While we ultimately play online bingo to have a relaxing time, we have to admit that the prizes add more to the excitement of the ball drawing time! Of course, it’s rarely, if ever, the case that your regular online bingo session will lead to your winning a potentially life-changing sum, but it’s always good to know how the payouts in a game actually work.
Like everything related to gambling in the UK, the way payouts work in bingo, be it online or at your local hall, is tightly regulated by a set of rules. These determine how much both the player and the operator of the site or hall take for themselves, as well as the true fairness of the game in question. There are also other factors that can impact a game’s payouts. Want to know how these work? Then you’re at the right place with our bingo payouts guide!
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How to Calculate Your Bingo Payouts
How much can you win during your bingo session? Well, that depends on the game you’re playing! Traditionally, bingo games give you a small prize for 1 line, a medium prize for 2, and a jackpot for a Full House, but new games boost the excitement with different prize structures. That said, there are four main factors that are key to a bingo game’s payouts:
- The minimum guaranteed jackpot - This refers to the minimum prize that can be won with a Full House. As such, this can grow depending on the price of the tickets and how many tickets are bought.
- The number of tickets bought - We’ve already mentioned this one! In short, the more tickets are purchased, the bigger the potential prizes.
- The number of prizes to be won - Does the game offer many small and medium prizes for forming one or two lines? If this is the case then the grand prize for a Full House will typically be smaller.
- Progressive jackpots - The size of a progressive jackpot grows the more tickets are bought. As a result this can make for a smaller main prize pot, since it requires a slice from the money staked on the game.
Factors that can further impact your payouts
There are few other facts that will affect the final amount you can get after playing a round of online bingo. Make sure to read these if you want to avoid any surprises!
- A cap on winnings - Some online bingo sites will limit the amount you can win from a game. Such caps are typically in action when playing for free via a bonus, so always check the terms and conditions of any offers you might be using.
- Wagering requirements - Another factor to consider when playing with a promotion. The wagering requirement is the amount of times you’ll need to wager the bonus funds you’ve received before they are converted into real funds. In the case of free games you’ll need to wager the amount you’ve managed to win for a number of times before you can actually withdraw it.
- Withdrawal limits - Some online bingo and casino sites put a limit on the amount you can withdraw from your real money account. This should be clearly stated on the site’s terms and conditions, meaning you should read these before committing to play with a site.
What’s the RTP of Online Bingo?
RTP of Online Bingo
You’ve probably bumped into the term “Return to Player” - or RTP for short - if you’ve played online casino games for a while. This refers to the theoretical percentage of the money staked you can potentially get back as you play a game over a long period of time. We’ll stress that this RTP is theoretical, as at the end of the day gambling always boils down to chance, and it’s indeed the case that the house always wins.
With this in mind, what is the RTP of bingo? We have some bad news here - it’s not as generous as that of some other casino games. In the case of slots the RTP typically hovers at around 96%. This means that in theory if you bet £100 on a slot you stand to get around £96 back, with the remaining £4 going to the casino site.
Bingo, on the other hand, has an RTP that can vary from as low as 70% to as high as 85%. The reasons why it can be this low are various, and include the type of game you’re playing, the overall payout structure of the game itself, the number of tickets currently in play, and the price of tickets. We’ll get into the weeds of what affects the RTP in the next section of this guide.
What can affect online bingo RTP?
The main factor behind the RTP of a bingo game is, interestingly, the type of game. 90-ball bingo sessions typically have a steady RTP of 80%, while that of 80- or 75-ball bingo will hover at the lower 70% range. See table for the average RTPs of different bingo games.
|
Type of bingo game |
Typical RTP range |
|
90-ball bingo |
80% |
|
80-ball bingo |
80-85% |
|
75-ball bingo |
70-80% |
|
50-ball bingo |
75-85% |
|
35-ball bingo |
75-80% |
As a rule, any reputable online bingo site will state that the RTP of their bingo games have a minimum RTP of 70%. Some games will also detail their RTPs, so check their About sections to learn the details.
That said, as mentioned earlier there are other facts that leave an impact on a game’s RTP. The more tickets are sold, for instance, the lower the RTP. The same goes for ticket pricing. These factors will also affect the actual payouts of the game, so it’s always good to keep them in mind.
Don’t Worry About Prizes, Play Bingo for Fun!
What have we learned about bingo payouts? These are based on a full range of factors, such as the game’s RTP, the number of people playing, the price of the tickets, and even the type of jackpot involved. As such, we believe that the best way to play bingo is to not worry about prizes! Bingo should be enjoyed as a great way to enjoy, and definitely not as a means to make money. So always play responsibly by not gambling what you don’t afford and not chasing your losses. With this in mind, have fun playing at your favourite online bingo sites!
