Different types of bingo games
Bingo is probably one of the first games you ever learned, and it is likely that it's the only game you started playing in earlier years that you have an interest in today. Bingo's versatility is one reason for its long-term popularity and that versatility is incorporated into where bingo is played, from brick and mortar buildings to websites. Here is a look at some different types of bingo.
75 ball bingo: The granddaddy of bingo games in North America, and the one you know from your childhood. Seventy-five ball bingo is used for mathematical skills and concepts as well as a bit of recreational fun for adults. The game is played with a 5x5 card and the highest number on the card is seventy-five. Regular bingo games are won by making a line horizontally, vertically or diagonally, but there are many varieties, some of them are discussed below.
90 ball bingo: Outside North America, ninety ball bingo is the most popular version of the game. There is more than one prize to be had in every ninety ball bingo game, even though premiums are typically less than seventy-five ball. Cards have nine columns and three rows, each row contains the numbers one to ninety. The rest of the spots are empty, and there is no free space!
Variations: There are several variations of the standard seventy-five ball. In blackout bingo, a player must have all the numbers on a card crossed off to win. In four corner bingo, a player needs only 4 numbers called, but these numbers must be in the corners of the card.
Another way to add variations in bingo is to mix prizes. Combination bingo is a game where there is more than one winner in a game, when the vertical line is bingoed once, players can then play the 4 corners of the bingo card, and so on. In a progressive bingo game, if there is no winner within a certain amount of calls, the game is over and the prize carried over to the next game. Bonus play: games are played "On the side" and are generally bought for a little extra money
Lastly, there are previously called games that are played with a sealed card. In these games, the numbers are set in advance. The odd-even bingo game is a variant, where the first digit dropped determines whether the game will be odd or even called.
Different bingo games styles
If you've never gone to a bingo hall or a site on the Internet to play the good old game of bingo, you'll not only be surprised at how much fun playing the game can be, but also by the number of bingo game styles out there. Here's a quick look at some of the ways in which bingo today is different than the version you're probably used to.
90 Ball Bingo: This version of bingo was developed in the UK & is the world's most popular version of bingo (here in North America we usually play seventy-five ball). Ninety ball bingo has many empty spaces on each card and also offers players three chances to win in every game.
Speedball bingo: If the standard bingo game styles are a little too slow for you, then you might want to try 1 hour speedball. For Internet and brick and mortar bingo halls, Speedball is played in rounds that last for an hour. It's quite a ride, especially when you know you tend to miss numbers, even in standard games. Balls are listed in a fast pace and the score keepers record who has won. The player with the most wins at the end of the hour, take the main prize and there are alternative prizes as well.
Pattern Bingo: If you are artsy, raise your hand. This is for those who are tired of straight line wins and want to be a little creative. It is surprising how many patterns a person can see in a simple 5x5 box when they are really studying their card. Having a winning bingo patterns means you have to block out a particular pattern or form. The pattern varies from something ordinary like a square or outer form of a letter to the ink splotch patterns with names like "picnic table". If the letter patterns are not crazy enough for you, you can put the word crazy before the pattern name and you win even if the letter appears on its side or up and down.
The many different bingo games styles mean that bingo players will never run out of new ways to change the game up a bit and make it more interesting. Online bingo can be a particularly good place to start when searching variants of bingo.
