In the UK, if you play bingo in a traditional bingo hall or even online, the majority of the time you are going to be playing 90 ball bingo. This is the most popular version of the game in this country, and it’s the one we’re most familiar with – click here. Hop over the pond, however, and you’ll find things are rather different in the USA. There, the most popular version of bingo is 75 ball bingo. Why is this and – apart from the obvious – what are the main differences between the two games?
How To Play 75 Ball Bingo
Clearly, with 75 ball bingo you are going to be playing with 75 balls rather than 90. This is the biggest difference, but does it really make a difference to how things are played? In essence, it does. With 75 ball bingo the game tends to be much faster, as there are fewer numbers to collect on your card. It could be over in just a couple of minutes if someone has a great card combination in front of them.
Another difference is the winners themselves. Because there are more numbers, in 90 ball bingo there are more winners too. There’s the first person to get a whole line, for example, and then the person who gets two lines. Finally, there is the one who fills their whole card. This is not the case with 75 ball bingo. In this game, there is only one winner, and that’s the person who gets ‘house’.
These are the major differences between the two games.
The Jackpot
Interestingly, the jackpot in a game of 75 ball bingo tends to be larger than the one you would typically expect in 90 ball bingo. The jackpot amount will often come from the sales of the bingo cards, so it depends how much they cost and how many are sold, so this isn’t the main reason for the larger winning amount. The reason is that there are fewer winners. With just one winner per game, the prize doesn’t have to be shared among them as it would in a 90 ball game, where there are usually at least three different prizes.
The chances of coming away as the victor in 75 ball bingo are smaller since there is only one prize on offer, but it is a larger prize, and that can make the game even more interesting. It might be the reason why, in some countries, it is the most popular version of bingo.
Additional Winners
Despite the general rules of the game, sometimes there are chances for other people to win in a game of 75 ball bingo, instead of just the one person who is able to fill their card up first. It’s not usual, but this variation on 75 ball bingo can actually mean that as many as five people can win prizes.
If this is the case, the game will be played in a similar way to 90 ball bingo, with lines becoming winners too. There may also be a prize for the first person to complete a specific pattern, or fill the corner squares, and so on. It’s best to check out the rules before playing so you know exactly what you’re looking for.