Online Bingo Game Variants

Online bingo comes in two basic forms: 75 Ball and 90 Ball. 75 Ball is popular among players from the United States and 90 Ball is popular in Europe and Australia. In addition to those two main variants, there are an endless number of winning patterns.

75 Ball Bingo Game

75 Ball Bingo is played with a Bingo card that has 24 numbered squares and a free space arranged in a 5 x 5 grid. Across the top of the grid, the letters B I N G O each mark a column. The free space is located in the middle of the middle column, beneath the letter N.

Each square except for the free space is printed with a number in it. As letters and numbers are called, players mark their bingo cards if they have matches. If “I-16” is called, each player would check to see if there is a 16 within the “I” column.

Bingo cards are always arranged so that each column only contains a certain range of numbers:

In its most basic form, the first player to complete a line of 5 numbers wins the Bingo game. The line can be horizontal, vertical or diagonal as long as it contains five numbers or four numbers plus a free space.

90 Ball Bingo Game

90 Ball Bingo is played with a card that is rectangular rather than square. Each card contains 9 columns and 3 rows for a total of 27 spaces. Only 15 of the spaces have numbers so each row has five numbers and four blank spaces. Each space can contain any number between 1 and 90.

Instead of playing with a single card at a time, 90 Ball Bingo is played with “strips” of six cards at a time. Each strip contains 6 cards, and every number from 1 through 90 can be found somewhere on the strip. Every time a number is called, you’ll have a hit somewhere.

The first player to cover all the numbers in a row wins the game.

Winning Patterns

Because of the layout of the cards, 75 Ball Bingo has the most flexibility in determining winning patterns. Besides the simple line, players can also compete to fill out the entire box, two lines, an X pattern, the four corners and many other shapes.

90 Ball Bingo is generally played with any one of three winning patterns. The single line is the most common, but you’ll also see Bingo games played in which the first person to cover two lines wins. There’s also the Full House variant in which the players compete to fill out every space on one of their cards.

Many times multiple winning patterns will be offered in the same game to keep it going longer. There might be a small prize for the first person to complete a single line and a bigger prize for the first person to cover every spot on the card, for example.

Where to Play

Most online bingo sites offer both bingo games discussed here. The only thing you need concentrate on is finding a safe, trustworthy online bingo site. Take a look at our online bingo site reviews to get started today.