Bingo

Play Bingo Games at Umbingo

There is no better place to play bingo than at Umbingo, where all your favourite games can be found alongside so many new things to discover. Umbingo is a site designed with the consumer in mind, from the moment you sign up for the first time everything is quick and easy to navigate. It couldn’t be easier to find a bingo game that is perfect for you, while being safe in the knowledge that there are always a bunch of other games waiting should they take your fancy. Umbingo offers an unbeatable selection of exciting bingo options alongside all the top-rated online slot games that have been developed by the likes of NetEnt and Microgaming in recent years.

Bingo Game Sites – Why Play at Umbingo?

Bingo sites have, happily, brought popularity back to bingo in the modern age. The last decade has seen a huge surge of older and younger players alike flocking to bingo sites to have a go at one of the nation’s favourite classics. Bingo sites available online have managed to recreate the excitement of bingo by bringing players together in online rooms where they are able to chat to each other while vying for the same prizes. So, why choose Umbingo?

Umbingo recognises that when you are spending your well-earned free time playing some bingo games, it’s important to be using an attractive bingo sites. That’s why Umbingo prides itself on its clean and slick appearance, with a bright colour scheme which reflects the fun and games on offer. Alongside a vast selection of online slots, Umbingo offers a selection of bingo variations which is unbeatable across other bingo sites. There is something here for traditional bingo hall players and younger generations alike. You can even see handy information such as when the next game is for each bingo game, how many players are currently playing, and what the total cash prize is, right from the main menu. Another reason to play at Umbingo is the variety of exciting trophies and promotions available for players, including a generous cashback boost.

Bingo sites have an important job of recreating the magic of those traditional bingo halls, where the atmosphere is lively and cries of ‘Bingo!’ reverberate around the room with resulting cheers and groans. That’s why it is important for new bingo sites such as Umbingo to offer chat services for players while they are playing bingo. At Umbingo, there is an impressive selection of different bingo rooms for experienced to newbie players, each one offering a lively chat service where players can have friendly conversation and banter reminiscent of the glorious bingo hall days. The player chat rooms at Umbingo are full of jokes and laughter, as well as plenty of niche bingo lingo, but more on that below!

How to Play Bingo Games

Bingo has a number of variations which we will cover in greater depth later (or you can view through our ‘how to play bingo' full guide), but the fundamental things any budding bingo player needs to know are largely consistent across all bingo formats. After all, it is a simple game designed to be easy and fun! Essentially, bingo players keep their eyes peeled on their numbers and listen for number calls from the bingo caller. If you have a number that is called, you mark it off until you have a winning combination – then you can shout ‘Bingo!’ and collect your prize money.

Learn the Essential Bingo Games Calls

Bingo calls are the very essence of the game (we could write bingo books about this topic), with the bingo caller leading the show. Bingo calls in bingo halls are the hilarious rhymes which are used alongside the numbers as they are called out to the audience. The rhymes typically use cockney rhyming slang or just anything that rhymes with a particular number. In 2003, Butlin’s introduced some new bingo calls to spice up the traditional sayings.

Bingo Calls that Rhyme

2 – Me and you

4 – Knock and the door

62 – Tickety-boo

Bingo Calls with Cockney Rhyming Slang

28 – In a state

30 – Dirty Gertie

38 – Christmas cake

Bingo Calls with descriptive Nicknames

1 – Kelly’s Eye (A military slang pun which is potentially a reference to Australian bushranger Ned Kelly).

17 – Dancing Queen (That hit from ABBA we all know and love).

26 – A to Z (A reference to the number of letters in the alphabet).

We implore you to keep these conventional bingo calls alive – use your favourites in the live chat and remind your fellow players of some of the classics! There are many more bingo calls to mention, as we said we could even write a bingo book on this, but you can learn more on that through our blog!

The Bingo Game Lingo

In addition to traditional cockney rhyming slang bingo calls which give the game such hilarity, best online bingo has developed its own bingo lingo which is just as prevalent amongst players. There are numerous acronyms of phrases used in the chat rooms of bingo games that players use to communicate with each other and keep the community spirit alive. After all, socialising is a massive part of bingo! Modern bingo lingo has a lot of crossover with classic online speak, with some bingo-related terms thrown in. Some examples you may come across while having a flutter at Umbingo include:

1TG: One to go! This is a traditional phrase that builds a bit of energy around the room by informing your fellow players that you are just one number away from shouting ‘Bingo!’

GL: Good luck! A bit of sportsmanship never goes amiss, so it is always nice to wish your fellow players good luck for the game ahead, after all, someone could be walking away with some life-changing money!

BRB: A classic bingo lingo term and further afield across the web. Let your friends know you will ‘be right back’ if you have to nip off to get something during the game!

Bingo Cards

Bingo cards are what you use to play the game and reach bingo! At the start of the game you will have the choice of how many bingo cards to buy for a particular price. In some bingo rooms, prices start from as low as a penny. Of course, if you are vying for a high-stakes game there is plenty of option when it comes to bingo cards at Umbingo with big money up for grabs in some rooms.

US versions of bingo, such as 75 Ball Bingo, use a 5x5 bingo cards with numbers in every square. That is, apart from the free space square in the middle, often indicated with a star. Online slots fans with love this square, as it indicates a ‘wild’ which can serve as part of a winning combination. As numbers are called out they will be marked off players’ bingo cards until eventually somebody has a winning pattern and a winner is crowned. A newer variant of the game, 80 Ball Bingo, uses a 4x4 bingo card with a similar layout to the 75 Ball format.

Bingo Numbers Across the Different Variants

Bingo numbers can vary with some games using 75, 80 or 90 numbers. Traditionally, in the , with your eyes down and ears peeled, you would be listening out for the bingo numbers, ranging from 1-90 to quickly mark them off. Playing bingo online is a little simpler, thanks to the auto-daub feature at Umbingo. The auto-daub feature allows you to sit back and relax while the game marks off your bingo numbers for you as they are called. This takes out the stressful element of not being sure if you have missed one of your numbers, and the even more tragic case of the dreaded incorrect bingo call!

As for correct bingo number calls, while some variants of the game involve forming certain patterns on the bingo card, there are three traditional stages to winning the game. First of all, players will be searching for a full line across a row crossed off, followed by two lines, and lastly a full house. At the full house stage, your ticket will have all the bingo numbers crossed off and you will be the recipient of the largest jackpot. Find more here about the most famous bingo numbers in the !

Bingo Tickets for Each Game

Bingo tickets is the term used for bingo cards in the . In the traditional 90 Ball Bingo game, bingo tickets are a 9x3 grid with five numbers on each row. The numbers by column, with numbers in the teens in the second column, numbers in the twenties in the third column, and so on. Traditionally bingo tickets are organised in strips of six tickets, as this means that for every strip all 90 balls are covered. If you fancy giving yourself the best chance of winning, one way to do that is to buy a whole strip of six tickets to play with in a single game. Choose bingo tickets with a value you are comfortable with, with prices starting from as low as 1p at Umbingo.

A common occurrence of the traditional bingo hall is a potential winner going up to the front to have their bingo tickets checked only to be told that they have incorrectly checked off a number which was never called! Online bingo will offer some relief for players with a hyperactive trigger finger, as the auto-daub feature can take care of the checking off for you.

Bingo Balls

The number of bingo balls vary across different versions of the game, with 75, 80 and 90 being the most common quantities of balls the calls are drawn from. Of course, physical bingo balls would be used in the bingo halls of old, with them being spun around a cage and randomly picked up by the bingo caller before being announced. Home versions of the game often used a bag of tokens with the numbers written on which an elected bingo caller would draw from. Bingo balls in online bingo today simply flash up on screen, using a random number generator to determine which bingo number is called. A handy benefit of bingo in online bingo sites is that the three previous bingo balls that were called are shown below, helping you to keep track!

Bingo Games Variations available at Umbingo

Bingo variations all follow the conventional gameplay of patiently waiting for your numbers to be called, counting down the numbers to go and praying no one gets bingo before you. However, as bingo is a game that has existed in so many different countries for so long, some variations have emerged along the way, and remain ever-present across the bingo sites today.

90 Ball Bingo

90 Ball Bingo is the traditional game known to players. This bingo game uses the largest quantity of balls out of the conventional bingo game formats. 90 Ball Bingo tickets use a 9x3 grid with 5 numbers on each row and each column is organised in 10s, 20s, 30s, etc. This is the iconic bingo ticket format – one look at it and you will be thinking of your gran who loved the search for two little ducks and legs eleven. As for winning the game, the traditional methods apply. You are first looking for one full line of numbers marked off, then two lines, followed by a full house, which offers the largest jackpot and the most prestigious of bragging rights.

A variant of 90 Ball Bingo is Bingo Millions 90-Ball Instant. This game offers an enthralling sliding jackpot, which grows as the game progresses. This really brings the anticipation to boiling point, as the tension grows the longer the game goes on knowing that that jackpot is increasing as you wait to find a winner.

80 Ball Bingo

80 Ball Bingo is a bingo game which may look a tad unfamiliar at first for the conventional bingo player. We can assure you though, this version has a lot to offer! 80 Ball Bingo uses, you guessed it, 80 balls, and a 4x4 ticket full of numbers waiting to be chalked off. In this bingo game you are looking for single lines and columns, which is fairly conventional. However, in some versions, rather than hunting for a full house to conclude the game, players may win by being the first to land a particular pattern on the bingo card.

Umbingo has so many variations for 80 Ball Bingo – each one comes with different themes and jackpots every day.

75 Ball Bingo

75 Ball Bingo is the bingo game most recognisable to players from the United States. Although for players bingo may feel like a very traditional, it is after all a global game which has had time to evolve whilst growing in popularity in different regions.

75 Ball Bingo is generally played on one ticket at a time, rather than using lots of tickets on a strip at once. The cards have numbers on a 5x5 grid, usually with a ‘wild’ in the middle to mix things up. This wild is often signified with a star symbol and can be used in any winning combination. This is an example of how 75 Ball Bingo mixes things up a little more than the 90 Ball, as the winning combinations can be a variety of patterns across the card. You will be able to view the different patterns that you are trying to complete from within the game, so it is easy to keep track of what you are looking for and how close you are to shouting Bingo!

A bit on the History of this Gambling Game

Bingo is a centuries-old game with a rich history. Having originated in a semi-recognisable format in Italy in the 16^th century, it was not until the 1920s when the game of bingo was patented in the for the first time. The name ‘bingo’ is said to have originated from the British Customs Office, with the word being cried following a successful search. Yelling ‘Bingo!’ upon your victory is of course a massive part of what makes the game so fun and lively; we largely owe this to entrepreneur Hugh J. Ward who adopted the term while promoting the game of bingo at local carnivals in the ‘20s. 

Bingo in the Modern Era

This kickstarted bingo’s increasing popularity throughout the 20^th century, culminating in such success in the 1960s that more people were attending bingo halls each week than they were top-flight English football matches. In addition to British society reaching an affluent point following the Second World War, the game’s popularity surged in this period thanks to the Betting and Gaming Act of 1961 which allowed bingo to legally develop on a widespread, commercial level. As a result, a whopping 14 million Brits had registered with a bingo hall, with 150,000 on average visiting for a flutter every single day.

Bingo halls topped numbers of 1,600 across the by the 1980s, with bingo also taking the rest of the world by storm. Of course, though bingo halls still exist throughout the , they do not hold the same popularity and cultural significance that they did during the peak years. You may be wondering, why is this the case? The decline of people going along to bingo halls across the began in the 1990s, with numbers of regular punters plummeting by 90% by 1999. Reasons for the decline include competition from the National Lottery, along with the smoking ban and decline in domestic tourism to seaside towns, which were hotspots for bingo. There are reasons to be cheerful however, as the online casino sphere has brought about a resurgence of the legendary game called Bingo!

Bingo Games Offers and Promotions at Umbingo

Umbingo is the place to be for exciting bingo offers. At Umbingo, it is recognised that just as important as a smooth signing up process is the prospect of an invitational offer to get the bingo balls rolling. That’s why the Newbies Cashback Boost is there to give you a head start when it comes to building some serious cash prizes. At Umbingo, the generous cashback system returns players with cashback every single day based on the amount they have deposited. For Loyal players this is 1% of lost amounts and for Legend status a whopping 10%. With the Newbies Cashback Boost promotional offer you will be jumped straight up to 1% before you have even played a game! This is active right from sign up and will offer that extra little excitement each time you play bingo (Full Ts & Apply).

The bingo offers keep on coming with the wider welcome offer which is also available to every single new player that signs up with Umbingo, what a way to get started! With this offer, once you have completed sign up and first $10 deposit, you are given an unconditional spin of the Mega Wheel, home to a bunch of great prizes. One potential prize on the Mega Wheel is an eye-watering 500 free spins to be enjoyed on the most popular slot games at Umbingo (Full Ts & Apply). What’s more, Umbingo always ensures that your free spins can be used on the most highly rated of games, affording you a vast amount of choice of where to enjoy your prize and (potentially) start making some wins.

No deposit bingo is not available at Umbingo anymore, although there are bingo games available that can be played by just $10! 

Bingo promotions don’t stop there, as currently at Umbingo you can play in The NHS Bingo Room. Umbingo recognises that this is a critical time for the NHS, which is why in this room all profits are donated to the Feed NHS charity. With this option it is great to know that whilst having a good time and making some winnings you are also contributing to donations every time you buy a bingo ticket in this room.

Umbingo will continue to keep the rich tradition of bingo alive, while being the first to adopt exciting new variations on this classic game. Come along to Umbingo today and experience some of these exciting bingo promotions and put your bingo lingo to good use, what are you waiting for?

*NEW PLAYERS ONLY, MIN DEPOSIT $10, $8 MAX WIN PER 10 SPINS, MAX BONUS EQUAL TO LIFETIME DEPOSITS (UP TO $250), 65X WAGERING REQUIREMENTS AND FULL T&CS APPLY.