How to Play Bingo like a Pro

The Basics of Online Bingo

Since you’re new to the scene, we thought it’s best to give you the inside scoop about the basics of how to play bingo. No need to worry, we’re positive you’ll master it in no time!

Online Bingo follows the same rules of traditional bingo. You need to mark the selected numbers, outline the winning lines, and eventually cover a whole card to take home your winnings. Whilst you’ll usually find a caller at a traditional bingo hall, online casinos use a random number generator (RNG), to give players a fair chance of winning.

Online Bingo Games

Now that you’re off to a good start on how to play bingo, we can delve into what you can actually play. Whilst no balls are used in online bingo games for obvious reasons, the online community have succeeded in creating different variations that come close to the land-based experience. Bearing this in mind, we’ll be focusing on some of the most popular ones, namely: 30-Ball Bingo, 75-Ball Bingo, 80-Ball Bingo, and 90-Ball Bingo.

30-Ball Bingo

30-Ball Bingo is also known as speed bingo. As the name stands, this game is all about speed. In short, you need to fill in a 3x3 square grid before other players can beat you to it. Cover all nine numbers, and you can win your prize.

Whilst it’s not as common as the others, you’ll still find various casino platforms who offer it in case you want to give it a whirl.

75-Ball Bingo

In this case, we have a 5x5 grid, where each square contains a number bar the one in the middle. The total number of squares amounts to 25.

75-Ball Bingo is distinguished by the iconic B-I-N-G-O letters, running through the top or bottom of the card. In this case, the RNG calls out both letter and number, i.e. A1, B20, C55 and so on.

As for the prizes on offer, you can only win one prize is this version of the game. Basically, the player who succeeds in daubing out any of the listed patterns, takes home the gold.

80-Ball Bingo

80-Ball Bingo was specially created for online bingo platforms. Here, players use a 4x4 card, amounting to a total of 16 numbers. It’s actually very similar to 75-Ball Bingo, since the centre is also blank, while the remaining 24 numbers are displayed on the rest of the squares.

Again, the first player who manages to daub out a winning pattern, will win a cash prize.

90-Ball Bingo

By now, you know how this goes. Players need to choose a bingo card, daub out the numbers and hopefully walk away with an exciting cash prize or jackpot. You can never go wrong with 90-Ball Bingo. It’s the most popular variation, that you’ll most likely find on most casino platforms available to South African players.

Every card has 15 numbers with 5 of them running through each of the three rows and spread randomly across the other nine columns. Additionally, this version certainly adds more thrills to your gaming experience as there is a total of three rounds.

• One horizontal line of numbers
• Two horizontal lines of numbers
• All the numbers on the card.

Of course, the prizes are higher as you level up in your game, but we still think it’s an overall exciting bingo experience.

Key Features and Terminology

As part of our how to play bingo rules, we thought we’d compile a list of some of the main features you’re likely to find in various online bingo games. The two most important ones are Auto-Dab and Best Card Sorting. The former is used to automatically daub a chosen number, while the latter sorts the player’s card in a way that indicates their chances of bingo.

It’s also beneficial for you to get familiar with some of the terminologies used in the game.

• Bingo: To call out the winning number
• Bingo Ticket: A bingo card featuring numbers for each bingo game. Normally, you’ll find anything between 30, 75, 80 and 90 numbers for each different ball game
• Split Pot: When the player needs to split winnings with the bingo site
• House: The selected bingo site
• Blackout/Coverall: A winning pattern with all numbers marked on the card.

Practice online with our Free Bingo titles

It’s always best to check out any free demos that are available on your chosen casino platform before you commit to anything. As you will note, while the fundamentals are the same, some bingo variations are played slightly differently and might prove to be more intense for a beginner. Once you're confident enough, opt for real money bingo and you can get your hands on a bonus prize or even hit the jackpot!

Alternatively, on our free games page, you'll find a selection of free bingo demo games that you can play on your desktop or mobile devices.

Bingo Overview - Did you know how it became popular?

It’s no secret that Bingo has been around for a good while. The first traces of the game are found in Italy, when in the year 1530, people started buying tickets for the popular state lottery Lo Gioco del Lotto.

More traces were found in France when bingo cards were first introduced to the scene. In this case, the game had nine column sections, three rows and four spaces. The concept was simple – the players had to cover a single row whilst the caller selected random wooden chips. Little did the French know that they succeeded in laying the foundations of what was to come.

Anyone who’s familiar with the game knows of a certain Edwin S. Lowe. By sheer coincidence, he came across a game called Beano during a trip to the carnival in Atlanta. The objective was very similar to the French game of Bingo. In this case, one had to mark the numbers on a card by using dried beans. If a player succeeded in forming a complete line, the game would be stopped by the words Beano! As luck would have it, one of Lowe’s friends blurted out the wrong words and said Bingo! instead of Beano! And just like that, she won the game!

After that episode, Lowe spun his own take on the game, that soared in popularity by the 1930s. And as the saying goes, the rest was history. Whilst some may think that bingo is for old people, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Bingo has certainly stood the test of time and has branched out to various online casino platforms.

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