Bingo has been a well-loved game for years, traditionally played in halls up and down the country. In fact, the most recent statistics show that the annual turnover of mainstage bingo in Britain up to the year 2020 was over 600 million. This figure only dropped due to the pandemic, which saw a significant decrease in players attending such events.
These days, there are even more ways to participate in the game, such as via a bingo app or online. But did you know there are many different versions of this popular pastime?
With millions of card combinations in each one, we’ll explore the four most common variations that you’ll likely find yourself playing.
30 ball bingo
This version features the minimum number of balls out of all the different types. With just 30 numbers, this makes it the quickest bingo option. The aim of this game is to mark off all the numbers on the card, which contains just nine numbers in total.
Also known as speed bingo, multiple rounds can be played in quick succession.
75 ball bingo
Known as American bingo, the 75-ball variation features the numbers 1-75 across one card. Unlike 30 ball bingo, participants can win based on a variety of shapes that their numbers make. For example, lines, letters and numbers can be represented on a bingo card. Lines are the most common winning patterns.
A blackout in this variation of the game is where all the numbers on the card are drawn out, which also counts as a win.
80 ball bingo
This version of bingo uses the colours blue, red, silver and yellow to represent the numbers 1-80. There are four ways to win this game including one, two, three or four lines as well as four corners. The lines can be horizonal, vertical or diagonal. Each card has a line layout of four by four, featuring 16 numbers in total. This is a fairly new adaptation of the game.
90 ball bingo
In the traditional UK version of bingo game, there are 90 balls. The card layout is nine by three with five numbers per row. 90 ball bingo cards also feature 12 blank spaces.
There are a variety of ways to win in 90 ball bingo including getting one line of numbers, two lines or a full house (the whole card). Usually, prizes are won in stages with the full house being the final winning combination.
Playing bingo online
There are a variety of ways to play bingo online, some of which automatically track the numbers for you, so you don’t need to do it yourself. The computer generates random numbers, and you will play until a line or full house is achieved.
While the premise of bingo remains basically the same with each of these variations, the different ways to play offer more options for those participating in the game.
