Bingo

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Bingo or Housie is a game where people try to match numbers drawn at ramdom with numbers on a card. When someone does this, they call "BINGO!" or "HOUSE!" as loud as they can.

In the United Kingdom, the game is played by marking a card. The card has 27 squares in 3 rows of 9. 15 squares have a numbers between 1 and 90. 5 numbers on each row. The winner is the first player to mark the 5 numbers in one line or all fifteen numbers on the card.

Bingo cards are normally printed in strips of six. A strip of six cards has every number between 1 and 90. Many people buy only 4 cards, so that the other two cards were usually wasted. Edward Thompson and Company, the largest printer of bingo tickets in the UK worked out a way to print strips of 12 so that there would be less waste, and so that any 6 tickets had all of the numbers 1 to 90.

In the UK, all money used to buy the bingo ticket must be given back in prize money. The owner of a bingo club is allowed to charge an entrance fee and also a "participation fee" (a fee to be allowed to take part in the bingo game).

In the United States, the game is played by a group of people. All of the group has cards and tokens. When a number is called that you have on your card, you place a token on that spot. The first person to make a line of 5 tokens up or down, across, or diagonally wins the game. This game is played for prizes usually.