What is TellyBingo?
TellyBingo gives a player the chance to play Bingo in their own home - they can even wear their slippers! Every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday the 'TellyBingo' TV Gameshow is broadcast on television (see Press for TV listings). On draw days, sales close at 11am and re-open at 11:15am. Each ticket costs €2.50! TellyBingo can be played with advance play with options to play for up to 6 draws (2 weeks) in advance. Separate tickets for separate dates are issued.
How to Play TellyBingo
It's simple! There are no playslips to be filled out for TellyBingo. All tickets are generated randomly by the Lotto terminal using Quick Pick. The player simply asks their local National Lottery Agent (anyone who sells TellyBingo) for a TellyBingo ticket and in return they will receive a ticket which contains a grid of 24 randomly selected numbers and one free number represented by ** (in the middle square). This free number is considered already marked. Each ticket shows the draw date for which it is valid, so the player shouldn’t forget to be in front of a telly on that date!
There are six prize categories in TellyBingo –Lucky Line, Corners, Cross, Snowball, Fullhouse and Phone Risk. A player can win in more than one prize category on a single ticket. For each TellyBingo TV Gameshow there is a random drawing of numbers from 1 to 75. For the amount of numbers drawn and the corresponding prize categories please see below:
Corners
To start the game thirty-two numbers are randomly drawn. Players who match the four corner numbers on their ticket on or before the 32nd number is drawn, win a parimutuel* prize of on average €10, taking one TellyBingo game with another. This prize will never be less than €5.
Xcross
A further four numbers are then drawn, bringing the total to thirty-six. Players who match all eight numbers to make a cross or ‘X’ on their ticket, on or before the 36th number is drawn, win a parimutuel prize of on average €100, taking one TellyBingo game with another.
Fullhouse
Additional numbers are then drawn until one or more players have marked all of the numbers on their ticket(s). This is called a ‘Fullhouse’ and the winner(s) win or share in a fixed prize of €10,000. Once there is a Fullhouse winner the game is considered over and no more numbers will be drawn.
Snowball
The Snowball prize is a bonus for players who achieve a ‘Fullhouse’ on or before the 45th number (i.e. 45 is the ‘Snowball’ number). The Snowball winner(s) win or share in an additional fixed prize of €10,000. If there is no Snowball winner, the Snowball number will be increased by one number (from 45 to 46) on the next TellyBingo show and €5,000 will be added to the Snowball prize. This process continues until there is a Snowball winner(s). Once the Snowball prize has been won, the Snowball number reverts to 45 and the Snowball prize is reset to €10,000.
Lucky Line
During the TellyBingo TV Gameshow one of the five horizontal lines on the TellyBingo ticket is randomly selected. Players who match all of the numbers on the selected line win a fixed prize of €5. On each TellyBingo ticket Line 1 refers to the top horizontal line and Line 5 refers to the bottom horizontal line. Vertical or diagonal lines don’t count for this game.
“Phone Risk” Card Number Game
On every TellyBingo ticket there is a unique six digit card number printed directly below the 24 number grid. During the TellyBingo TV show one of the card numbers is randomly chosen and announced by the presenter. The owner of the ticket with the corresponding card number has until 9pm on the following evening to phone-in to validate their winning ticket. The lucky player is then invited to participate in a “Phone Risk” game on the TellyBingo TV show where they are guaranteed to win a cash prize ranging from €1,000 to €10,000. And all from the comfort of their own home!
If a player has missed the live TV broadcast, where can they view the results?
Previous episodes of Telly Bingo can be viewed on the RTE player. You can find them here
All results are also on our website. You can find them here
Bonus payments to selling retailer
If you sold the ticket which wins the snowball prize, you receive 1% of that prize amount.
If you sold the ticket which wins the Full House tier prize, you receive €127 as a bonus payment.
* parimutuel – this means the prize fund is divided by the number of winners.