90 Ball Bingo Sites UK

How to play 90 ball bingo

Want to play the UK's most popular bingo, but not sure how it's done?

Let's start with the very basic rules of a general bingo game:

You have a bingo card that contains a grid with numbers on it, and a caller calls out numbers. If the number called matches a number on your card, you mark it off. You get a bingo if you manage to mark off numbers on a single line.

That's it and now, with these basics, we can take a look at how 90-ball bingo is played.

A 90-ball bingo game starts off with the players buying bingo cards, also called tickets. When the round starts, players online can trust the game to mark off the matching numbers. At a real bingo club, the players need to be listening to the caller calling out numbers between 1 and 90 and use their dauber to mark off numbers on the paper tickets.

Typically, there are three winners in each 90-ball bingo round (This applies to both online and offline 90-ball bingo games):

• 1 line bingo
• 2 line bingo
• Full house bingo

Online, the game will declare winners automatically. At a bingo club, the player with a winning ticket needs to shout "BINGO" as soon as they daub the final number on a winning pattern.

In the end, playing 90-ball bingo is very easy. Especially at the top UK bingo sites where all you need to do is purchase the tickets and wait for the game to start.

Below, we get into the finer rules of this bingo variant.

90 Ball bingo rules

The rules of the game aren't too complicated, so even a beginner can follow the game with ease.

Buy cards: Typically, 90-ball bingo cards are sold as strips that have six tickets, because that way each card is able to contain all 90 numbers. This gives better odds of winning the game.

However, many online bingo halls will let you buy tickets separately.

The game starts: When the tickets have been bought and the time is up, the game begins with the caller starting to call out random numbers between 1 and 90. As the caller calls out the numbers, players mark off any matching numbers on their tickets.

Online, marking the numbers is fully automated. If your card gets close to completing a bingo, it will normally be marked with "XTG", X counting how many numbers there are left to mark off and TG being short for "to go". So, 3TG would mean you are three numbers away from getting a bingo.

Marking off all the numbers on a single row that completes a line and is a bingo. If you win a line bingo, there's usually a short pause and your player name is presented on the screen.

At a club, you need to shout "BINGO" to let the staff know they have a winner.

The game ends: The round ends when one or more players achieve full house, meaning they have a ticket with all the numbers marked off. The prizes are paid, after which the old tickets are scrapped and you can buy new tickets for the next round.

Other important rules of 90-ball bingo:

• The blank spaces on the card: The blank squares can be ignored, as they are not called out and they're not "free spaces". In short, they do not contribute to the game.
• How many numbers: Each game round picks numbers by random between 1 and 90 until there are one or more full-house winners.
• What counts as a bingo: Completing a line requires marking off one row on the same card.
• Who wins: Only the first players completing one and two lines and the full house win a prize.
• Several winners: If there is more than one player hitting a bingo on the same number, the prize is divided equally between the winners.

90 ball bingo cards

The cards of a 90-ball bingo are very distinct from other bingo variants, so they're easy to recognise.

• In 90-ball bingo, the cards have a grid of 3 rows and 9 columns.
• There are 15 numbers on the grid and 12 blank squares.
• Each row has 5 numbers and 4 blank spaces.
• The 1st column: numbers between 1 and 10.
• The 2nd column: numbers between 11 and 20.
• The 3rd column: numbers between 21 and 30.
• The 4th column: numbers between 31 and 40.
• The 5th column: numbers between 41 and 50.
• The 6th column: numbers between 51 and 60.
• The 7th column: numbers between 61 and 70.
• The 8th column: numbers between 71 and 80.
• The 9th column: numbers between 81 and 90.

A 90 ball bingo card with 1-line bingo

This is a 90-ball bingo card that has one horizontal line fully marked off, so it's a 1-line bingo.

A 90 ball bingo card with 2-line bingo

This is what a 90-ball bingo card with a two-line bingo looks like. It has two horizontal lines fully marked off, so if it was the first one in the room to do that, it just won a bingo.

A 90 ball bingo card with 1TG to full house

This 90-ball bingo card is just one number off from winning a full-house bingo, so in a bingo room, the ticket would show "1TG" on it. If the number "Snakes alive, 55" is called and no full house winner has been declared before that, this card is the final round winner.

Playing 90 ball bingo online vs playing at a club

Which one is easier, playing 90-ball bingo online or going to a bingo club to play it? Let's take a look at how playing this bingo variant differs online vs. offline.

Playing 90-ball bingo online:

1. Choose a bingo room and open it
2. Select the number of strips or cards you wish to buy
3. Complete the purchase and wait for the countdown to get to zero for a new round to start
4. Watch the game and see if you get any bingos on your cards
5. Collect any winnings and once the round is finished, proceed to buy new cards

Playing 90-ball bingo at a club:

1. Go to a bingo club and purchase tickets
2. Wait for the round to start
3. Listen to the caller and use a dauber to mark off any matching numbers on your cards
4. You need to shout BINGO if you get a winning pattern on any of your cards
5. When the round is over, you must discard the old cards and buy new ones

Playing 90-ball bingo online is definitely easier as you don't have to worry about properly daubing numbers on your purchased tickets.

Some players might consider this as a con, as an automated dauber does affect how alert the players need to be while the game is ongoing. However, because online games are automated, players can buy just about as many tickets as they want as the game will take care of marking the numbers. Some game developers also allow the automatic dauber to be turned off.

Conclusion: Comparing online and offline 90 ball bingo

There is no denying in that playing bingo at a real bingo club has its own charm! You can visit a club alone or with friends, possibly grab a drink or some food, and many clubs arrange fun events for their players.

However, from the point of optimisation, playing 90-ball bingo online is the better option. Online, you can buy tens or even hundreds of tickets for a single round and the game's pacing is always more or less the same. There might not be any refreshments on offer, but you can often chat with other players and participate in additional games run by the chat hosts.

Why you should play 90-ball bingo at a club:

✅ It's more social and immersive
✅ Play easily with friends and family
✅ Get the real bingo player experience
✅ Some clubs offer food and drinks
✅ Members can often claim special perks

Why you should play 90-ball bingo online:

✅ There often are welcome bonuses for new players
✅ Play when you want, whenever you want
✅ Play on a computer or on your phone
✅ You're able to purchase more tickets than at a club
✅ You don't really need to know how the game works to play

Free 90 ball bingo

There are some options for playing free 90-ball bingo. You can either play bingo for fun with play money or search for online bingo sites that let you play real money bingo for free.

The free "just for fun" bingo games can be great for entertainment and passing time, even if you can't win real money by playing them.

For those who want to play real 90-ball bingo but want to do it for free, we have great news: there are a few UK bingo sites where you can play bingo free of charge.

Most online bingo sites have special bonuses reserved for new and existing players, but claiming them requires a money deposit. However, there is a bonus type called "no-deposit bonus" which is a bonus you can get for free when you sign up to the site. The bonus can be cash, bonus funds, free spins, free bingo tickets, or a free pass to a certain bingo room.

Read more about free bingo sites.

Alternative bingo games

In addition to 90-ball bingo, there are loads of other bingo variants you can play - especially online. Most online bingo sites offer more than one variant to begin with, and along with the 90-ball version the other popular bingos are 80 and 75-ball games.

While all bingo variants are different from each other, they all follow the basic goal of trying to match the called numbers with the ones on the cards. As long as this core rule is understood, absorbing the other rules of each variant should be a doddle.

On Bojoko, we cover all the popular bingo variants. Read more about bingo games online that you can play today.

However, if you want something different yet familiar, try Slingo games. Slingos are game types where the developer has combined the gameplays of slots and bingo games. Our page of the best Slingo sites directs you to the websites where you can play these curiosities and also acts as a guide on how Slingo games work.

Play bingo responsibly

Enjoying bingo online couldn't be easier - just open a bingo site on a computer or a mobile device, log in, make a deposit, and start playing.

For most of us, online bingo is a world of fun. However, for some, online gambling can stop being fun and it becomes a habit that might be hard to shake off. As a strong advocate of responsible gambling, Bojoko wants to make sure that all players know how to enable safe gambling tools at the site of their choice.

That's why each of our site reviews includes a section about the responsible gambling tools that you can use while playing. The tools include deposit limitations and ways to prevent access to the site temporarily or permanently.

Online gambling is a form of entertainment and it shouldn't be used as a way to earn money or fix financial problems. If you want to read more, have a look at our page Responsible Gambling for tips, contacts and additional tools you can utilise.

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