The game of Bingo is not the same everywhere in the world. The two basic games are 75 ball bingo and 90 ball bingo. Seventy five ball bingo is usually played in the United States and Canada. Ninety ball bingo is generally played in the United Kingdom and Australia.
90 Ball Bingo
Ninety Ball Bingo also called "Housey" in the UK and "Housie" in New Zealand and Australia, is played with a ticket of 27 squares arranged in 3 rows and 9 columns. Each row always contains 5 numbers and 4 blank spaces. The columns contain 1, 2 or 3 numbers. The winning patterns are as follows:
Line - A horizontal line on any row covering 5 numbers on the ticket
Two lines - A horizontal line on any 2 rows of the ticket
Full house - All 15 numbers are covered on the ticket
Usually a line game is played first, followed by a two line game, followed by a full house. In 90 ball bingo the caller has a special phrase or word to describe all 90 numbers. See examples below:
11 = leg eleven
19 = good-by teens
32 = buckle my shoe
90 = top of the shop
75 Ball Bingo
The bingo card contains 25 squares arranged in 5 rows and 5 columns. Twenty four of these spaces contain a number with the exception of the center square which contains the text, FREE SPACE. This center square is pre-marked. At the top of the grid is the word BINGO with each letter over a column. The caller calls out numbers by saying "B15", "N38", "G42" etc.
Winning patterns - There are many winning patterns only limited to your imagination. Some common patterns are a vertical or horizontal line, four corners, an X, a cross, every space covered, a letter or number.
Method of play - Games often have multiple bingos, for example a full line, and the game continues until a full card is called.