Bingo -- When to Validate

For the benefit of those who don't know what "validate" means in bingo, allow me to explain. Every bingo session they will choose a ball at random as the Cash Ball, announce it, and put it back in the hopper. If anybody that session calls bingo on exactly when that exact ball is called he will win a progressive jackpot. These jackpots are progressive. A good web site for the jackpot amounts is http://cashballupdates.com/. You must pay an additional validation fee to qualify for the jackpot should you win.

So, at what point does the Cash Ball get so large that you should validate? Let's rephrase the question to at what point does it become a better value than the bingo cards themselves. Let's look at the 9 PM session at the Suncoast, as an example.

Let's just look at blue packs, due to the large triple coverall prize of $2,500, which does not depend on the color of the card. The player gets three unvalidated blue packs for $10. He may pay an extra $3 to validate them. Let's answer the question of at what Cash Ball jackpot should the player validate to maximize overall expected value.

The guaranteed prize money at 9PM is 11*$50 + $2500 = $3050. Note that there are 11 games that pay $50 and 1 that pays $2500.

The expected Cash Ball money is 12*j/75, where j is the jackpot size. The 12 is for the number of games eligible for the Cash Ball jackpot, and I divide by 75, because each game has a 1 in 75 chance of being won on the Cash Ball.

Let's equalize the ratio of cost to potential win.

10/3050 = 3/[12*(j/75)]
1.6 * j = 9150
j = $5718.75

The Cash Ball today on that session is $3,024, which is the highest one at the Suncoast, and much higher than most days. I estimate the percentage of cards validated (not counting any I might buy) to push 100%. However, according to my math, it still is a long ways from being a good value compared to the regular cards. So, if you're going to play that session, wait for the jackpot to get to $5718 before you validate. I might add that if it were that high you shouldn't play at all, because it would induce too much competition.

Please note that the breakeven jackpot will vary according to each session. Usually it will be lower, because most sessions have much less than $3050 in guaranteed prize money.

Any questions or corrections?

I'm still trying to picture the Wizard playing Bingo.

Quote: Boz

I'm still trying to picture the Wizard playing Bingo.

Don't knock it. Not counting paired-off couples, I'd say the female to male ratio is about 3 to 1.

So what you are saying is that

Expected return from bingo + EV of female population > 1?

Quote: Wizard

Don't knock it. Not counting paired-off couples, I'd say the female to male ratio is about 3 to 1.

Never having played Bingo, I have to ask what the average age of the player is?

Generally viewed as "retirement age" but clearly gets a great many visitors to Vegas who play bingo in their home state and want to play bingo on any trip to Vegas.

There are references to "blueies" or "blue haired types" which means the women who instead of grey hair tint it blue since they are under flourescent lights so often.

Between the retirement checks and the alternate hours of slots when Bingo games are not being called, it seems Bingo halls are profitable for the casinos but that if you solely count the Bingo activities it appears its about a plus one percent player advantage with all the prizes and buffets.

Quote: bw

Never having played Bingo, I have to ask what the average age of the player is?

Approximately 65.

Not sure about the Suncoast, however in some bingo rooms, the cash ball, or whatever that particular rooms calls it, is sometimes picked via the first ball drawn in the first game, thus making it impossible to hit the cash ball prize on the first game.

I see. The wizard is just testing the market in case his wife doesn't like the car choice ;).

Seriously, I guess I'll know where to meet women should I get divorced in 20 or so years.

On another note, does EV on a long shot really matter? If the odds of hitting a prize are say, more than 1,000:1, will you get enough opportunities in a lifetime to play that particular game (at +ve EV) to actually make the money back close to EV. I think the variance is way too large.

Quote: konceptum

Not sure about the Suncoast, however in some bingo rooms, the cash ball, or whatever that particular rooms calls it, is sometimes picked via the first ball drawn in the first game, thus making it impossible to hit the cash ball prize on the first game.

At the Suncoast and Red Rock they put it back in the hopper before the first game. Can you provide the names of bingo rooms that don't?

Unfortunately, no. I'm not a big bingo fanatic, and the only time I play is around my mom's birthday when she wants to go. It is just something that I've noticed, and it's usually at rooms where the the validation fee is fairly small (like $1 for an entire pack, instead of $1 for each card). The main reason I noticed it was because I thought it was a bit chintzy on the part of the bingo room to intentionally cause the first game to be ineligible for the bonus prize.

http://www.fiestacasinobingo.com/rules/

Quote:

The first ball drawn on game #2 will be the Cash Ball for that session.

Another point, which may or may not be relevant, and is listed on this site as part of the rules, is that the cash ball prize can only be won once per session. I'm not sure if all bingo halls operate that way, but I seem to recall seeing that rule listed several times. Not sure if this would change the math.

Quote: konceptum

Another point, which may or may not be relevant, and is listed on this site as part of the rules, is that the cash ball prize can only be won once per session. I'm not sure if all bingo halls operate that way, but I seem to recall seeing that rule listed several times. Not sure if this would change the math.

Thanks for that link. That is good to know.

It is rather unlikely for the Cash Ball to hit twice in one session. The second hit would be at the re-seed amount, so the rule about hitting at most once per sessions doesn't lower EV much, but it does a little.

This is a very interesting discussion on a gambling topic that we rarely hear about. Thank you.