Beginner’s Guide to Popular Bingo Patterns

In its purest form, the game of bingo is all about making the right patterns on your bingo card before anyone else. These patterns are created by matching the numbers drawn by the bingo caller to your bingo ticket, each of which is then daubed off manually, or automatically if you’re playing with Buzz Bingo online.

The bingo patterns you need to win may differ from game to game. Some types of bingo games may also offer different levels of cash prizes depending on the complexity of each pattern i.e. the number of numbers you need to match.

In most cases, the harder a bingo pattern is to form, the bigger the cash prize will be. The likelihood of completing each bingo pattern in a game varies based on a range of factors:

- The number of tickets you’ve bought

- The total number of active tickets in the game

- The amount of numbers needed to make each pattern

Before you dive in headfirst to enjoy your first bingo session, it’s a good idea to familiarise yourself with the most common bingo tips and patterns found in bingo games on and offline.

Below, we explain the seven most popular bingo patterns, so that you know what you need to do to win a prize.

Checkerboard

Have you ever played the strategy board game known as checkers or draughts? If so, you’ll know full well the layout of the game pieces in uniform patterns, with every other square filled with a game piece.

Luckily, the checkerboard bingo pattern doesn’t require you to become a master at draughts. You’ll just need to mark off every other number on the bingo card on each line. By daubing off these numbers, you’ll create a checkerboard-style appearance. Here is our bingo tip: you’ll need to mark off 13 numbers to create this pattern on a typical 5x5 bingo card.

Christmas Tree

A Christmas tree pattern is one of the most recognisable of all the common bingo patterns used in online bingo rooms and offline bingo halls. It requires you to mark off 11 numbers in total, making this a slightly easier pattern to achieve than the checkerboard pattern, particularly in popular bingo games with high volumes of tickets in play.

To create the Christmas tree pattern, you must first mark off all five numbers in the middle column of a typical 5x5 bingo card. This act as the stump of the Christmas tree. You’ll then need to mark off all five numbers in the middle row of the same bingo card, creating the bottom branches of the tree. That’s followed by the middle three numbers on the second row, to create the graduated appearance of an authentic Christmas tree. With an average of 500 cards in play, the number of calls required to make this bingo pattern is said to be around 42.

Crazy Kite

The Crazy Kite formation is another card that’s very recognisable once you’ve made the pattern. Essentially, by marking off these 11 numbers, you will create the steam of a kite and a large 3x3 kite.

Using a typical 5x5 bingo card as an example, you must mark off the 3x3 square of numbers in the bottom right-hand corner of the card. You’ll then need to mark off the top-left number and the one diagonally right of this to form the string of the kite. When an average of 500 cards are active, this pattern is said to be achieved within 36-37 calls.

Bow Tie

The Bow Tie pattern is one of the toughest to achieve on a 5x5 bingo card. That’s because it requires you to mark off no fewer than 17 numbers. This makes it a significant challenge, especially in bingo games with plenty of other active players.

The result of 17 daubed numbers creates the visual appearance of a bow tie – the middle number is marked, creating the centre of the bow tie. The first and fifth columns are fully daubed and the second and fourth columns have the middle three numbers daubed.

Outer Edge

The Outer Edge bingo formation is another tricky task for bingo players, as it requires you to daub off 16 numbers from a typical 5x5 bingo card.

Essentially, you’ll need to mark off all your numbers on the outer edge of the ticket, creating a daubed square shape. This is less common than the bingo patterns we’ve already featured and is more often used to unlock a progressive jackpot.

Arrow

The Arrow pattern is basically identical to the Christmas Tree formation. The daubed pattern of these 11 numbers looks like both an arrow and a Christmas tree, depending on what you’re looking for.

As with the Christmas Tree pattern, the Arrow formation usually takes an average of 41-42 calls to occur, based on an average of 500 cards in play.

Windmill

The Windmill bingo pattern is one of the most recognisable patterns played on and offline. It’s typically used in 75-ball bingo games, utilising all but eight spaces on a typical 5x5 bingo card.

The middle number acts as the centre of the windmill pattern. That’s followed by marking off 2x2 squares of numbers in the top left, top right, bottom left and bottom right corners of the card. As it’s one of the harder patterns to achieve, the Windmill usually rewards the lucky winner with one of the biggest cash prizes.

Eyes Down, It’s Time to Play at Buzz Bingo!

Have you enjoyed our bingo tips? If you’re ready to play bingo online, we’re happy to welcome you in true Buzz Bingo fashion. Become a first-time member with us and secure a £40 bonus for use on any of our popular bingo games.

We’ve got a great choice of 75, 80 and 90-ball bingo games, with a great sense of community across all our game rooms, including our Club Room. You can also grab a bargain in our 1p Room, where every ticket for our 90-ball games costs no more than a penny!