The game of bingo is played in Bingo Halls, which exist both online and offline. The rules of the game will differ at each bingo hall website, and each hall will have a different variation of the game. Each bingo hall website will list their own special games, rules, payouts and anything else specific to their website.

Online bingo starts when a player buys a card, or many cards, with numbers on them listed in a 5 by 5 square grid. The columns on the grid correspond with the word BINGO, B- I- N- G- O. Below each of these letters is a grid with randomly drawn numbers, up to 75 in American Bingo, and 90 in British and Australian Bingo. The bingo card itself contains 25 squares, 24 numbered squares, and one blank one.

The letters at the top, and the numbers in the corresponding row, form combinations like B-4 and G-49 (column B contains numbers 1-15, I 16-30,
N 31-45 and the free square, G 46-60, and O 61-75).

There are thousands of combinations, and thousands of different cards to choose from. Online websites have so many different combinations of letters
and numbers it's nearly impossible to receive the same cards twice. Most online games will give you up to 4 cards to play at once.

Online bingo halls have a caller (the person who calls the bingo numbers), or a display board for the bingo numbers. Some games will automatically mark the cards as the numbers are called, and others will have you mark the cards yourself.

A player marks the cards when the caller calls a number such as B-7, if you have B-7 then place a mark on that square. To win you must get a “Bingo Pattern,” or a line with five marks in a vertical, horizontal or diagonal row.