Telly Bingo FAQs

Telly Bingo is a bingo game provided by the National Lottery. It is broadcast live on television so that anyone over the age of 18 can play along from home.

To play Telly Bingo, you just need to go to a National Lottery retailer and ask for a ticket. You will be given a grid with 24 random numbers from 1 to 75. The centre square will already be marked off.

The game works just like traditional bingo, except the winning numbers are drawn on TV. To win, you have to match the numbers on your grid with those announced during the Telly Bingo broadcast. You’ll win different prizes for completing certain patterns on your grid.

You cannot play Telly Bingo online. Tickets can only be purchased from National Lottery retailers in Ireland.

You can play Telly Bingo every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday at around 12:45pm. The TV game show is broadcast on RTÉ 1 and is also available to watch on RTÉ Player for a limited time afterwards.

Telly Bingo tickets cost €2.50 each, and can be purchased from any licensed lottery retailer in Ireland. You can purchase tickets for up to six games in advance.

No. You will be automatically given a random set of numbers in random positions on your grid.

You cannot play Telly Bingo online. Tickets can only be purchased from official National Lottery retailers in Ireland.

Telly Bingo days are Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.

Draws are shown on RTÉ One at 12.45pm on draw days.

You can buy Telly Bingo tickets from any official National Lottery retailer until 11:00am on the day of each draw. Sales open for the next draw at 11:15am.

You can find out which Telly Bingo numbers were drawn on the Results page. There you can find out which numbers won certain prizes, what the Lucky Line was and the Phone Risk number drawn.

There are six kinds of prizes that can be won in Telly Bingo. If you match the numbers in the four corners of your grid you win at least €5, and if you manage to match all the numbers on your card, you’ve hit a Full House, which wins you €10,000. It is even possible to win multiple prizes on the same ticket. For more information on the ways you can win, visit the How to Play page.

The main Telly Bingo host is Declan Buckley, who has presented the gameshow since 2001. Nuala Carey also hosts the game sometimes.

The Snowball number is the 45th number selected in a Telly Bingo draw. If you achieve a Full House on or before this number is drawn, you win a bonus of €10,000. The bonus increases by €5,000 for the next draw if there is no winner, and the Snowball number goes up by one to 46. This continues until there is a winner.

During a Telly Bingo broadcast, a random number between 1 and 5 is picked. This number corresponds to a horizontal line on your ticket, where 1 is the top line and 5 is the bottom one. If you matched all the numbers in that horizontal line during the Telly Bingo draw, you win a €5 prize.

If the Full House is achieved by more than one player on the same number, the prize is shared between them. The Snowball prize will also be split if this is achieved by multiple players.

No, as you can also check the Telly Bingo results if you miss the draw to see if you are a winner. However, you need to check the Phone Risk Card number before 9:00pm the following day for your chance to compete by telephone on the show.

This is the six-digit number on the bottom of your card. One number is selected at random during the gameshow and, if it matches your card, you need to call 1800 22 44 55 by 9:00pm the next day. You will then have an opportunity to win a prize between €1,000 and €10,000.

Yes. If you win a prize in more than one category, you will be paid the sum of those prizes. For example, if you win a ‘Corners’ prize and an ‘X Cross’ prize, you will receive both awards.

The central square on every grid of Telly Bingo numbers contains ** instead of a number. This square acts as a ‘free number’, meaning you can already consider it marked. If you match the other 24 numbers, you’ve completed a Full House.