Bar Bingo Ideas

Offering a bingo game at your bar is one way to get new patrons in the door and experience a night of fun while spending money on food and beverages. Before starting your bar bingo game, check with your state gaming commission because you probably will need to obtain a gaming license and follow gaming statutes. While fun, bingo is a game of chance usually governed by gaming statutes. A state gaming commission will walk you through the type of license required to begin launching the game at your bar.

Hire a local celebrity to call a bingo game in your bar. Sports legends, movie and television personalities and local business owners are people who could call the game. Contact the celebrity and offer to pay him or her for their time. Additionally, if the celebrity is someone from who people might want an autograph, set up a time before or after the game for patrons to meet the celebrity and get something signed. Be aware that some celebrities might charge for an autograph.

Most people know that to win bingo you must get five numbers in a row. Change up bingo night by holding different games throughout the evening. Four corners, whole card, making an "X" or prison bars (where B, G and O rows are full) are variations. Enhance the variations by naming them after local landmarks or people in the community. For example, the "X" game could feature the name of a local site where buried treasure was discovered centuries ago.

Create a fundraiser by inviting people to join the game for an entry fee. For example, charge $20 for 10 games of bingo. Donate the entry fee to a local cause or charity. Reach out to the community and ask for donations from local businesses for the game. You could offer gift certificates to the restaurant or bar in exchange. Or, group these gift certificates so that there are three or four assigned to each game. Then, when someone wins, he or she receives the gift certificate bundle as a prize.

Carry the theme of bar bingo to the actual cards themselves. Instead of using numbers on the bingo cards, use images associated with a bar. For example, beers, chicken wings, plates of nachos or martinis are images that could be printed on the card. A bingo game has 75 balls, so you would need 75 objects to properly print cards. To save yourself from having to print specialized balls, assign a number to each image. When that number is drawn during the game, call out the associated image until a winner is determined.