Quick Guide to Bingo & Pull Tabs

If you’re new to bingo, there are a lot of terms and phrases that you might not recognize. What the heck is a 3 On/ 5 Up anyway? Here’s your quick and dirty guide to playing bingo!

Paper Packs

Paper packs are sold based on the number of cards and number of games. A “3 On/5 Up” card pack means you get 3 cards per game and the pack has cards for 5 games total. For some games, you may just receive 1 strip of 3 cards. There are a variety of paper packs out there and every bingo hall offers different options based on their program.

Horse Race Pull Tabs

There are two different kinds of horse races - $1 Horses or Guaranteed Horses. In both types of games, there are 15 horses in total, corresponding to the B 1-15 row. Under each number is the “downline.” You want your downline to fill up first to win! So horse #1 for instance needs B1, I16, N31, G46 and O61 to win.

For $1 horse races, there are hundreds of tickets available for purchase, and you’re trying to find a “horse.” Because each ticket is only $1 and you’re looking for a horse, the jackpots on these games are often higher as well.

Guaranteed horses mean that you’re buying an actual horse in the race. The price of the ticket may vary, but it’s often $10-$20 per horse, and the jackpot is usually $100-$200 per game.

Both types of pull tabs are played the same way. Fifteen people will have a horse, the balls are called as they come up and the downline that fills up first is the winner!

Queen of Hearts Raffle

The Queen of Hearts Raffle is technically not a bingo game, but it is a fun addition to play after the bingo session ends, providing the opportunity to win big if you participate. Each ticket is $1, or you can purchase 25 for $20. If your ticket is drawn, you will pick which card you think the Queen is behind, and the card will be cut open from the board. There’s a winner every week, but you really want to find the Queen of Hearts to win the jackpot! The jackpot is split 50/50 between the winner and the charity.