The first thing you will arrive at will be the reception desk, also known as front of house. This area is always staffed, to greet bingo club members and deal with lost membership cards and new members. If you aren't a member of the club yet, all you do is ask the member of staff for a membership application form to fill out. Sometimes there is a box you can tick on the application form if you don't want mailouts from the club, but it's better to leave it blank, because if you tick it you will miss out on any money off vouchers that the club sends out members. Once you've finished filling out the form, they'll enter your details onto the system and give you your new membership card. Congratulations - you've just signed up! Now you've got your card, it has to be put through the swipe unit - this is to confirm that you are in the club, as required by Gaming Board regulations.

After the reception desk, many bingo clubs have the bingo book sales counter (although sometimes they're to be found in the main hall), so that members can sort out the purchase of their bingo books before entering the main bingo hall. The bingo prices will normally be displayed on the counter or on the wall behind. Some bingo clubs use separate queues for different bingo tickets, whilst with others one member of staff will sell you whatever bingo tickets you require. don't forget to ask the bookseller to put your books in order for you if you're not sure of the playing sequence - if you win on the wrong book you will not receive any prize money! After bingo books are purchased, you would then make your way through to the main bingo hall.

Your first decision upon entering the main bingo hall is "Smoking or Non-Smoking?" Most bingo halls have a relatively small area for non smokers, but it makes little difference as bingo clubs can get very smoky, particularly on busy nights. Most bingo clubs also give you the option of sitting at a table with no prize and parti bingo boards, if you don't want to play the interval bingo games.

Before the main bingo games are played, there are normally tabletop bingo games which are also played in the intervals. These use either numbered plastic bingo boards with 16 numbers on them, or bingo cards built into the tables, and these bingo games are played quite differently from the main bingo session - it is called faster, the bingo games go quickly and they are paid for via coin slots at the tables. These bingo games are played for everything from shopping vouchers and cuddly toys to four-figure sums of cash on link bingo games.

Nowadays, every commercial bingo hall has fully electronic bingo equipment, like the bingo machine that comes up with the bingo numbers, the Random Number Generator, or RNG - and the days of the bingo blower machine with the numbered ping-pong bingo balls have long gone. The bingo games can thus be checked very quickly, giving more time for playing bingo in.

Most bingo clubs offer refreshment facilities, namely a bar and a diner or buffet. The food offered is usually simple fare like baked potato or a roast dinner, and on some sessions a free meal is included. The bar in a Bingo Hall usually charges low prices, and in some newer bingo clubs is kept separate from the main hall to avoid disrupting the bingo games. There are also a wide variety of fruit machines available, which by law have to have a higher payout than machines installed in pubs or other public places.