How To Play Bingo – The Ultimate Guide

We all enjoy a game of online slots or bingo – the latter especially! However, if you’re a newbie, here’s an easy step by step guide on how to play online bingo.

Remember you need to be 18+ to gamble within the UK and please feel free to visit BeGambleAware.org for more information on how to gamble safely.

What is Bingo?

Bingo is a game of chance wherein a player marks numbers off a given card by randomly drawn numbers. A winner is usually decided when all the numbers have been marked off for a ‘full house’.

Bingo, also previously known as Housey-Housey, can be dated back to the 16th century with origins in Italy. The Italian lottery, known as Il Gioco del Lotto d’Italia, made its way to France where it became known as Le Lotto. The game was originally played by French aristocrats and the wealthy few. It then traveled to the US where it became known as Beano. It also managed to reach Great Britain and other parts of Europe by the 18th Century.

How Does Online Bingo Work?

The British version of bingo is the 90-ball bingo. Online bingo works pretty much the same as original bingo except it’s online:

1. Once you’ve signed up to where you want to play bingo, you usually have some bingo rooms to choose from to play in.
2. You can then purchase tickets or cards. These tickets correspond to the bingo cards we know in real life. They still appear in grids with various random numbers.
3. The computer software will then draw random numbers and usually there is an automatic feature that marks the numbers off.
4. Players can become winners with one-line wins, second line wins and a full house.
5. The number of balls and the card will vary depending on the type of bingo being played.

Different Types of Bingo

There are three prominent types of bingo to be found online. It’s best to know about each type of bingo in order to play it successfully.

90 Ball Bingo

This is the most common type of bingo in the UK. These games are played with 15 numbers from 1 to 90. The bingo card is also played on a grid of 9×3 (three words and nine columns), with each row made up of five numbers and four blanks. The columns are split into lines of ten numbers each.

Players can win in three ways:

1. The first player to mark off one line gets a win. This typically results in the 3rd place prize.
2. The first player to mark off two lines also wins. This usually results in a bigger prize than the previous one.
3. Finally, the player who marks off all the numbers on a grid wins the biggest prize.
4. Whenever a player wins, they’ll scream ‘BINGO’ announcing themselves as a winner.

80 Ball Bingo

Also known as coverall bingo, players are given a ticket with a 4×4 grid made up of 16 numbers. The game works the same way as 90 ball bingo. Players can win in our ways if the game chooses so:

1. The first prize is awarded to a player who marks off a single line.
2. The second prize is awarded to a player who marks off two columns.
3. The third prize is for marking off three columns.
4. Finally, the final prize is the full house whereby the player marks off all the numbers.

75 Ball Bingo

This one is known as pattern bingo is most prominent in America and comes as a 5×5 grid with numbers up to 75. Each grid will feature a number except for the center which will be empty.

To win in this game, players must bad or mark off a pre-determined pattern with more than 300 patterns now available. The player who marks off the designated pattern will be the winner.

Ready To play?

With so many different bingo types and the rules associated with them, it can get confusing to keep up. However, with this guide on how to play bingo, you won’t have to worry! Now that you know the rules of online bingo, are you ready to play?