In the United States, bingo is typically played with 53 cards. The numbers 1-52 are called “balls” and each column of numbers (from 1-10) is called a “line.
” Bingo is played with one ball per player, and the player who first finds all of their balls in a row or column, or who accumulates the most balls during the game, is the winner. .
There are a variety of ways to play bingo. Most commonly, players buy tickets from the dealer and then mark off their lines as they draw them.
In some variants of bingo, players can also purchase “jokers” which can be used to fill any space on a ticket, including the spots next to the balls.
There are also variations where players must choose one number from two options; or where players must choose two numbers from three options. In these variants, the number drawn corresponds to one of the options.
It’s possible to play bingo with as few as 36 cards (the number of balls in a standard deck of 52 cards), but it’s generally more fun to use a full deck. In fact, some casinos have bingo tables that are specifically designed for 52-card games; these tables have spaces for each number from 1-52, so that players don’t have to search for their balls.
