BINGO

Bingo is a slang term used in Scrabble when a player uses all seven letters in one play. This also applies to use 8 or 9 tiles in a turn of 9-tile scrabble. Any player who does this receives an extra 50 points on top of what the word would normally score. In the United Kingdom, this is more often called a bonus (the term sanctioned by Mattel, the game's manufacturers there), but is occasionally called a bingo.

Bingos are an important part of achieving high scores in Scrabble. While a beginner might be lucky to score even one during a game, experts frequently score three or more. Much advanced strategy revolves around making bingos: blank tiles are hoarded, unwelcome letters are played even for low points, and flexible letter groups like SANTER are built up until an easy bingo is formed. This strategy is often at direct odds with another, that of placing high-valued letters on premium squares.

A common misconception is that the bonus received for using all seven tiles is multiplied if a double-word or triple-word score is used. This is not the case: a 9-point word using seven tiles played across a triple-word score is worth 77 points (3 times 9 plus 50 points for the bonus).

Online bingo is the game of bingo (US|UK) played on the Internet. Global Betting and Gaming Consultants estimates the global gross gaming yield of bingo (excluding the United States) was $0.5 billion USD in 2006; they forecast it will grow to $1.0 billion USD by 2010.

Unlike balls used in regular bingo halls, online bingo sites use a random number generator. The online bingo play works almost exactly like playing online poker or online casino games with everything being virtual. Most bingo halls also offer links to onlime poker and casino offerings. One notable feature of online bingo is the chat functionality. Successful online bingo sites foster a sense of community and interaction between players.

Bingo is a gambling card game named by analogy to the game bingo. Each player is dealt X cards and Y cards are dealt face down in common. The value of each hand is the sum of the values of each card, where the cards have blackjack values. The cards on the board are gradually revealed with opportunities to bet along the way. Bingo is usually played high-low with the pot being split between the players with the highest and lowest point totals. The exception would be if one player loses all his cards he takes the entire pot.

One example of play is "Sixty Six Bingo". Each player gets six cards and there are six common cards. In this case there would be rounds of betting before any common cards are turned over, after the first two cards are turned over, after the third and fourth cards are turned over and after the fifth and sixth cards are turned over.

While similar to the game bingo, the card game should not be confused with bingo cards, which are used to play bingo or housie.

Bingo is a game of chance played with randomly drawn numbers which players match against numbers that have been pre-printed on 5x5 matrices. The matrices may be printed on paper, card stock or electronically represented and are referred to as "cards." Many versions conclude the game when the first person to achieve a specified pattern from the drawn numbers. The winner is usually required to call out the word "Bingo!", which alerts the other players and caller of a possible "win". All wins are checked for accuracy before the win is officially confirmed at which time the prize is secured and a new game is begun. In this version of bingo, players compete against one another for the prize or "jackpot".

Alternative methods of play try to increase participation by creating excitement. Since its invention in 1934, modern bingo has evolved into multiple variations, with each jurisdiction's gambling laws regulating how the game is played. There are also nearly unlimited patterns that may be specified for play. Some patterns only require one number to be matched, up to cover-all games which award the jackpot for covering an entire card and certain games award prizes to players for matching no numbers or achieving no pattern.