Bingo is a very popular game across the world and depending on in which country you are playing bingo there are game variances. In some countries around the world, the game is not called Bingo for example Canadian Kinzo or India’s Tambola. The two most popular variants of bingo are 90 – ball bingo which originates from the UK and the USA’s 75 – ball bingo. It’s these two distinct variants of Bingo which are most commonly played across the world – go now to play free.
What are the differences between the bingo variants?
Bingo players across the world tend to play one of two distinct variants of bingo or bingo games which are inspired by these two variants:
- 90 – ball bingo
- 75 – ball bingo
Maybe it seems like these bingo games are pretty similar except one version uses more numbers but they’re actually quite different.
One of the main differences between these two bingo variants is the card layouts. In 90 – ball bingo, the cards are called ticket. These tickets have twenty – seven squares, arranged in three rows and nine columns. Each row has five squares with numbers and four blank squares.
75 – ball bingo is played with a card with a 5 x 5 grid. The word ‘BINGO’ is at the top of the card, one letter per column. Each column has numbers. The ‘B’ column will have 5 numbers between 1 – 15 and the last ‘O’ column will have 5 numbers between 61 – 75. There will be one empty ‘free space’ square in the middle of the grid, in the ‘N’ column.
The second biggest difference between these two bingo variants is how players win. In 90 – ball bingo there can be up to three winners per round. The first prize is awarded to the player who completes one row of numbers. The second prize is awarded for two complete rows and the third prize is awarded for a ‘full house’ which is a complete ticket of three rows.
In 75 – ball bingo, a winning pattern is announced at the start of each round. The first player to complete the pre – announced pattern wins the game. Traditionally, players would need to complete a full line either horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. However, this variant has evolved over time and there are now over 300 different patterns that are played.
Bingo Across the World
Bingo is believed to have originated in Italy in the 16th Century and spread across Europe and beyond. Currently, there are two distinct bingo variants which are popular across the world. However, there are more and more variations of these two games plus distinct new versions have begun to appear such as 80 – ball bingo and the Japanese have created their own bingo variant in 2017.
| Country | History | Variant |
| Italy | 16th Century | Lo Giuoco del Lotto D’Italia’ |
| UK | 18th Century | 90 – ball bingo |
| Germany | 19th Century | 90 – ball bingo |
| USA | 1920s | 75 – ball bingo |
| Sweden | 1990s | 75 – ball bingo |
| Japan | 2017 | Bingo5 |
Bingo continues to evolve over time and thanks to online sites the popularity of the game continues to spread across the world.
