Bingo is a fun and simple lottery style game popularised in America in the 30’s and 40’and soon becoming a very popular game, both in America and elsewhere. Traditionally Bingo has not been considered gambling, even though it has some similarities to a lottery. Usually prizes do not consist of cash but usually electronic ware, house ware and furniture. As such, legally, it has also been treated very differently to gambling. This has resulted in the growth and popularity of playing Bingo online. There are many variations on the basic game of bingo but there are four very popular variations online.
How to Play American Bingo
When most people picture Bingo, they are most likely thinking of the 75 ball version they would see in the bingo halls featured in American films and television series. This version is played with a card divided into a 5 x 5 square. The letters B, I N G and O are written horizontally and correspond to each column. A Bingo caller will then draw balls from a 75 ball set and each player will mark it down if they have the corresponding number on their cards.
90 Ball Bingo
In the rest of the world, a popular type of bingo is a 90 ball version. The bingo cards have also been altered to be split into three horizontal columns and nine vertical columns. Each horizontal column has five numbers between one and nine, ten and nineteen, twenty to twenty nine, all the way to 90. In the online variations you can choose to play one line, two lines or take the full house option to play all lines.
Speed Bingo
Another popular variant on standard bingo is called speed bingo. It consists of a 30 ball pool that is drawn from. The playing cards are smaller 3×3 squares and the object of the game is to fill all the squares on the card.
80 Ball Bingo
80 ball Bingo features 4 x 4 playing cards. The same variants on what pattern constitutes a win apply to 80 ball bingo online.
Real and Free Money Bingo Online
Bingo online can be played using real or free money. This is a great feature of bingo online allowing you to have fun and win prizes at the same time. There are many reputable online services like PayPal that allow you to safely deposit and withdraw money at online sites. The real prize aspect as well as the sense of community generated by online chat makes bingo a great game to enjoy.
Chat Functionality and Possible Mobile Issues
One of the best features of bingo online is the fact that almost all companies realise the value of chat functionality in bingo rooms. Allowing players to instantly message each other online really creates a sense of community, which is quite interesting since talking between players in a live bingo environment is usually frowned upon. Chat functionality is a great addition to bingo online.
The instant message software the sites use though does result in a lot of complications when being optimised for mobile compatibility. As such you won’t find many mobile bingo titles that include chat functionality.