How to play 75 ball bingo
75 ball bingo is the most common way to play bingo, based on the traditional North American version of the game. Introduced nationally in the 1930s by toy maker Edwin Lowe, 75-Ball Bingo is easily one of the most popular games among all age groups in the United States and beyond.
It is not difficult to learn to play 75 ball bingo. As long as you can read numbers, you can play. 75 ball bingo is a game of pure luck, with no real skills involved.
How to play 75 ball bingo: numbers
75-ball bingo is played with balls 1 through 75, usually drawn at random from a machine that uses a blast of air to bring one ball to the surface at a time. Other 75-ball bingo games involve an electronic number draw, where a software program uses an RNG (random number generator) to select each number at random.
The numbers are displayed on a screen, clearly visible to all players.
How to play 75 ball bingo: cards
A 75 ball bingo card is made up of 25 squares on a 5×5 grid. The same central square is the Free Space, marked “FREE”. This square is instantly marked to help complete any 75 Ball Bingo pattern you may be playing. (See “How to Play 75 Ball Bingo – Patterns” below)
There are 5 columns down, each one labeled with a letter; BINGO. Each column will contain 5 random numbers (or 4 numbers in the case of column N, due to free space) within a range of 15 numbers. The first column, B, can only contain numbers from 1 to 15; column I 16-30; column N 31-45; column G 46-60; column O 61-75.
How to play 75 ball bingo: patterns
The biggest difference between 75-ball bingo and its European cousin, 90-ball bingo, is the presence of pattern bingo games. Because the 75 ball bingo card has a 5×5 random number grid, there are hundreds of patterns that can be applied. These include numbers, letters, and shapes, like the coffee cup, umbrella, or airplane, as well as things like 4 corners and most of all bingo.
Coverall is often played as a jackpot bingo game with bigger prizes up for grabs. Players must cover all the squares on their bingo card to win.
How to play 75 ball bingo – how to play the game
To play 75 ball bingo, first make sure you are aware of the bingo pattern that is being played (it should appear on or next to the screen where the numbers are displayed). Every time a number is called, the player looks at their card (s) for that number. For example, if B-13 is called, the players look in column B for a 13.
Whenever a marked number appears on the card, it is smeared with a foam-tipped marker, called a dauber.
How to play 75 ball bingo – win
To win a 75 ball bingo game, all you have to do is complete the bingo pattern that is being played on a single bingo card. Once all the numbers within that pattern have been smeared, shout “Bingo!” the first person to correctly paint the entire pattern and shout “Bingo!” win the game.
How to play 75 ball bingo: online bingo
Playing 75 ball bingo online is much easier than the live version, although it doesn’t make your heart race in the same way. This is because players are not required to do anything. An Auto-Daub feature can be used to instantly mark all bingo cards, and the software even calls out “Bingo!” for winners automatically. You can disable Auto-daub for a more realistic live bingo experience.
Most players choose to keep the Auto-Daub feature on because it allows them to participate in online bingo chat or play side games like slots, video poker, and other casino-style games. This helps break the monotony of a standard 75-ball bingo game with a more entertaining distraction, especially for avid online bingo players.