Bingo Guide

Bingo

Bingo is a fun game to play. People have been playing it for a long time, and it has always been synonymous with light-hearted entertainment.

However, somewhere in the mid-1990s, there was a real danger that bingo games could slowly disappear into obscurity. Players didn’t frequent bingo establishments and halls as often as they did in the past, and there were also more popular casino games to choose from.

Fortunately, this changed with the invention of online bingo games. These were played just like their offline counterparts but with some additional perks.

Factors such as constant and ongoing games, multiple bingo variants to choose from, and increased winning options have all contributed to online bingo games exploding in popularity pretty quickly.

Types of bingo games

These days bingo players can choose from the classic 90-ball bingo variant, the faster-paced 75-ball bingo game, or more innovative bingo versions such as 30-ball and 80-ball bingo.

All of these games can be played 24/7. Players only need to choose the bingo room and game they want to join, place their bets, and their bingo game will start in an instant.

Compare that with finding an open bingo hall around town only to discover that all seats are taken. It’s pretty clear which bingo version you are going to choose.

90-ball bingo

This is the oldest and most recognizable form of bingo. It is particularly popular in Europe, and it is pretty much the only bingo game in UK bingo halls.

As the name implies, this bingo variant is played with 90 balls. 90-ball bingo tickets consist of 27 squares organized in 9 vertical and 3 horizontal lines.

There are 15 numbers on each bingo card. These are organized in the following pattern:

the first vertical line consists of numbers 1-9;
the second line has numbers 10-19;
the third one has numbers 20-29;
the fourth one consists of 30-39;
and it goes like this until 90.

Numbers are organized in this way for practical reasons. For example, online and offline bingo players usually purchase 10, 20 or more bingo cards. This means they have a very short time window to locate their number before the next one is called out. Therefore, knowing which vertical line will have the number you want to find makes things a lot easier.

Before you start playing 90-ball bingo, it’s essential to know a few things about the game. First of all, there are not many winning options in this type of bingo. You can win in 90-ball bingo in one of three ways:

You can cover one horizontal line.
You can cover two horizontal lines.
You can cover all numbers – full house.

The most lucrative of these is the full house. However, it is also the least likely outcome as it is pretty challenging to be the first person to cover all numbers.

Another thing that you should know about 90-ball bingo is that it is a somewhat old-fashioned game. There are many different winning patterns in newer variants of the game, such as 80-ball bingo. They make the game much more exciting and provide instant gratification to players.

This is not the case with 90-ball bingo, at least not the classic version. Instead, the once-popular game variant seems to be stuck in time, and you’ll be probably better off trying newer and more engaging bingo alternatives.

75-ball bingo

One such alternative is 75-ball bingo. This version of bingo is played with 75 balls but is usually longer than 90-ball bingo. This is because 75-ball bingo cards have 25 numbers on them. They are organized in five rows and five columns with no spaces between numbers.

As with 90-ball bingo, the pattern in which numbers are distributed on a card is not accidental and is uniform in all 75-ball bingo cards out there:

B	1-15
I	16-30
N	31-45
G	46-60
O	61-75

As you can see, each horizontal line consists of 5 from 15 possible numbers. In addition, each horizontal line has a letter from the word BINGO, which makes tracking the numbers much more manageable.

The best thing about bingo cards organized in this way is the number of winning patterns they can produce. For example, in 75-ball bingo, the best prize is the coverall. It means that you have covered all 25 numbers.

However, you can have as many as 300 different winning patterns in addition to that ultimate prize. Of course, this doesn’t mean that you can win in 300 different ways in all 75-ball bingo games, as that depends on the bingo provider. However, it means that there will likely be lots of different winning combinations. Lots more than 90-ball bingo, that’s for sure.

Some of the winning patterns that you can get include specific letter forms that winning numbers can make, snake or zig-zag lines, winning corners, O-shapes and so on.

80-ball bingo

75-ball bingo comes with lots of perks, but it’s pretty long. However, that’s not the case with 80-ball bingo. This game variant is similar to the 75-ball version, but its cards consist of only 16 numbers. They are organized in 4 rows and 4 columns, and just like the 75-ball version, there are no spaces between numbers.

This organization of numbers achieves several things, but the most important one is that it makes this bingo variant quite fast.

When it comes to 80-ball winning combinations, they are very similar to the winning patterns in 75-ball bingo.

Both bingo cards are square-shaped with no spaces between numbers, which is excellent if you are a creative bingo provider. It means that you can make winning patterns in the form of different letters, O-shapes on the outside or inside the perimeter, corners, and so on.

30-ball bingo

80-ball bingo might be quick to finish, but 30-ball bingo is lightning-fast. So if you are a gambler who likes instant results and fast games, 30-ball bingo is the game for you.

As the name implies, the game is played with only 30 balls, and each card has only 9 numbers. These are organized into 3 horizontal and vertical lines. This means that winning combinations are not as plentiful as in the previous two games, but the speed of this version of bingo makes up for that.

How to play bingo

Bingo is by far the easiest game of chance out there. A player requires zero previous knowledge to participate in their first bingo game.

All a bingo player needs to do is join an online bingo room, place his bet, wait for the game to start, sit back, and enjoy. There are no additional steps, no dealers, and no special rules. Bingo is as simple as it sounds.

Randomness of outcomes

Bingo players are often worried that some of the games they participate in might be rigged. However, you should rest assured that this is never the case.

A state-of-the-art Random Number Generator technology decides bingo game outcomes. This RNG technology makes sure that every result is entirely random. There’s no rigging and no fixing of results.

Bingo bonuses

Bingo bonuses can be pretty enticing, and you should always be on the lookout for one. They can increase your winnings, reduce the risk of losing, and can even let you play for free.

Happy Hours

Bingo providers have happy hours when business is slow. They organize them on Monday afternoons, during the low bingo season, or at other periods when people are doing other things instead of playing bingo.

Happy hours give players free bingo cards, lower betting limits, double potential winnings, increase winning combinations, etc.

Bingo welcome bonuses

If you have never played with a particular bingo provider, you are eligible for the welcome bingo bonus the operator offers.

This will usually come in free bingo cards or a matched-deposit bonus offer and is activated once you make your first deposit.

Bingo loyalty programs

There are many other bingo bonuses, but the last one we will cover here is the bingo loyalty scheme. When you are a regular bingo player, you can enjoy certain perks courtesy of the bingo provider.

These include free bingo cards, VIP rooms access, monthly cashback, personal account adviser and much more. But, of course, you need to play bingo frequently to get these perks. The rule here is that the more you play, the better loyalty treats you get.

Bingo strategies

Bingo is purely a game of chance. This means that there are no strategies to increase your chances of winning. However, there are some things that you can do to make sure that you never lose lots of money because of playing bingo recklessly.

The first thing you can do is find how much money you can spend on bingo. You can have a weekly or monthly bingo bankroll, and you are never going to spend more money than you have in it.

The best advice that someone can give you is only to spend money you can afford to lose. This means that if losing $500 a month is not going to hurt you in any way, that should be your bingo budget.

The next thing you should do is determine which bingo game suits you the most. For example, if you want fast-paced games which give instant winnings, you should go with 80-ball or 30-ball games. On the other hand, if you are a more conservative bingo player, you should go with 90-ball bingo.

The last thing to think about is whether you will play aggressively on bingo games or whether you are going to go for smaller winnings over a more extended period.

Most bingo games enable players to participate in shorter draws with more significant payouts. For example, instead of waiting for all numbers to be drawn in a 75-ball bingo game, you can choose to only play with the first 45 balls.

This aggressive bingo strategy allows for larger profits over shorter periods. If you go with a strategy such as this one, you can expect to win big, but you might lose lots of money quickly.

On the other hand, if you decide to play with a more conservative approach, you can wait for full-length draws. These will bring you smaller but more frequent winnings.

Bingo Guide Conclusion

Bingo is a simple game to play. There are several bingo variants, but they are all easy to grasp and even easier to take part in.

90-ball, 75-ball, 80-ball, and 30-ball bingo games offer players different bingo experiences and cater to different types of bingo players.

If you want to maximize your bingo winnings, bonus offers can help you quite a lot. They reward new and existing bingo players with free bingo cards, larger winnings, and other nice perks.

Lastly, always have a bingo bankroll before you start playing bingo. This will ensure that you don’t spend more than you are ready to lose. Playing the bingo variant that suits you the most and utilizing the right gambling approach is also important.