Card Types

Bingo is purely a game of chance played with randomly drawn numbered balls which players match to numbers printed on their bingo cards. Basically there are two types of bingo games the American 75 ball bingo and the British 90 ball bingo. There are now modern versions of bingo game which includes 30 ball bingo, 80 ball bingo, extreme bingo and speed bingo etc. Players are advised not to purchase more cards than they can manage efficiently as buying more cards than you can handle will only ruin your chances of winning the game.

But with online bingo the case is different. All online bingo sites have auto-daub feature which automatically marks off the numbers on your bingo card as they are called. So, you can play with as many cards as you want without having to worry about missing any numbers.

Basically there are two types of bingo cards available online, the 75 ball bingo card and the 90 ball bingo card.

The 75 ball bingo card has 25 squares arranged on a 5x5 matrix. The middle square is usually left blank or imprinted with words 'free' or 'bingo' or some customised text to make winning a little easier. Each card has 24 random numbers between 1 and 75. The letters B-I-N-G-O are printed at the top of the each row in every card, with each letter corresponding to a vertical column. Each column contains 5 random numbers. The B column contain numbers ranging from 1-15, I consists of numbers raging from 16-30, N from 31-45, G from 46-60 and O from 61 to 75. 75 ball bingo cards are made of hard paper or cardboard. Ink filled pens called daubers are used to mark off the numbers.

In 90 ball bingo/tambola, bingo/tambola cards are generally called tickets. These bingo/tambola tickets are a lot different than 75 ball bingo/tambola cards both in terms of numbers and the overall appearance and size. 90 ball bingo/tambola cards comes in a Leaf which consists of 6 different tickets. Numbers 1 to 90 are arranged throughout the strip. Each card has 3 rows and 9 columns. There are a total of 15 numbers on each card, with each row containing 5 numbers and 4 blank spaces. Each column consists of three random numbers. Column 1 contains numbers between 1 to 9, column 2 between 10 to 19, column 3 between 20 to 29 and so on until the 9th (last) column which has numbers between 80 to 90. While playing bingo/tambola with 90 ball bingo/tambola tickets, players have three opportunities to win by marking off either one line, two lines or the entire card also called full house.

Bingo/tambola cards can be marked in a number of ways. When playing with traditional disposable cards players can either cross out the matched number or mark them with a dauber. These cards are discarded after each game. With the reusable bingo/tambola cards, players can use markers to mark off the matched numbers. In the recent times, after the advent of online bingo/tambola, bingo/tambola halls use virtual bingo/tambola cards for games.

Different Types of Online Bingo Cards

You cannot play bingo without bingo cards! Whether you play bingo at a brick and mortar hall or at an online casino, you need to buy bingo cards before you can start playing. Online bingo cards are the virtual version of real bingo cards and like real bingo cards, they are also of two types – North American 75 ball bingo card and British 90 ball bingo card. While 75 ball bingo is still the most popular version globally, 90 ball bingo enjoys a huge following not only in UK, but also in Europe and Australia.

A 75 ball bingo card is a 5×5 grid, with structure as follows:

75 ball bingo card

Each bingo card bear 24 numbers between 1 and 75 with center square marked free. The first column i.e. B contains numbers between 1 and 15, next column I contains numbers between 16 and 30 and so on until column O, which includes numbers between 61 and 75. Each row has 5 numbers except N which has 4 numbers plus a free square. A player can buy one or several cards for every game. The aim of the game is to be the first player to mark off all the called numbers in a desired pattern. Also, the unique 5×5 grid design of a 75 ball bingo card lends itself to an endless number of pattern possibilities, which makes it all the more fun to play.

Online bingo 90 ball card is almost similar, except that it has 3×9 grid with numbers between 1 and 90. Each line contains 5 numbers (and 4 blank spaces) totaling to 15 numbers on every card. The first column has numbers from 1 -10, second from 11-20, third from 21 to 30, and so on until last column which contain numbers from 81 to 90. Typically, a 90 ball game is played in three stages – single line, two lines and a full house. In single line, the first player to mark off any 5 numbers horizontally in a straight line wins. The goal of a two lines game is to mark off any 10 numbers horizontally in a straight line. And lastly, a full house means marking off all the 15 numbers on your bingo card. Remember, the more the lines you mark on your card, the bigger your prize will be.