75 ball Bingo

With Bingo being such a popular game played around the world, numerous variations of the game have surfaced that have evolved and grown from the original origins of bingo in different regions. In North America (Canada and the United States specifically) the game of bingo is predominantly played within the framework of what is known as 75 ball bingo.

Playing 75 ball bingo is relatively simple. It is a new game to UK bingo as this form of the game has been more popularly enjoyed by US and Canadian players. However with the advent of the internet and the popularity of online bingo, the game has also become popular in the UK as well as other countries.

This game is played with cards, generally patterned cards, containing 24 numbers, the centre number is blank and is a free number, or a wild space. The numbers called are obviously from 1 – 75. The bingo caller calls the numbers as they appear, in a random fashion, and the player daubs the number as it appears on their card. The winner of the game is the first player to complete the pattern on their card.

One of the reasons why 75 ball bingo has become so popular is because it is so interesting. Because the card makes use of a 5 x 5 grid and at the top of the card the word B-I-N-G-O appears it is a simple matter to create patterns on this grid. These patterns range from seasonal patterns such as Christmas trees, to Easter bunnies at Easter time. The free number is automatically highlighted and counts in winning the game. Standard patterns are also used and these can be letters, outside boxes, X’s and all kinds of other designs.

As will all games of online bingo the game is simple to learn and easy to play. There are no complicated rules, you just purchase your ticket and play the game as the numbers are called. This is one of the reasons why playing bingo is so popular. Today, most online bingo sites also offer a pre-purchase feature, which means the player is able to buy their tickets before the games plays and as the daubing is automatic, they don’t even have to be present at the game in order to win. However not being present at the game takes all the fun out of playing it.

Playing 75 ball bingo at all online sites means that players are able to join in chat and communicate with chat moderators, or chat hosts and other players. This makes the game more sociable, and is the main reason why people enjoy playing bingo so much.

So how is this game played?

1. Bingo Cards

75 ball bingo cards have 25 spaces, arranged in five vertical and five horizontal rows. Each of the 25 squares on the 75 ball bingo card (except for the center square) contains a number between 1 and 75. The center square is marked as a free space.

At the top of these vertical columns are the letters B, I, N, G, and O. Contained below each of these letters are vertical rows with five numbers from the following groups: between 1-15 in the B column, 16-30 in the I column, 31-45 in the N column, 46-60 in the G column, and 61-75 in the O column. The highest number used in 75 ball bingo is, of course, 75.

75 ball bingo card

75 ball bingo cards during an active bingo game. Each card lights up with a different colours to indicate how many numbers away from a bingo that card is.


75 ball bingo shares a similar call board to that of its 90 ball bingo cousin, with a few slight alterations. The 75 ball bingo call board contains 5 rows of 15 numbers, for a total of 75 possible numbers.


75 bingo board


A 75 ball bingo call board during game action.

3. New Patterns


Lots of bingo players will tell you that 75 ball bingo has some of the best, most creative bingo patterns. The 25-square design lends itself to numerous fun possibilities for an endless number of patterns, including the following:


75 ball patterns


Just a few of a vast number of bingo patterns found in 75 ball bingo.

4. How To Win at 75 Ball Bingo


75 ball bingo is won when a player has completed the designated pattern for that game. Most traditional 75 ball bingo games are played with a 5-in-a-row pattern, meaning that the first player to get a vertical, horizontal, or diagonal line on their bingo card wins. But as we have seen, 75 ball bingo has been expanded to include various fun patterns, including “coverall” or “blackout” patterns, which have added to the popularity of the game.