Check out this online bingo article on how to play bingo. Playing Bingo (and online bingo) is easy once you know the rules. While bingo hall and online bingo rules do vary slightly in format, the essence of the game remains the same.

There are 75 possible BINGO numbers with each number represented by a colored ball in a large rotating bin. Each ball is painted with a unique BINGO number. An announcer spins the bin, reaches in, selects a ball, and announces it to the room. The players check their cards to see if the called number appears on the card. If it is, they mark it. When a player has a BINGO, he or she calls out BINGO.

The game pauses while the win is verified. If there was a valid win, the game stops and a new game begins. If the card wasn`t a winner, the game proceeds where it left off. Each BINGO game proceeds until someone wins. Every BINGO game has a winning card, so a player`s chances of winning depend on the number of cards in the game and how many cards s/he is playing.

Online bingo games have a caller and/or display board for the bingo numbers. The game pattern is also displayed. Some games automatically mark the numbers on your card for you which allow online bingo players to purchase a larger amount of cards since it is easier to keep track of all the numbers called. When playing online bingo, your bingo cards are randomly selected for you and there are a maximum number of cards you can play during each game. The maximum cards allowed vary on each online bingo site.