The 5x5 card and the FREE square
The 75-ball card is a five by five grid: 25 squares under the five letters B, I, N, G and O. Every square except the centre carries a number, so a card holds 24 numbers from 1 to 75. The centre is marked FREE and counts as covered from the start of every game. There are no blank squares, unlike a UK ticket, and the card is square rather than long and narrow.
Because the 5x5 card is square and full, it can be won in many directions: across, down or diagonally. That is the key difference from 90-ball, where a line is always a row. It is also why the American game is played to patterns, which would make no sense on a British ticket with its gaps.
The B-I-N-G-O columns
Each letter owns fifteen numbers. B has 1 to 15, I has 16 to 30, N has 31 to 45, G has 46 to 60 and O has 61 to 75. The N column has only four numbers on a card, because the free square takes its middle place. When the caller draws a ball, they call the letter with it, "B-7" or "O-72", so you know at once which column to look in.
That is why American bingo balls carry a letter as well as a number, as in the photograph above. It is the same idea as the column ranges on a British ticket, but spoken aloud with every call. American callers have no tradition of nicknames like "two little ducks"; the letter does the job of making each number unmistakable.
The 75 ball bingo rules
How to play 75 ball bingo, in short: before each game the caller names the pattern that will win it. Numbers are drawn at random from 1 to 75 and called with their letter. You mark any that are on your card, and the free square is always marked. The first player to complete the announced pattern calls "Bingo!" The card is checked against the numbers drawn, and if it is right, that player wins. If two players complete the pattern on the same number, the prize is normally split.
A 75-ball game usually has a single winner rather than three prize stages, although sessions often run several games in a row with different patterns, and some games have a second prize for a blackout. The rules for exactly what counts, for instance whether the free square may be part of a four corners pattern (it cannot, since it is not a corner), are stated before the game.
Bingo patterns: how pattern wins work
Bingo patterns are the heart of the 75-ball game. The caller can choose any shape on the 5x5 card, and in a long session they will change it every game. Some common patterns:
- Single line. Any complete row, column or diagonal. The easiest and quickest pattern.
- Four corners. Only the four corner squares. Quick, and popular as a warm-up game.
- X. Both diagonals, crossing at the free square, so nine squares are needed but only eight numbers.
- Postage stamp. A two by two block in any corner of the card.
- Letters and pictures. Shapes such as a T, an L, a picture frame round the edge, or a kite.
- Blackout. Every square on the card, also called a coverall. The longest game, usually with the largest prize.
The more squares a pattern needs, the more numbers must be called before anyone wins it. A four corners game can end in a handful of calls; a blackout typically goes into the fifties or sixties of 75. Some patterns are "any position", meaning the shape can sit anywhere on the card, which makes them easier. The caller should always say which.
75-ball against 90-ball
If you learned the game in Britain, the differences are easy to list. This table compares the two games themselves, not any place to play them:
| Feature | 90-ball (UK) | 75-ball (US) |
|---|---|---|
| Numbers | 1 to 90 | 1 to 75 |
| Card | 3 rows × 9 columns | 5 × 5 square |
| Numbers per card | 15, with 12 blanks | 24, plus a free square |
| Columns | Ranged by tens | Lettered B-I-N-G-O, 15 each |
| How to win | Line, two lines, full house | A pattern named before the game |
| Prizes per game | Three | Usually one |
| How numbers are called | With a traditional nickname | With the column letter |
| What you shout | "House!" or "Yes!" | "Bingo!" |
Neither game is harder, but they reward different habits. In 90-ball you watch rows; in 75-ball you watch the shape. British players who try 75-ball often forget that a column or diagonal counts in a line game, and American players in a UK hall are often surprised that a single game pays three times. The full UK rules are on our 90 ball bingo page.
80-ball, 30-ball and other variants
Two further variants appear mainly in online rooms. 80-ball uses a four by four card of sixteen numbers, usually with each column in its own colour, and pays for patterns such as a line, the four corners or the full card. 30-ball, also sold as speed bingo, uses a three by three grid of nine numbers and pays only for a full card, so games take a minute or two. Both are recent inventions compared with 75 and 90-ball, and you will rarely find them in a hall.
In the 75-ball tradition itself, American church and community halls have long played variants such as "crazy" patterns, which may sit in any rotation, and progressive jackpots for a blackout within a set number of calls. If you are hosting a game at home, our party bingo page uses 5x5 cards for picture and word games, which is where most British players first meet the square card. To print proper 75-ball cards, with B 1–15 through O 61–75 and a FREE centre, use our bingo card generator, which also calls B-I-N-G-O on screen.