As you probably know, bingo is one of the favourite pastimes in the UK, as well as in many other countries, in fact, it is a global phenomenon. We already published a piece on the popularity of online bingo and since then, the number of players who play online has grown. On the other hand, bingo halls across the UK keep closing down and the number of existing bingo premises in September 2018 was 644, a 1.7% decrease compared to six months earlier, according to statistics published by the UK Gambling Commission.
It is pretty evident that many players are switching to online bingo because it is simple and a lot more convenient and there are a lot more options when it comes to different games and variations. Now we’ll go through some of the most popular bingo variants that are played online. Some of these variants match the land-based ones, whereas other games are completely novel variations that have been developed for the purpose of online bingo gaming.
90-Ball Bingo
This is by far the most popular bingo variant. This is actually the game that most people in the UK think of when they say ‘bingo’. Most land-based bingo halls throughout the country offer this variant. Things are different online, as bingo sites offer a lot of other variations, such as 75-Ball bingo – the most popular version in America. Other bingo games, including branded games developed especially for particular online bingo sites are also available.
A 90-Ball bingo ticket includes 27 squares across three rows and nine columns. Each row features four blank positions and five different numbers. Tickets for 90-Ball bingo are sold in groups, with one group consisted of six tickets. A group of tickets is called a strip and usually you can buy a maximum of six strips, which comes to a total of 36 tickets.
The potential prizes in 90-Ball bingo are three – One Line, Two Lines and Full House. The first two are pretty self-explanatory, whereas the third and the highest prize in 90-Ball bingo is when you get all numbers across all three lines – hence it’s called a Full House.
80-Ball Bingo
Usually, 75-Ball bingo is the variant that gets mentioned as the second most popular, but we decided to mix things up a bit. This variant is the perfect option for those who wish to try something new, especially if they have only played either 90-Ball or 75-Ball bingo or both.
The layout of this game is four by four, with a total of 16 numbers. The four columns are in different colors – red, yellow, blue and silver (or white). When it comes to how numbers are arranged – numbers one to 20 appear in the first column, numbers 21 to 40 in the second, numbers 41 to 60 are placed in the third column and finally, numbers 61 to 80 are placed in the last column.
There are different prizes in 80-Ball bingo and the available ones depend on the type of game. There are four types of games:
- Any Single Line
- Any Line, House
- Any Line, Columns, House
- Full House or Pattern
In the first type, there’s just one possible prize – a prize for any line and the player who’s the first to get all four numbers across a horizontal, vertical, diagonal or all four corners wins. In the second type, you win one prize for any line and a second, higher prize if you manage to get all 16 numbers marked.
In the third game type, there are four possible prizes – one for a single column or line, second for two columns/lines, third for three and the last one for a Full House. Finally, in the fourth type, you have to either get all numbers on your ticket or complete a specific pattern. There can be different sorts of patterns – a geometrical shape, a letter or something else.
75-Ball Bingo
This variant is also known as American bingo and it comes with two sub-variants, depending on the amount of numbers that are displayed on the ticket. The ticket grid is five by five and if the midmost position on the ticket is empty, then we’re talking of 75-24 bingo, whereas if it contains a number, then the variant in question is 75-25 bingo. As with 80-Ball bingo there are also multiple patterns and winning combinations.
Deal Or No Deal Bingo
Deal Or No Deal Bingo is based on the popular TV show of the same name and Deal or No Deal bingo games were initially only offered at a site called, yeah you guessed it – Deal Or No Deal Bingo, but later many other popular bingo sites started offering Deal or No Deal bingo in 90-Ball, as well as 75-Ball variants.
In addition to the bingo variants that we’ve covered here, there are plenty of other games that you can play online, most notably 52-Ball bingo, as well as Speed bingo. Most bingo sites also offer online slots and a wide range of bingo rooms with different ticket prices and even free bingo.
