A Guide to Online Bingo – How Does It Work?

Slots are fun, but there's nothing better than some raw bingo action when you feel like sharing the fun with other people. I am very fond of bingo as a concept because it's engaging, social, and incredibly entertaining.

Yet, with the evolution of technologies, bingo has also evolved these days. You can play it in land-based bingo halls but also online. And there are different types of bingo action on the internet, some for lone wolves and some for social butterflies.

In this detailed online bingo guide, you will learn more about this game, its online variants, and prizes.

Short history of bingo

Before I move on to the specifics, let's dig into the history of bingo and how this game grew in popularity.

You're right if you've always thought that bingo and lotto are similar. In fact, bingo originates from the Italian game of lotto. From Italy and France, lotto started spreading throughout other European countries and began evolving. Italians invented the lotto in the 16th century, so it's believed that some variations of bingo appeared around that time as well.

In the UK, bingo was at one point called Housey Housey. But what we know and love as bingo these days was initially named BEANO in the United States around 1929. Players used beans to mark called numbers, hence the name beano. Stories tell how a person once shouted "BINGO" instead of "BEANO", and the new name was born.

Fast forward a few decades, and we have multiple variations of the game that players can enjoy both online and offline. Some reports state that over 100 million people enjoy bingo online.

Standard land-based versus online bingo

While physical and online bingo offer different experiences, they are both fun to play. Let's see how they differ and what you can expect from each.

Land-based bingo

Playing bingo in person is typically offered at special bingo halls. These aren't like casinos or betting shops. Usually, their sole purpose is to organize bingo nights.

Customers need to purchase one or more bingo tickets to partake in such bingo nights. The patterns, winning conditions, and prizes may vary depending on the bingo variant played. In any case, there's a game host that reads aloud the drawn numbers. Players mark these numbers on their tickets. Once a condition for a prize is met, the player needs to shout "BINGO", and that's pretty much it.

As you can see, bingo is simple but requires attention. You need to listen carefully, mark down numbers, and react fast.

Online bingo

Playing bingo online is a tad bit simpler and easier.

Thanks to bingo software, all the hassles are automatically completed. When you join a bingo website, you enter a room, get one or more tickets, and wait for the game to start. Then, the system does everything for you – it draws numbers, marks them off your tickets, and pays out rewards (if any) accordingly.

Online bingo is engaging and fun, nonetheless. Online bingo operators use various tools to ensure users enjoy their experience. I'll cover those later in this guide. Finally, it's worth noting that you can often claim generous no deposit bonuses to play this game for free and win real cash prizes.

Online bingo gameplay explained

Online bingo doesn't take too long to understand. There are no complex rules or strategies to bother with. You simply get tickets and enjoy the gameplay.

To get started for real money, you must join an online bingo site and then either load an RNG bingo game or join an online bingo room. I'll cover the difference between these two in the next section. Anyway, once you have your tickets, you wait for the game to start (or initiate it in RNG bingo) and play until there's a resolution.

Payouts are done automatically, and you can either stop playing or get tickets for the next round. It's as simple as that.

RNG bingo versus bingo rooms

Now, as promised, let's look at the difference between RNG online bingo and online bingo rooms.

As you may know, RNG is the acronym for Random Number Generator. This technology generates fair and random outcomes in most online casino games (slots, table games, video poker). When you play RNG online bingo, you load the game and play by yourself. In that sense, RNG bingo offers a more individualistic experience.

Online bingo rooms are closer to the real deal. These are offered by specialized bingo platform providers and come in different variants, jackpot sizes, ticket prices, etc. You can join any available room (usually, there are multiple options) and get your tickets.

Typically, there's a chat room to talk to other users, and there's also a chat moderator who can sometimes give out prizes or organize chat competitions. The game outcomes and gameplay are still automatically resolved through the system, but the experience is more social, as multiple players (tens or even hundreds) participate in the action.

Online bingo variants

Versatility is another great thing about online bingo. Let's look at the most popular online bingo variants and a brief explanation of each.

• 90-ball bingo – Played with 90 balls numbered from 1 to 90. The typical card has a 3x10 grid and includes a total of 15 numbers (five in each line).
• 80-ball bingo – A newer variant played with 80 balls. Usually, there's a 4x4 card with 16 numbers, and there's a winning pattern you must complete with the drawn numbers.
• 75-ball bingo – Usually played on a 5x5 grid, and the bingo ticket has an empty square in the middle. There are 75 bingo balls in this variant. This is very similar to 5-line bingo, which has a 5x5 ticket but is filled with numbers – no empty square.
• 30-ball bingo – Played with 30 balls to ensure fast-paced action and faster game conclusions. Cards often have a 3x3 grid and nine numbers on them. You'll find this variant named speed bingo on some bingo sites.
• Jackpot bingo – Can be any of the variants mentioned here. It comes with a special jackpot prize, often a progressive one. It's paid to those who will get a full house within a specific number of calls.

Bingo prizes

I know that you must be wondering how to win online bingo and what prizes to expect. I must say that there's no clear answer because everything depends on the variant and the online bingo site you're playing at.

In the list below, I explain some typical bingo winning options to help you better understand how this works.

• Line 1 (one-line) – You can expect a modest prize when you complete one line first.
• Line 2 (double-line) – When you complete two lines first, you get a slightly better prize.
• Bingo (full house) – The person who gets a full house (covers all numbers) receives the main prize. If there are multiple winners, the reward is usually split among them.
• Coverall or patterns – Some bingo variants have the coverall winning condition, which means covering all numbers on the ticket. Some may have a pattern winning requirement, in which case you need to match a specific pattern with the marked numbers. The pattern could be an X, a heart, or whatever else the bingo game requires.

As for the payouts, there are no rules. Most bingo rooms have modest prizes, but also the tickets are very cheap. If you play penny bingo, you can't expect to win anything over $2-5. Jackpot bingo can have bigger main rewards of $1,000 or $2,000.

Online bingo features

By now, I've covered all the basics and necessary things associated with online bingo. But I'd like to finish this guide by mentioning some bingo features that help make the online experience as attractive as it is.

• Autoplay – Autoplay is a feature that automates everything in the game for you. You can sit back and relax as the system buys tickets, marks off numbers, and allocates prizes.
• Chat rooms – Chat rooms are a huge part of the online bingo community. These are connected to the bingo rooms and enable players to communicate with each other. This aspect of online bingo is appealing to many because it brings the thrill of live bingo to the table. You can share jokes, celebrate wins, and participate in chat competitions.
• In-play rewards – In-play rewards occur in chat rooms, where moderators may organize quizzes or other fun contests. Winning participants may get free bingo tickets or some cash prizes.
• Ticket sorting – Ticket sorting is a useful tool that sorts your active tickets (if you have multiple of them) from best to worst. With this tool, you can easily track your best-performing tickets and have a clear overview of how many numbers you need.
• Highlights – Some popular bingo sites provide video highlights of the moment someone gets a bingo, show how many people need a single number to win, etc. Again, this tool serves an engagement purpose.
• Video celebrations – Some rooms allow players to turn on their cameras and share their happiness with the rest. They can communicate or just record the moment they get a bingo, creating a jolly and unique atmosphere.

I hope my online bingo guide helped you learn more about this fun game. If you want to try it out, you can play free bingo games right here or play for real money at the bingo sites listed on my website.