75 and 90 Ball Bingo

February 12, 2009 / admin /

75 Ball Bingo
For those players who reside in either the United States or Canada, it is 75 ball bingo that will be most familiar to them because this is the style of bingo game prevalent in those nations. Of the two major forms of bingo, 75 and 90 ball bingo, no one is sure why 75 ball bingo holds such sway in the countries where it does, but experts suggest that it is simply a matter of tradition rather than anything more complex. Many other forms of bingo exist, but this is the traditional variety in land based venues such as bingo halls and casinos. Other than the particular card layouts that tend to be offered with either of the two major varieties of the game, there are very few differences and bingo is determined the exact same way for both types. In 75 ball bingo, players usually make use of a 5 x 5 bingo playing card on which they will mark off numbers as they are announced by the caller. There is generally a free space in the middle of the card that players get to mark off at the beginning of the game, similar to a wild card in a card game. Patterns needed to achieve bingo will vary from game to game, but can include the traditional straight lines or even far more complex shapes that must be formed first. This is generally a faster paced style of the game than 90 ball bingo, but there is an even faster version where the callers frantically move from number to number that is referred to as Speed Bingo.

90 Ball Bingo
Those who live in South American or European countries will most likely have been exposed to 90 ball bingo as the primary variant offered and the same holds true for both Australia and the United Kingdom, as well. This also happens to be the style of bingo that is most common through sites on the web since the majority of gaming sites today are based in or around the UK where the largest number of regular bingo players now reside. This particular style of bingo makes use of 9 x 3 cards that have 5 spaces for numbers per line. There are 3 rows and 9 columns per card so that each card has 15 spaces for numbers. Columns are numbered in sequences of 10, ranging from 1 to 90. Since the game is actually played in a triple stage format it is considered to be more complex than its 75 ball cousin. The introductory stage of the game starts off with players simply attempting a bingo by completing one line, but then it is on to stage two where those gathered will attempt to go for a two more lines. Finally, it is on to stage three, known commonly as Full House, where the players will attempt to mark off all 15 of the numbers on their card and win the largest prize of the game. This is the stage that the majority of players have been looking forward to because it is generally when the largest prizes are awarded to the winner.