Is Online Bingo Random?
There are a lot of myths floating around when it comes to online bingo, and other forms of gambling. It’s natural to want to know what goes on behind the scenes, especially before you part with any money. So, is online bingo random or is there more to it than that?
The short answer is that yes, online bingo is totally random in terms of which numbers are called. There is no way to make one of your cards more likely to win than anyone else’s.
However, it isn’t quite as simple as that. While there are a lot of random elements, that doesn’t mean you have no control whatsoever, and some people even go into online bingo with a strategy.
How Online Bingo Works
The vast majority of what happens in an online bingo game is totally random. The numbers that appear on your card when you buy it are random, and then the numbers called are random, too. There is no strategy that can help.
Some people have tried to apply strategies. Leonard Henry Caleb Tippett, a statistician who was professionally known as L.H C. Tippett, popularized a theory about bingo. In a 75-ball game he would say that the longer a game goes on, the more likely balls would be called closer to the median number, which happens to be number 45.
This theory really doesn’t work, especially with online bingo, and online bonus bingo games, which are completely random. A number generator is used to choose which is called next.
When people play bingo for real money, they want to know that they are doing so in a totally fair way, and there are even organizations that regulate the whole gambling industry, ensuring that the games are random and can’t be tampered with.
Myths About Online Bingo
There are so many myths floating around that you might hear regarding online bingo. The following are all things you should disregard completely:
- Bingo doesn’t pay out in patterns. Some people think that there is a pattern, and a jackpot is released every 3,270 plays, or something like that. This is not true, as we’ve explained, it’s random.
- You can’t learn any system for increasing a bingo card’s chance of winning.
- Bingo sites do not pay out more based on where you live, or how long you have been a member of the site, nor do they reward anyone in particular. It is totally random.
Some people even say that there is no way of winning the jackpot and that bingo is “fixed” which is definitely not true, either. There are plenty of examples of people winning big jackpots at online bingo.
Can You Increase Your Chances of Winning?
Well, the answer is both “yes” and “no”. Bingo is a total game of chance. So, compare it to poker, where your skill definitely plays a part, bingo doesn’t let you get better at it, for instance.
However, there are a few things that you can do that might tip things in your favor. For instance, a lot of people choose to play bingo games that are less busy. Fewer players may mean that you have a higher chance of holding the winning card.
Also, some people choose to buy multiple cards for bingo games, which definitely increases your chances. The person with three cards has three times the chance of winning as the person with one card. This is simple mathematics.
That said, there is no magic card or selection of numbers that comes up more frequently in bingo, so don’t get fooled into trying to use a system that simply doesn’t work.
So, the answer to the main question is that yes, bingo is random, with a few caveats. You may be able to make some wise decisions about the best time to play bingo or how many cards to buy.
Remember that it is a form of gambling so it has to be regulated, and this means that it has to be fair. Being a game of chance, every card must have the same statistical probability of winning when you go into the game, and the bingo sites know they have to keep it totally random.
Photo by davisuko on Unsplash