see the value in and have a rewarding experience while playing. If you’re new to bingo, a good rule is to try bingo games where the entry fee is equal to no more than 10% of your daily bankroll. Using the same example as before then, if your bankroll is £3000, then you should never pay more than £3 to enter a bingo game.

3. What are the odds of winning at bingo?

The next strategy may be a little off-putting to math-phobes but calculating bingo odds is actually a lot easier than it sounds. It’s as simple as dividing the number of cards you have by the total number of cards in the whole game. So, if there are 100 cards in the game and you have 5 of those, you have a 5% chance of winning. Even better; if you’re playing no deposit bingo, you've had to pay nothing for those lucky bingo cards.

This is pretty easy to calculate online as the number of cards in play is almost always shared with players. The only exception to the rule online is progressive jackpot bingo games, as there’s no guaranteed winner in every round. Where it's even trickier is in bingo halls, where you’ll have to do a subtle headcount and guess how many cards you think they have between them. 

4. Try To Avoid Peak Hours

Another way you can throw the mathematical odds in your favour is by avoiding peak hours. This is because, if you play at times when there are a lot of other players, your chance of winning decreases. On the other hand, if you play when there are only about four other people online, your chances of victory will rise dramatically. Using this strategy is particularly handy in offline games, as, if there are fewer opponents to bingo battle, then, not only will you have more chances of winning, but you’ll also be able to study how the other bingo goers play.

5. Mo’ Cards, Mo’ Chances

You can also throw the odds of you winning by purchasing more cards. In fact, if you combine this strategy with the last one, then don’t be surprised if you become the envy of your fellow bingo players. If there are a total of 100 players in a given game, and you bought 20 cards while the rest stuck with average 6 then you have a much higher chance of winning. In fact, the other players each have less than a 1% chance of claiming the prize at all. This doesn’t 100% cement your victory but it sure will help raise your chances significantly.

As for which cards you should pick – that is, if you have a choice – you should avoid any with duplicate bingo numbers. Each individual card has unique numbers in each grid space, of course, but you don’t want every one of your cards to look the same. If they are all really similar and you’re not getting the numbers you want, then that means all your cards will suffer the same fate. Alternatively, if you have a vast range of numbers in different spaces then, even if one is looking poor, another may make you rich. 

6. Most Common Bingo Numbers called

One of the most commonly asked question by bingo fans is probably “can I guess which numbers will come up?”. Unfortunately, you can’t - unless, of course, there’s some meddling going on - but that doesn’t stop some bingo players from believing that certain numbers are more likely to come up than others. They may also believe that these specific numbers are going to come up even more in the future and so make sure they have them on their bingo cards.

We can totally understand where this train of thought comes from, after all, we’ve all been in a free bingo game where it seems a certain number is always popping up. Say, you’re in the home stretch of a four-hour session and you notice that the number 28 has been called six times, but 42 hasn’t been called at all. There’s some strange logic there that suggests that 28 is the number to go for, while 42 should be avoided if possible. Still, the fact that 28 has come up six times actually means nothing and there’s no guarantee at all that it will come up in future games. It’s all completely coincidental, but that also means there’s no harm in going for any number you like.

There’s no guarantee that using these strategies will result in an instant win, but there’s definitely something to playing smart and increasing your odds. Let us know if you have any bingo strategies that work for you, or if these ones have given you an edge on the competition!