There are tens and even hundreds of bingo patterns and the two-line pattern is one of the most common types found in various games. In bingo, players win prizes when they complete a line of numbers on their cards. From straight horizontal, vertical and diagonal to V, X and even more complex forms, patterns are always pre-determined depending on the particular variation of bingo game you play.
- What Is the Two-Line Bingo Pattern
- Two-Line Pattern in 90-Ball Bingo
- Probability of Making Two Lines
What Is the Two-Line Bingo Pattern?
The two-line pattern is one of the simplest and most common ways to win in bingo. It usually appears in the popular 90-ball bingo where players use numbered cards or tickets but it can also be found in various other versions of the game. This pattern simply includes the completion of two lines of numbers on the ticket and most often, these can be any two straight lines.
In order to get two lines, players need to match all the numbers in two rows with the numbers called in the game. But to win with two lines, players need to be the first to achieve this, which is not that easy, especially if a large number of people participates in the same game.
Two-Line Pattern in 90-Ball Bingo
As mentioned above, the two-line pattern is most commonly found in the 90-ball bingo, a game that is widely popular in Europe and the United Kingdom. It is played with cards where the numbers fall into a 3×9 grid (three rows and nine columns) and each row has 5 numbers. The other cells in the grid are blank, so one card consists of 15 random numbers from 1 through 90.
When the numbers for a one-line win are called, the next round of the game begins and those, who complete a second full line of numbers, win a prize. As mentioned before, these lines may differ in the different versions of the game, but usually, you need to have two completed rows of numbers to announce a two-line win.
Probability of Making Two Lines
Most bingo players tend to disregard the mathematical aspect of the game and focus on the entertainment factor. But the odds and probabilities are very important in bingo just like in most forms of gambling. The probability of covering one or more rows entirely so you can win depends on the number of tickets you play with and the number of calls made during the game.
Of course, one of the most important things to consider when playing bingo is the actual number of tickets in the game, but this suggests that you know the number of participants and how many tickets each of them had purchased. However, this data would not be available to you, so it is pointless to calculate those odds. It is better to focus on the probability of completing a two-line pattern on a single card for 90-ball bingo.
As any number from 1 through 90 may appear on your 15-number card, you should know that the probability of making 1 row is 1 in 1 on the 88th call. You will certainly get two lines on the 89th call, while all three rows will be covered entirely on the 90th call. However, in order to actually win a prize, you need to win first and it is highly likely that someone else makes two lines before the 89th call.
On the 20th call, the probability for making two lines is 0.0000000969, which seems impossible. It can also be expressed as 1 in 10,321,154. On the 40th call of the game, things become much more realistic and the probability is 1 in 2,259, while on the 50th call, it is the nice 1 in 189.