Wine, Dine, and Play: Inside UK Bingo Parlors

75-ball bingo and 90-ball bingo are the two variants of bingo. Each game is played with more popularity than the other in regional terms. That is, 75-ball bingo is the preferred variant in US and Canada bingo halls. In the UK, 90-ball bingo is the preferred variant; hence its other name: UK bingo.

UK bingo is held inside private clubs and bingo parlors. It is seen more as a game for social gathering. As such, the game attracts more young players than in the US. In UK bingo, it is not unusual for players to dine together and drink beer inside the club or parlor.

UK bingo is played using balls numbered 1 through 90. These balls are drawn in random by a bingo machine. Each number drawn is then called out before it is displayed on an electronic board. The players see if they have the number on their card. If they do, they mark the card using a dauber or a bingo chip.

The cards used in UK bingo are different from the cards used by its North American counterpart. 75-ball bingo uses 5x5 grid cards whereas 90-ball bingo uses 3x9 grid cards. In a 75-ball bingo card, there are 24 numbered spaces and one free space at the center. In a 90-ball bingo card, there are only 15 numbered spaces and there are no free spaces.

Each 90-ball bingo card consists of 3 rows and 9 columns. Each row has only 5 numbered spaces. The remaining 4 spaces are empty.

The first horizontal line of the card may contain any numbers from 1 - 9; the second horizontal line, from 10-19; the third horizontal line, from 20-29--- this pattern is followed to the last column, which may have any numbers from 80-90.

Unlike 75-ball bingo which is won by whoever hits a diagonal, horizontal, or vertical pattern first, 90-ball bingo is won by whoever finishes first a horizontal line, two horizontal lines, and three horizontal lines respectively. Whoever wins in the one-line stage may not win the two-line stage. Or, the two-line winner may lose the three-line or the "Full House" stage. In short, one game round in UK bingo may have as many as three winners.

Again, 90-ball bingo is the preferred game variant in the UK, hence its other name, UK bingo. UK bingo is such a game favorite in that part of the globe that some popular figures like Catherine Zeta-Jones and Jennifer Lopez are even said to a fan of the game. This is not a surprise, since UK bingo gives players two wonderful possibilities: a chance to win money and, above all, a chance to socialize over dinner, drink, and marking numbers on 3x9 bingo cards.