The differences between 75-ball, 80-ball and 90-ball bingo explained

July 2024 · 6 minute read

LEARN about the main difference between 75-ball, 80-ball and 90-ball bingo to help figure out which games you’d like to play.

What’s not to love about bingo? At Sun Bingo, we love all things B-I-N-G-O!

One of the great things about this game format is how versatile it has become.

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Having thought to have existed in one form or another since Ancient Rome, it doesn’t look like it’ll be going anywhere any time soon.

That might be because it also keeps adapting so that it keeps up with changes in the world around it.

Globally, bingo has taken many forms, from cow pat bingo to drive-in bingo, Coronation Street bingo to opera bingo, there’s a game for everyone!

However, the main three game formats are 75-ball, 80-ball and 90-ball bingo.

You’ve probably heard of all three but might not have played them all.

You may also not be aware of how they differ.

Here’s all you need to know about the differences between these games.

How to play 75-ball bingo

This version is a favourite in the US! You can think of this game format as the youngest sibling amongst the three main bingo games mentioned here.

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With just 75 balls in play, games tend to be the shortest and fastest.  

The bingo tickets for this version consist of a 5x5 grid with the centre space left blank.

As such, there are approximately 552 septillion possible card combinations.

The tickets usually have BINGO written across the top, and each of the letters represents a column.

As the numbers are announced, players with the corresponding numbers dab them off their tickets.

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If you are playing online bingo, it’s highly likely that this will automatically be done for you by the site that you’re playing on.

How to win 75-ball bingo

You win a game of 75-ball bingo by fulling dabbing off the winning patterns.

These patterns may be straight forward, such as single line (a wholly completed vertical, horizontal or diagonal line) or double line (two wholly completed vertical, horizontal or diagonal lines).

However, the patterns can get funky. They can include forming letters like H or Z.

The blank centre space can be used to help form lines. This can make it easier to complete a winning pattern.

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Of course, it’s also common for the winner to be the first to get a “blackout” or as you might know it, a full house.

When it comes to winning, 75-ball bingo can offer up to five prizes per game:  1L, 2L, 3L, 4L and the full house.

It’s the only format of the three featured in this article to potentially offer so many prizes per game.

At Sun Bingo, you can play 75-ball bingo in the Glamour Room, Spirit Twister Room or the Deal or No Deal 75 Room.

How to play 80-ball bingo

80-ball bingo is the middle child of bingo. It’s not the speedy, American-loved format of 75-ball and it’s not the traditional, UK-loved 90-ball games.

However, it has a place in our hearts nonetheless! Unlike most middle children…

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The games playout using tickets with a 4x4 grid, making 16 numbers in total (there’s no blank centre square as there is in 75-ball games).

To help this middle child stand out and get some much needed attention, the tickets are often colourful, with the columns coloured red, yellow, blue and white.

As with 75-ball bingo, the game begins when the first number is drawn.

Players match off the numbers of their tickets that correspond with those being called.

How to win 80-ball bingo

These games follow in the steps of their little brother, 75-ball bingo, and can require specific winning patterns.

These can be as little as dabbing off the numbers in the four corners.

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However, the games may also offer up to four prizes per game: 1L, 2L, 3L and the full house.

If you want to try your hand at this format and give it some love, check out the Heart Room or Money Drop Room on Sun Bingo.

How to play 90-ball bingo

When bingo evolved into the format that we’d recognise today, it was a 90-ball game.

It’s the oldest sibling, established and traditional. This is the bingo version most favoured in the UK.

Yet, its tickets are the most unusual of the three formats. They consist of 9x3 grid.

Each row has five numbers and four empty boxes. As you might have guessed from the name, there are 90 balls in play.

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How to win 90-ball bingo

The 90-ball format is too old and proud to have variations. It knows what it is and sticks to it. That means that every game can be won in the same way, by achieving the 1L, 2L or full house.

If you want to play this version of bingo, take a look at Sun Bingo’s 90-ball rooms:

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