What's on the Pot in a Bingo Game?
Bingo games have become a craze in Europe and United states. How come there are people who become addicted to it? How attractive are the prizes for a Bingo game? Is the excitement all about the money?
In a simple Bingo game, the cash prize will usually range between $50 and $100. While, prizes may rise up to $1,000,000 or higher in special high-staking games like in casinos. The prizes may also be a vacation trip, a car, and sometimes novelty prizes (like a free margarita to each winner).
The jackpot's amount is based on the amount of money coming in. Majority of the halls are obliged to pay at least 50 percent of the revenue. Sometimes, the money prize per game or session is limited by state or local rules. For example, in Georgia, USA, total prizes should not exceed to more than $1,100 per night. Although, there are other states in United states which are more munificent than Georgia. For instance, the state of Louisiana, allows up to $4500 payout per session.
A more exciting session is when there is a progressive jackpot. This is where the prize grows with each new game until someone wins it. By means of "seeding the pot" with an eye-catching sum of money --- like $500 --- the house starts the ball rolling of a progressive game instead of simply having a jackpot based on a percentage of sales. In order to get the progressive jackpot, one must have an incomparable win like a "blackout," where every space on a bingo card is covered in only 48 balls. If nobody wins, the house adds to the pot more money to make the players greedier. The jackpot may even reach $100 per game over a number of weeks or sessions.
Every now and then, a progressive jackpot becomes so high that the hall per law has to restrict it at a given limited amount until there is a winner. In United States, like in Michigan, there is no ceiling to the amount of money pot a player can gain in progressive Bingo.
The attractiveness of big prizes has tolerated Bingo to develop into more profitable games. An exciting latest phenomenon in the Bingo craze is the increase of high staking games. Dozens of halls are scrambling to create games that guarantee a pot money of $50,000, $100,000 or $1,000,000 to the fortunate players. Because of these high-prized jackpots, hall owners get insurance policies to avoid getting broke.
Other super jackpots are arranged as "step games." This is where the game changes the prize amount depending on how fast there is a blackout winner. For an instance, a 49-number blackout might pay $40,000 while a 45-number blackout might earn $100,000. Since it's quite hard to win a blackout in few calls, it usually takes weeks or months before someone gets the jackpot.
The winner can't take yet his fat check after winning the super-jackpot. Bingo balls are first sent to an independent lab to validate that there was no tampering. Also, the insurance company must review the security videotape. About 48 hours after winning, the check is released. Usually, if the prize is less than $100,000, the payment is in single chunk. Larger jackpots are paid out in yearly terms.
Another gimmick to have big jackpots is by satellite bingo. It is a linked bingo game where bingo halls play at the same time in a given area. A third-party company links the halls by satellite. Most satellite bingo games have bigger jackpots than what single halls could provide.
To bring home some of these sweet winning, one must understand the game's basics. The probability of getting the jackpot is really small especially for progressive and satellite bingo games. So, better aim to have fun to while playing.
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