Prize Guide
For most players, the thrill comes from the moment of the win itself. The prize itself is the cherry on top, which is why we recommend gift cards as a quick, easy, gender-neutral, and age-appropriate way to recognize your players' wins.
Almost every store has gift cards. Here are some fan favorites with their minimum denomination:
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Starting at $5: Nordstrom, Publix, Starbucks, Target, Wawa
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Starting at $10: Amazon, Macy's
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Starting at $15: Best Buy
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Starting at $25: Apple, Disney, Marriott
Bingo and Music Bingo
Overview
During a 2-hour bingo event we'll play 4 half-hour games. For music bingo, we can either play 3 or 4 games depending on a number of factors which we'll discuss with you ahead of time.
For each game of bingo or music bingo, we award 1 or 2 smaller prizes (your preference) and then a larger prize. This means that for an event we suggest a minimum of 4-8 smaller prizes and 4 larger prizes.
Ties
To ensure that differently-abled people have the same opportunity to win, the first person to shout "BINGO!" isn't automatically awarded the prize. We allow all players who achieved bingo on that call to come forward. If we do have multiple players, we consider that a tie. For such situations you could have a few extra prizes available (we suggest 1 extra per game) or we will roll dice and the high roll will win.
Purchasing
If you're purchasing gift cards, we suggest keeping things simple and recommend that large prizes be made up of 2 small prizes. By doing this, large prizes can be split in case of ties. Additionally, it enables you to purchase gift cards in the small prize denomination only and adds to the host's flexibility in awarding prizes. How much should the small prizes be? That depends on your budget but commonly they're $5-10.
Trivia
Whom to Award
Awarding prizes is always optional. For a small event with 5 or fewer teams, awarding solely a 1st place prize should suffice. For larger events it's common to award a 2nd and/or 3rd place prize.
What to Award
It's appropriate to give individual prizes rather than a group prize for the team. Generally you'll give the first place team larger prizes than the 2nd or 3rd place teams. And since it makes nobody happy by enforcing team size limits, we have found that it's best to let teams be whatever size they want, but to limit prizes awarded to a set number (such as 4 or 6). As for prize values, we've seen prize values range anywhere from a $2 scratch-off lottery card per person to a $100 gift card per person. It really depends on what works for your budget.