The Differences Between British & American Bingo 

Bingo is a fun game enjoyed by people all over the world, but did you know that there is a difference in how the game is played in the UK and the US? This post will show you the differences between UK bingo and US bingo so that you are always prepared!

UK Bingo

UK bingo – also known as 90-ball bingo – involves a 9×3 grid with 27 spaces. In each row, you will find 5 numbers and 4 blank spaces while the columns have 3 numbers (1-9 in the first, 10 to 19 in the second etc).

Tickets for 90-ball bingo are created as strips of 6 so that every number up to 90 can appear across all 6 tickets. This means that if you buy all 6 strips, each number will be included and you must mark off each number until someone shouts “House”, which means that they have won and ticked off all of their numbers.

You can win 900-ball bingo either by covering a single row on a ticket, by completing 2 of the 3 rows or with a full house (covers all numbers across any ticket).

US Bingo

In the US, the most popular type of bingo is 75-ball bingo. This means that the card for each game has 5 columns that are split into 25 squares with 24 numbers (leaving a free middle square that you can tick off immediately). You will notice the word BINGO printed at the top of each card and each column has a number found under each letter (B contains 5 random numbers between 1 and 15 etc).

In 75-ball bingo, you will find that you do not have strips but instead independent cards. This means that if you play with more than one card then you might end up marking off duplicate numbers (this is why this version can be slower than 90-ball bingo). Numbers are called that you must mark off and you win by creating a single line whether this is across, down or diagonally. 

Key Differences

The key differences between US and UK bingo are that UK bingo has 90 balls compared to 75, it is easy to keep track of multiple cards and is generally faster than US bingo. If you are new to bingo and find it hard to keep up, you could try playing a few bingo games online to get to grips with it (the numbers will also be filled in automatically).

Bingo is great fun and a game that is enjoyed all over the world, but it is helpful to be aware of the variations, particularly between US and UK bingo. While the game is similar, you will find that there are slight variations that can also make them very different.

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