Fans of traditional Bingo played in dedicated halls up and down the UK will be more than familiar with the 90-ball variant of the game. But log-in to an online casino or Bingo lobby and you’ll find variations of the game. Suddenly the world of Bingo becomes vast and to a newbie, confusing. There’s 70-ball, 75-ball and 80-ball variations – and pretty much any other number you can think of. 36-ball Deal or No Deal Bingo, anybody?
But will you strive and strive (that’s number 75) or be top of the shop (number 90)? Let’s take a look at these two most popular, but very different variations of the game. So, the next time you play the best online Bingo at Paddy Power, you’ll know which one suits you.
75-ball Bingo
This variation is often known as ‘American Bingo’, because it’s most commonly played in the US and Canada – although courtesy of online Bingo games, it can be enjoyed by anyone, anywhere. As its name suggests, this variation features the numbers 1-75.
The Bingo cards are 5×5 grids with a free space in the middle, meaning you need to land 24 numbers to win a full house. Each column spells out B-I-N-G-O and contains a number which is a factor of 15. The numbers are organised like so: B 1-15, I 16-30, N 31-45, G 46-60, O 61-75. Online, each column is likely to be a different colour, so you’ll need to know the colour and/or letter before marking off your winning number. Of course, auto-daub is there to help you out, particularly if you’re playing with multiple cards.
There are different ways to win in 75-ball Bingo. It could be a simple as landing a line (horizontal, vertical or diagonal), or even creating a pattern, which will be shown on your screen. With this in mind, 75-ball Bingo takes longer to play than some of the other variations, but persevere. Sometimes, players will receive a bonus jackpot for winning within a certain number of calls, so it’s all to play for!
90-ball Bingo
The godfather of all Bingo games, based on the traditional version and most commonly loved by UK players, 90-ball Bingo is the variation most famous in Australia and Asia too. You guessed it – the balls are numbered 1-90 – and the famous Bingo Lingo found in brick-and-mortar halls is based upon the 90-ball game.
In 90-ball Bingo, the cards are known as tickets and are grids of 9×3. Despite the 27 squares, not each is filled and you’ll find a number of blank spaces across the grid – in fact, each row consists of five numbers, meaning you need 15 for a full house. As expected, each column is a factor of 10, so, for example, column one will have the numbers 1-10, column two will be 11-20 and so on.
When playing 90-ball Bingo, it’s likely you won’t purchase a single ticket, but instead a strip of five or six tickets – giving you even more opportunity to win. The numbers on those tickets will not be the same, so you won’t find any repetition. Prizes are handed out for being the first person to land a single line, a double line and then a full house.
Whichever variation you choose to play, you’re sure to have lots of fun and there’s nothing quite like the thrill of playing games for real cash, while socialising with your roomies! After all, the entertainment factor is what has made Bingo so endearing to us for many years.