There are ninety numbers in a game of bingo (1-90.) Traditionally these were placed in a bingo drum and drawn at random by a caller; you can even recreate this experience in your virtual bingo hall if you want to. The rules of the house may vary ever so slightly from site to site, but to begin with, you’ll need to select a stake – you decide whether you play for pounds or peanuts; your account balance and the capacity of the site are your only restrictions. Then select your ticket. If you don’t like it; send it back and get a new one! Just keep selecting ‘new card’ until you get the numbers you really want. British bingo tickets have three rows of five numbers and nine columns of 1-3 numbers. Prizes are awarded for one line (just five numbers between you and your first taste of bingo glory,) two lines and the full house itself! And guess what? It’s all completely logical – numbers are arranged in numerical order, just as you’d expect. Bingo tickets must have been designed by women for women! Numbers 1-9 only ever appear in the first column; 10-19 in the second and so on. Sensible!

Auto ‘daub’ or manual? It’s entirely up to you! By and large, the numbers will appear on your screen as they’re drawn, and automatically ‘daubed’ off on your bingo card, but incurable daubers can still get in on the action! You don’t even have to shout “House” – not that there’s any reason why you shouldn’t! Your winnings will be automatically deposited into your account balance and can be cashed in whenever you like. That’s pretty much all there is to it! You’re ready to rub virtual shoulders with the best of them!

Of course there are all sorts of alternatives to the basic bingo game, and your online bingo buddies and bingo site guides can talk you through the new moves! Seventy-five ball bingo is an American variation using (you’ve guessed it) fifteen fewer balls! Corners: the first player to dab off each of the four corners wins. There’s even Irish bingo; it’s played backwards!

Whatever you play, wherever you play it and whoever you play it with, bingo is fun. There isn’t any secret formula that’ll improve your chances of winning. There’s just a whole lot of numbers, a bingo card and a big pixellated pen! All it takes is a good grasp of the basics and a little bit of multi tasking! No wonder women are so much better at bingo! Best of all, it doesn’t even matter if you lose; you’ll be having too much fun to care. Maybe that’s the most important rule of all?