How to win at bingo
9th November, 2007
Financial writer Joseph Granville details bingo tactics in his book, "How To Win At Bingo." Just a game of luck? We investigate a few of his tips:
TIP ONE: Pick Cards With Good Symmetry
One of Granville's suggestions has to do with the actual Bingo cards. He says if you can choose your own cards, pick one with good symmetry. By this, he means if the numbers in the "B" column are all relatively low – like 3, 4, 7, 1 and 2, Granville says you might be better off picking a different card where the numbers in each column are more spread out. For instance, a card with numbers in the "B" column that include 4, 6, 7, 12, and 14, has better symmetry. To make his point even clearer, Granville encourages players to look at the numbers as they light up on the Bingo board. More often than not, he says the board is balanced on both sides.
Duquesne University Professor Antony Davies doesn't think strategy will work, saying it's true that numbers selected randomly will turn out to be well balanced, he adds, "the fact is not useful to you. It's like flipping a coin, there's equal chance of getting heads or tails. I might flip it and get 4 heads in a row; but that doesn't tell me anything about what's coming next."
TIP TWO: Look For Numbers With "Different Endings"
Another one of Granville's suggestions is to look for cards where the numbers have different endings. For example, he warns that players should avoid a card with a lot of numbers ending in 1 – like 1,11, 21, 31, 41, 51, 61 and 71. He claims this becuase the first six numbers called in most games will end in different digits.
Again, Professor Davies disagrees with the reasoning, saying "There's nothing to it. It's purely random."
TIP THREE: Play Fewer Cards?
With some people playing more than 40 bingo cards at once, and some far more again thanks to computers, does this bring any advantage? "I think if you have a 144 cards and the person next to you has nine," bingo player Ralph Damico said, "yeah your chances are better."
In his book, Granville says players might actually be better off with fewer cards. His theory is that by spending less money, players will be able to play Bingo on more nights – actually increasing their chances of winning.
While Professor Davies admits that playing a lot of cards "increases the probability of winning," he also points out that it "increases also the cost of playing. If the House has done its math right, the increased cost of playing is gonna outweigh what you gain from the increased probability of winning." From a financial perspective that means that the more cards you have, Davies warns, "You're actually losing faster."
TIP FOUR: Play At The End Of The Month
Possibly the only tip that really bring syou some advantage. Some players have pointed out that it's definitely better to try your luck at the end of the month – when there's less competition. As the month goes on, people's money dwindles; so our players are obviously are going to dwindle. So if you have less amount of people playing the game, your odds of winning are going to increase.
Davies still doesn't completely agree, saying he thinks players have a better chance of putting their money to work for them by investing in the stock market or even playing the slots.
