In this game of bingo, the program draws numbers from the urn, until you declare a bingo. The probability of scoring a bingo is 100 percent, because all 75 numbers can be drawn. After each number is drawn from the urn, you see if it matches a number on your card. If it does, you cover the square on your card and wait for the next number to be drawn.
To start bingo, run the command,
bingo 5
In this example, a number will be drawn from the urn every 5 seconds.
Press the Down Arrow to cover the
square on your bingo card that matches the
current or previous number drawn from the urn.
If the number doesn't match the card, you have
to restart the game.
Press the Up Arrow to shout "Bingo!".
The current and previous numbers drawn from the
urn are automatically covered when you press
the Up Arrow. If there is no bingo
on your card, you have to restart the game.
Press the letter r to reset the
game.
Press the letter q to quit the game.
bingo shows the menu on the left
of the screen. On the right of the screen,
is the bingo card. In the middle of the
screen is the last number drawn from the
urn. This number changes every few seconds,
according to the execution parameter.
bingo writes to a log file, called
bingo.log,
in the current directory.
This file is replaced every time you start
or reset the game.
bingo sleeps in between key strokes to
allow other tasks to run during the game.
The probability of reaching the first bingo
is similar to a Poisson distribution with
mu equal to 42.0 numbers drawn from
the urn. This is true if you fill the urn
after each bingo. That's the way this program
plays the game. If you don't fill the urn
after each bingo, the probability for the next
bingo gets higher for each number drawn.
John Scarne
Read
this procedure for information on how
to run bingo from a remote
terminal.
Cover a square
Shout Bingo!
Reset
Termination
Display
Log File
Performance
Probability
References
Scarne's New Complete Guide to Gambling
Fully revised, expanded, updated edition
New York: Simon & Schuster, 1961, 1974, 1986
A Fireside book, 871 p.
ISBN: 0-671-21734-8 hardback
ISBN: 0-671-63063-6 paperback
Chapter 8, Bingo: The $3 Billion National Pasttime
Section: Bingo Mathematics
Remote Session