What I learned from playing:
- Bingo Winner is a legitimate app, but multiple players have had issues withdrawing money or winning tournaments after a time.
- The app is only available in the App Store, so you won't be able to play if you get your games through Google Play or the Samsung Galaxy Store. If that's you, check out Freecash. It's a gaming rewards app you can get on Google Play, and you can earn money trying games, taking surveys, and more.
- Before withdrawing cash, you must earn at least $30 and possibly deposit cash into the game.
- Players can enter high-reward tournaments, but the prize pools are divided between the top four or five winners, limiting how much you earn.
Is Bingo Winner legit?
Bingo Winner is a legit game app that scores 4.7 out of 5 stars and has over 83,000 reviews in Apple’s App Store. The game was developed by JoyBox Studio Limited, which also offers solitaire games for the iPhone and iPad.
If you live in a state that allows cash tournaments, you can play games for cash winnings. You might see bigger winnings if you deposit money and enter higher-stakes tournaments.
While you can earn money playing Bingo Winner, you may need to play the game for a long time before you earn enough to meet the $30 minimum withdrawal requirement. Some players also report that they have difficulty withdrawing and receiving their cash.
What is Bingo Winner?
Game | Bingo Winner |
Game developer | JoyBox Studio Limited |
Compatible systems | iOS (iPhone and iPad only) |
Minimum entry fee (for cash tournaments) | $0.10 (may vary based on promotions) |
Minimum cash deposit | $5 |
Minimum withdrawal amount | $30 |
Withdrawal processing fee | Varies by withdrawal amount |
Withdrawal methods | PayPal and bank card |
States that prohibit cash tournaments | DE, LA, MD, MT, TN |
Game modes |
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Bingo Winner was fun to play and had bright cartoon graphics. It's similar to other bingo apps but moves slower than some I’ve tried, like Bingo Clash or Blackout Bingo.
To start playing, you go through a tutorial that introduces you to the board and the various features. Then, you can enter tournaments with other competitors. You can choose from small tournaments with just one or two other players or larger ones with up to 20 people.
Playing Bingo Winner is very straightforward. Players compete against each other to match five numbers in a row on their bingo cards.
The app offers power-ups – like Extra Time, the Magic Dauber, and the Magic Ball – to help you get more points. Unlike some other bingo apps, Bingo Winner lets you play only one card at a time, limiting your earnings.
You can enter tournaments with prize pools by paying an entry fee. You can join them by depositing your own money, using bonus cash, watching ads, or using the in-app currency called gems. When I played, Bingo Winner had cash prize pools ranging from $1.50 to $52, with entry fees ranging from $0.10 to $15.
If you live in one of the few states that doesn’t allow cash games, you can still play for fun and win gems to enter additional tournaments. If your state allows cash games, you’ll likely need to deposit money to enter higher-stakes tournaments faster. The app accepts deposits via PayPal, Visa, or Mastercard.
My gameplay experience with Bingo Winner
I played 29 Bingo Winner games over four days. If you’ve played other iPhone cash games, Bingo Winner is similar, down to the gems you can earn and the different ways to use bonus cash. The game is easy to learn, but it can get a little boring if you don’t have any power-ups to use during the intervals between the called numbers.
Like most bingo apps, you need to be able to multitask. When you hear your number called, you have roughly 5 seconds to daub the square and earn points. The faster you daub, the more points you’ll earn.
There are multiple ways to earn a bingo, including filling vertical, horizontal, and diagonal lines or daubing each corner. You receive extra points if you complete all the squares, which is called a full house. You need to tap the BINGO button whenever you complete a pattern.
On the second day playing Bingo Winner, I won $17 in one game, which is more than I had with any other bingo app I’ve tried. However, I had also already spent $16 on entry fees that day. I couldn't seem to win for the rest of the time I tested the game, which was frustrating.
How to use boosters in Bingo Winner
For every two to three squares you daub in Bingo Winner, you earn a power-up that helps you boost your points. There are four kinds:
- Magic Ball: This green star power-up allows you to select the next ball to daub from four choices.
- Magic Dauber: This purple crown icon lets you choose any square on the card.
- Triple Time: The orange x3 icon triples the points earned for a set time.
- Extra Time: The blue clock adds 10 seconds to the game clock.
Pro tip
You can hold only three power-ups at a time, so you must use them throughout the game to maximize your points. If you try to keep your power-ups, you won't be able to earn more, which can affect your score.Although the power-ups are helpful, they also give you more to think about. I had to balance using them while listening to the called numbers, daubing the correct squares, and keeping track of my bingos.
Tips for scoring more points
In Bingo Winner, you earn points by daubing the called square quickly (just like any other bingo game). The more lines of bingo you have, the more likely you are to earn. However, you lose points if you accidentally daub the wrong square.
Each daub earns between 0 and 200 points depending on how quickly you find and touch the square. If you do it immediately, you may earn 180 to 200 points; if you wait until you hear the next number, you get fewer points.
You earn between 0 and 5,000 points for every bingo. The app doesn’t clarify specific earnings for each type of bingo pattern.
I recommend these strategies to earn more:
- Use your power-ups strategically. The Extra Time power-up adds 10 seconds to the clock no matter where you are in the game, so use it whenever you can. Comparatively, waiting to use the Magic Dauber until you have just one more square before a bingo can help you clear the board faster.
- Use the boosters quickly. You can have only three power-ups at a time, so use them throughout the game to earn more.
- Avoid touching the wrong square. You earn the most points (up to 200) for touching the called number as quickly as possible. However, you lose 100 points if you daub the wrong square, so be precise.
- Turn up the volume. Each number is called out and appears on the screen. The voice call is faster than the number on the screen, so turn up the volume on your device. This also helps you keep your eyes on your card rather than bouncing around the screen, which can get disorienting.
How much money can you make?
I played Bingo Winner over four days and earned $50, including $17 in one tournament, which sounds impressive. However, I also spent $53.60 entering tournaments, though all but $5 was bonus cash. So, while I enjoyed playing Bingo Winner, it wouldn't make a lucrative side hustle. While you can use the bonus cash to enter tournaments, you can’t withdraw those funds. You can only withdraw your winnings from tournaments.
There was a steep reward drop-off the longer I played. When I first started, I was excited about the earning potential. However, when I returned to testing the next day, I suddenly couldn’t win anything except a gem game. My earnings dropped from $19 to $5.41, and my balance fell each time I played again.
While most of my earnings in Bingo Winner came from entering tournaments, you can also earn cash through other methods, like checking in daily or referring friends to the game. Plus, you can win bonus cash and gems by opening the Lucky Box or spinning the wheel. During my testing, I won only three gems each day for opening the Lucky Box, and each free spin of the wheel earned me $0.01 in bonus cash. You have to watch ads to spin the wheel more than once daily.
Entry fees and prize pools
Like many of the best bingo cash games, Bingo Winner has a range of entry fees and prize pools. Based on my experience, you can enter one tournament for $0.10 with a prize pool of $1.50. Another tournament costs $1 to enter, and the prize pool is $2. The largest prize pool is $52 and costs $15 to enter. But these are just examples and can change based on current promotions.
It's also worth noting that the game splits the prize pool among the top winners. For example, the tournament where I won $17 for placing first had a prize pool worth $34 (and an entry fee of $6). Second place won $8.50, third place won $5, and fourth place won $3.50.
How to withdraw cash
When you’re ready to withdraw your earnings, go to the Withdraw tab in the upper-right corner. From there, you’ll see how much bonus and withdrawable cash you have and enter the amount you want to withdraw.
The game will charge you an undisclosed fee based on the withdrawal amount. According to screenshots from Bingo Winner’s help center, the fee is $2 on a withdrawal of $20. While JoyBox Studio Limited’s terms of service say that you need only $2 to withdraw funds, the app won’t let you withdraw less than $30. I didn’t earn the $30 needed to withdraw, so I couldn't confirm this.
Bingo Winner states that the withdrawal process can take one to three days, but the terms of service say it can take up to 15 days. After Bingo Winner completes a review process, you’ll get your winnings via PayPal or your bank card. As part of the process, you might need to prove your identity.
Good to know
You can make only one withdrawal at a time, so you have to wait for a prior withdrawal to complete before you can make another.
Bingo Winner reviews and complaints
Although it isn’t my favorite bingo game, I felt optimistic about Bingo Winner until I looked at user reviews. Bingo Winner has high ratings on Apple’s App Store, but looking closely at the comments from players made me suspicious.
While multiple 5-star reviews exist, many reviewers said it's tough to withdraw your winnings due to a slow withdrawal process or issues earning enough withdrawable cash to qualify.
The user lilnorth’s 1-star review said, “Your withdrawal will stay pending indefinitely, with the promise that it'll go through in just a couple more days, and if you believe that (like I did) you keep playing and keep winning, but you can't ‘cash out’ until your pending withdrawal clears.”
There were also reports of winning frequently when you first start playing and then having a hard time winning additional tournaments after a day or two, which I experienced. This made some users suspect the game was rigged.
The user Pepper Culpepper’s 4-star review mentioned, "Also, it lets you win a lot in the beginning until they get tired of having to pay out money. Then, all of a sudden, the game stops calling out any winning numbers on the board, so it's impossible to get a high enough score to beat their bots.”
FAQs
Is Bingo Winner safe?
Bingo Winner is a legit app on Apple’s App Store. It has around 83,000 reviews and a rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars. Although it has multiple 5-star reviews, many users mention trouble withdrawing funds or winning tournaments after a time.
Does Bingo Winner really pay?
Bingo Winner does pay, but you have to jump through hoops to see your cash. The minimum withdrawal amount is $30, and some players report needing to deposit cash before accessing their money. Many user reviews say that they never received money or that the game was rigged, so they never won enough to make a withdrawal.
Is Bingo Winner free?
Bingo Winner is free to download and play. While you may need to deposit your own money to enter cash tournaments faster, you don’t have to make a deposit to play. However, you might need to make at least one cash deposit to withdraw your winnings.
Alternatives to Bingo Winner
If Bingo Winner doesn’t sound like a winner for you, other bingo games are available in similar formats. Here are some of the games I’ve enjoyed most:
Bingo Cash
Bingo Cash is a colorful bingo game from Papaya Gaming, Ltd. It moves faster than Bingo Winner but still gives you time to daub and use boosters.
Like Bingo Winner, Bingo Cash uses gems as in-app currency and awards bonus cash that you can use to enter cash tournaments. You can deposit funds via PayPal, Apple Pay, or credit/debit card to help you enter cash tournaments faster. And like Bingo Winner, you can use bonus cash to enter tournaments but can’t withdraw it. Bingo Cash showed me entry fees ranging from $1 to $5, and the prize pools were from $5 to $30.
One of the main differences between this game and Bingo Winner is the minimum withdrawal amount. Bingo Cash requires you to have earned at least $5 in winnings, compared to $30 for Bingo Winner. There is a $1 processing fee for all withdrawals, and the app refunds your original deposit method first and any additional balance via Apple Pay or PayPal. Bingo Cash is also available for both iOS and Samsung devices, so I'd recommend it for Android users.
Download Bingo Cash | Read our full Bingo Cash review.
Blackout Bingo
Blackout Bingo from Big Run Studios is on the Skillz platform. It looks very different from the other bingo games, so I might recommend checking it out if you get sick of more traditional bingo. Each card has a travel theme and features cities like New York City, Mexico City, Dubai, and Paris. Blackout Bingo uses Z coins instead of gems as in-app currency. You can use these to enter games or trade them for prizes like bonus cash, gift cards, or merchandise.
The game has a wide variety of prize pools. It showed me options ranging from a $0.60 entry fee for a $1 prize pool to a $120 entry fee for a $200 prize pool.
Withdrawals under $10 require a $1.50 processing fee, and it can take up to six weeks to receive your money. Blackout Bingo refunds your original payment method and then mails a paper check for any additional balance if you live in the U.S. If you live outside of the U.S., any remaining balance will go to your PayPal account. Like Bingo Cash, Blackout Bingo is in the App Store and the Samsung Galaxy Store.
Download Blackout Bingo | Read our Blackout Bingo review.
Freecash
If you like bingo but you don't love it, or you just like to mix it up, try out Freecash. This is a cash rewards platform that pays you to test out apps, answer surveys, watch ads, subscribe to services, and more. On the long list of games to try, you'll find bingo and solitaire. You can download the Freecash app on Google Play if you've got an Android or access it via a web browser if you prefer that or have an Apple phone that runs on iOS.
I like that this platform lets you withdraw cash once you've earned as little as $5, which is far better than Bingo Winner's $30 minimum. You can even turn around and cash out your earnings with Stake, a gambling site, if you're keen to try your luck (although we don't recommend this if you're not comfortable losing it all). Freecash also has more user reviews and a great customer rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars on Trustpilot.
Download Freecash | Read our full Freecash review.
Bottom line
While Bingo Winner is a legitimate game in Apple’s App Store and can be fun to play, it has some issues. My testing experience, the high withdrawal threshold, and App Store reviews from other players make me think that Bingo Winner is fine if you want to play for fun. However, more reliable bingo games are available if you want to play in cash tournaments.
Before you download an app, read reviews from other players to see if the app is a good way to make money and if the app pays out. Look for another game if the app you’re considering has multiple negative reviews or only a few downloads – or if you see anything suspicious in the app store, like misspellings, poor grammar, or badly sized graphics.