Planning to have some fun and, at the same time, get a chance to win up to €10,000? Ireland’s Telly Bingo lets you do just that. The National Lottery runs this thrice-a-week bingo game, and you can definitely participate if you reside in the country. If you’d like to try your hand at playing it, you can try this out without before looking for the best bingo sites in Ireland, especially if you are looking for something more high stakes.

Telly Bingo draws occur on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. These draws are broadcasted live and presented by Declan Buckley on RTE One at 12:45 PM, right in time at the end of everyone’s lunch break. Don’t worry if you’ve missed the broadcast since the recordings are available on YouTube, and you can check the National Lottery website to see the results.

So, you now know what Telly Bingo is, but the question remains: how can you take part? Well, we’ve listed down quick and easy steps to help you get this done:

Obtaining a Ticket

The first step in playing Telly Bingo is buying the ticket itself. After all, how can you play if you don’t have your very own ticket? You can purchase one for €2.50 each from your local lottery retailer. On game days, ticket sales for that day will close at 11:00 AM.

Your ticket will show a 5x5 grid showing 24 randomly-generated numbers between 1 and 75. There is also a center number, also called a “free number”, which is already considered matched. You cannot select your own numbers, so your chances of victory are purely down to luck!

Note that every ticket purchased has its number entered into a central system to notify officials if someone has won the Full House prize.

Tuning in and playing

Let’s say that you now have your tickets with you, and you’re raring to play Telly Bingo. To get started, make yourself free at 12:45 PM and tune in to RTE One on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. If you miss the live draw, you can always check out the recordings and the draw results on the official site or YouTube. Regardless, it’s best to watch it live because, after all, doing so is more exciting.

When the program starts, a series of balls between 1 and 75 will be drawn, and when your number appears on screen, be sure to mark them. The game will continue to go on until one player matches all the numbers on their ticket. This is called a Full House.

Telly Bingo Prize Categories

Don't fret if you didn’t get a Full House in Telly Bingo. You still have a chance of winning one - or even more - of the other possible prizes if you fulfill certain conditions.

- Corners - There are 32 numbers drawn in the first part of the game. If the numbers in all corners of your ticket are hits, then you win a minimum of €5 (average €10).

- X Cross - After the 32 numbers, four more are selected. If you have an X marked in the center of your ticket, you’ll receive €100.

- Snowball - Let’s say you’re lucky enough to win the Full House prize. If you manage to match all your numbers before the 45th, you’ll get €10,000 on top of the €10,000 you’ve won initially.

- Lucky Line - Your ticket has five horizontal lines. One of these is selected during the show, and if you’ve marked all the numbers on that line, you win €5.

- Phone Risk - If you look at your ticket, you have a six-digit card number under your grid. If yours is selected during the show, be sure to call the lottery officials by 9:00 PM the next day to validate your ticket. You’ll then have a chance to compete over the phone for a prize of €1,000 to €10,000.

Did you win? Great! Here’s how to claim your prize

Let’s say you’ve won any of the above-mentioned prizes. Lucky you!

The place where you can claim your winnings depends on the amount of money you’ve won. Before you claim, be sure to sign the back of the lottery ticket.

- For prizes between €1 to €100, you can claim it on any National Lottery Agent.
- For prizes between €1 to €2,500, you can claim on any An Post Office nationwide.
- For prizes between €1 and €14,999, go to any An Post Prize Claim Center.
- For prizes above €15,000, sign the winning ticket and contact the National Lottery right away.

You can also claim your prizes via mail by sending the ticket and needed documents to The National Lottery headquarters.