Bingo is a casual and social gambling game that offers cash prizes for the lucky people who can complete their tickets. Can the prizes from these bingo halls reach a substantial amount to be worth your time? Let us answer that by knowing how bingo payouts are calculated and the largest payouts of all time.
How Bingo Payouts Are Calculated
Prizes for almost every bingo hall come from ticket sales. Most of these establishments will cut 50 to 60% of their revenue from tickets sold and turn it into the total cash payout. When tickets that cost $1 reached $200 in total revenue sales, you can expect a cash prize of $80 to $100.
The number of players also affects bingo payouts even when the total ticket revenue determines the cash prize. You are likely thinking about how the number of players would differ from the number of tickets in play. If there were 50 tickets spread out among five players, the prize would still be the same if six or ten people played with 50 tickets amongst themselves.
State regulations are also a significant factor in calculating payouts, limiting the total payout for a game or event. One example is the state of Delaware, where the total bingo payout of a single game cannot go past $350. For significant events with several games within Delaware, the total cash prize must be within $3,000.
Another payout is a progressive jackpot that works the same way as progressive slots that take a small amount from each session. Progressive bingo jackpots will have a minimum amount set by the bingo hall and will keep growing until a lucky player clears the jackpot requirement.
Average Bingo Payouts
For small bingo halls, the average price for all sessions comes from $50 to $300. For larger bingo establishments, prizes can reach $1,000 or more. In cities where gambling is legal such as Las Vegas, significant prizes can reach more than $10,000 for specific bingo sessions. This major cash prize from Las Vegas bingo halls comes from the minimum buy-ins of $4 to $7.
You can expect a lesser payout when the prize pool is shared among multiple winners. For example, a $200 cash pool for a bingo session is usually split into three tiers of $100, $70, and $30 for first, second, and third place winners, respectively.
Bingo tournaments have much better prizes than single-session games. Buy-ins for these events usually go for $100+ and are also packaged with accommodations to hotels hosting bingo games. Payouts for single events during tournaments can reach a total of $100,000+. These are paid out as $1,000+ prizes for single games and more than $10,000 for significant achievements such as coveralls.
Progressive jackpots have the highest possible cash prizes than other bingo games. It is not an exaggeration to say that most of these can reach more than $100,000. There are even winners who can walk out with more than $1 million.
Five Biggest Bingo Winners
Several lucky players knew how to win at bingo, allowing them to take home a life-changing fortune. Below are five of them.
1. John Orchard: £5.9 Million
More than 60 years old and a former factory staffer, John Orchard's life would change in December 2012. Joh was playing an online bingo room with a stake of 30p. He did not expect that small amount of money would turn him into an instant millionaire that day with a payout of £5.9 million.
With that much money, he went on a spending spree with a family trip to Center Parcs, a Jaguar XF, a Lincolnshire home, and plenty of gifts for everyone he knows. John retired from his work at the Job Center and lived off his payout.
2. Georgios M: £5.1 Million
A player hailing from Greece, Georgios M did not provide many details about his life when he won that massive payout in an online bingo room. What was known about him was his age when he took home £5.1 million, 36 years old. Whether he used his winnings on lavish luxuries like Orchard or started his venture, Georgios will always be one of the most prominent bingo payout winners.
3. Lisa Potter: £1.3 Million
Football was never Lisa Potter's interest. Instead of enjoying a football match on TV with her husband, a bored Lisa wandered to Ladbrokes playing bingo with a £5 bet. That fiver turned into a massive £1.3 million payout. While there are no indications as to Lisa's change of heart to football matches, she and her family will get to change their life for the better with the massive bingo payout.
4. Soraya Lowell: £1.2 Million
Soraya Lowell has a job tidying other people's homes, which ended when she attended a cash Bingo game and took home £1.2 Million. She shared her cash prize with her bingo buddy, Agnes O'Neil. After more than four years, Soraya went through her winnings immediately and had to file bankruptcy that year.
5. Christine Bradfield: £1.1 Million
Christine Bradfield has been a regular at a local bingo hall for nearly ten years. In January 2008, she would receive one of the best surprises of her life when she took home £1.1 Million in bingo payouts. Despite her winnings, she continued with her part-time job. Christine was 53 years old at the time, which is a decade away from reaching retirement age.
Bingo payouts are equal to the number of tickets sold per session and the costs per ticket. Higher cash prizes are available among major bingo halls and bingo tournaments because of their high buy-in rates.
This article was published on September 20, 2021, and last updated on October 26, 2022.