Bingo has its origins in an Italian lottery game that was played all the way back in 1530. This game spread to other parts of the world, but it was in France where it underwent most development. Here it ended up resembling the modern new bingo games that we play both online and at bingo venues, up and down the country today. The French took the Italian game and changed the cards into a 3 rows and 9 verticals game and this format is still the basis of modern bingo and especially 90-ball bingo.
Random Results
Since bingo has been around for so many years, there are those that think certain numbers are picked out more often than others over a long period of time. Obviously this shouldn’t be the case, because an RNG or Random Number Generator creates bingo results, and the job of these computer microchips is to continually churn out number sequences that can be translated into random bingo results. This RNG is also used in slot games, but even here, some patterns develop, such as players getting most of their wins at the start of their spinning session, rather than towards the end.
Lucky Numbers
Bingo players, the media and superstition, have popularized some sets of numbers. The number 7 is a prime example of this and it comes with a tag of being the luckiest of all numbers. In fact 7 is one of the numbers most bingo players crave the most. Many players despite history telling us the opposite, even see the number 13 as lucky. Number sequences that appear in TV series like Lost, or in films like It Can happen To You can also influence what numbers people want to see on their bingo cards.
Do Certain Numbers Get Picked More Often?
People are always looking for patterns in betting games and this also applies to bingo games. Even with the use of RNG technology, there are those that think they can beat the system. Financial writer Joseph E Granville had a theory that he based on 75-ball bingo and he suggested that purchasing cards with the largest spread of numbers was the best starting point for any bingo player. Obviously there is no telling what the RNG would come up with and more often or not, a good spread of numbers are churned out by this random process, but if certain numbers appear more often than others, then this is purely by chance.
The Tippett Theory
British statistician Leonard Tippett tried to develop a more detailed theory that involved the law of averages. His starting point was the number 38 and this just happens to be the middle number in 75-ball bingo. What he suggested was that it would be best to choose numbers from either side of 38 and this would give you a spread of very high and very low numbers. With longer games such as 90-ball bingo, his theory was that punters should pick the numbers closest to 38, on either side of the spectrum. Whether any of these theories actually works, remains to be seen.
