A Beginners Guide to Bingo

Online Bingo, where to start

So you want to play some bingo online but you don’t know where and how to start, the answer is here. Spend a few minutes reading our guide and you’ll feel like you know what to look for and how to proceed.

Picking a bingo site

When it comes to actually choosing a site, there are many ways you can decide, familiarity, recommendation or bonus offers. You could visit names you are familiar with like Gala bingo, Ladbrokes bingo or bingo sites that advertise on the TV. If you have friends who already play online bingo then you could visit their favourite sites, they will usually get some bonus points for this too and you can ask them what games they’re playing and what they recommend.

If you’ve no friends playing already you could visit a bingo forum where players go to have a chat and discuss where they’ve been playing. Forums will also usually have a news pages or bulletins to let you know what bingo sites are offering the best bonuses and promotions so you can play for free and make the most of your money.

Playing for free & bonuses

A great way to try before you buy is to go to a site that gives you free money to start playing with, this is called a ”˜no deposit bonus’ you won’t need to deposit any money to start paying as your bonus will be added to your account once you have filled in the registration details. You may be asked for debit/credit card details to prevent you opening multiple accounts, but no money will be taken from you unless you request it. We have a selection of No Deposit Bingo Bonuses on this site you can use for starters.

Bingo sites then offer other initial deposit bonuses which are either a percentage or a given sum. If you are planning to make a large initial deposit then a percentage bonus is probably best for you (£100 deposit with 100% bonus will give you a total of £200 in your account) but if you intend to make a small deposit then a free money bonus will be better for you (if they are offering £100 free money this is the same if you deposit £20 or £200). After your initial deposit there may also be subsequent deposit bonuses, so you can always get more for your money.

Understanding Bingo bonuses is essential to all bingo players, be sure that you understand what the Bingo site requires of you when you accept or claim your bonus. You rarely get something for nothing and the terms and conditions of the bonuses mean you will have to bet a given amount before you can withdraw any winnings, this is called a wager requirement or play through. For example a 100% deposit bonus that has a 5x wager requirement of your bonus, means that if you make an initial deposit of £100 then you would need to wager £500 before you could touch any of your winnings. If the terms and conditions require a 5x play through on both your deposit and bonus then you’d have to wager £1000 before you could withdraw anything. As long as you understand what you are agreeing to then bonuses are a great way to increase you account balance, which in the end means more money to buy more bingo tickets, for more fun and more prizes!

Types of games

There are several types of bingo games and many variations of the game but the basic concept remains the same. On-line bingo sites are constantly thinking of new and novel approaches to the games but the rules and ways to play remain the same.

There are two major bingo games, 90 ball bingo and 75 ball bingo, but also some less variations lie 30 ball speed bingo. All sites will have rules and tips for you to play so don’t be scared to try anything new. Remember if they are offering a no deposit bingo bonus you could go and check out a new type of game for free!

You have three chances to win with 90 ball bingo, the first to match 1 line, the first to match two lines and then the first to match all three lines, known as a full house, it’s the full house that wins the jackpot. 90 ball bingo is most common in the UK and Europe has a strip of 6 cards (each card has 27 squares) and the numbers range from one to ninety. There are blank squares on the cards, which are considered already marked.

75 Ball bingo is more popular in the US but is sometimes called pattern bingo or coverall or blackout bingo depending on what is required to win. There are less squares in the grid of 75 ball bingo, 5 rows of 5 so only 25 in total. The games tend to be faster than the 90 ball bingo as there are fewer balls, so some people think it more exciting. The main difference is that in 75 ball bingo you mark off a pattern instead of just horizontal lines, which is why it’s called pattern bingo. The patterns to play for vary from a man to a letter or number. Some 75 ball games need all the squares to be marked off to win which is why those games are known as blackout or coverall bingo.

Payment Methods

There are loads of ways to pay for your bingo tickets, the most common being credit and debit cards. These methods are self explanatory and are like paying for anything else on line. However when it comes to withdrawing money most online gambling sites are not allowed to pay your winnings onto a credit card. They will usually like to pay your winnings to the method you paid them with, however they all have customer service staff waiting to help you through your deposits and withdrawals so if you’ve problems give them a call, it’s usually a free phone number too!

If you are concerned about online fraud and giving out your card details online then you could open an account with companies like Paypal, Neteller or Firepay. Once you have opened an account, funded directly from your bank account or debit card, you can use that account to buy your bingo tickets, or do any other online shopping, with the knowledge your financial details are being protected. Most bingo sites will have the icons of the payment methods they accept at the bottom of their home page so you can see what your payment options are.

There is a way to fund your account if you don’t have any bank cards, with Ukash. Ukash converts your cash into online spending by giving you a 19 digit pin number. You take your cash to any one of thousands of outlets (inc. post offices and garages) displaying a PayPoint, payzone or e-pay sign and they’ll give you a Ukash pin number. You then use your Ukash number to pay for your online bingo tickets (or anything else you want to buy online!). Ukash is instant and you can even get change if you spend less than your Ukash value, it means you can not spend more than you handed over at the counter so you are in complete control of your money.