There are many great options for playing online bingo in the UK. To help you navigate these options, and the world of bingo in general, we’ve created the ultimate guide.
Sometimes called Housey, Bingo is a popular game of chance where players match numbers on their card with the ones a caller draws randomly. The cash or any other prize on the table goes to the first person to complete the required pattern and shout "Bingo." Each gaming session may have varied patterns to keep things exciting and engaging.
Although bingo can be traced back centuries ago, the first online bingo site - Bingo Zone - was not launched until 1996, during the dot com boom. This US-based site is still operational today alongside many other betting sites and online casinos with excellent bingo offerings.
Online bingo works much like land-based bingo with a few extras. For one, you can play it anytime, 24/7. This review covers the top 10 bingo sites in the UK, the best bingo software providers, where to get the highest payouts, and how we rank. We will also give you a beginner's guide to online bingo, tackling the game types, rules, and variations.
Betfred is a sports bookie/casino with over 50 years in the industry. Its bingo section was launched in 2006. The site has a fresh, modern look with a simplistic design that is easy to navigate.
You will find an extensive collection of British and US-style games. The ticket is priced starting from a low of 1p to 50p, while the prize pools are about £30, but some go upwards of £200.
Paddy Power is a betting site that launched in 1988 and introduced a bingo section in 2006, which went on to win the WhichBingo Award for Socially Responsible Operator in 2020. The bingo section has an entirely different feel from the Irish-themed green sports section. It offers a great overall impression, high loading speed, and varied game selection. Other features include:
Brought to you by UK famous betting brand Betfair (since 1999), Betfair bingo was launched in 2013, adding to the list of other popular fusion names. Betfair is the world's biggest betting exchange, so its bingo offering enjoys a massive community of bingo lovers. It has numerous varieties, although their most loved offering is Deal or No Deal.
Bet365 went online in 2000, although the bingo section was not introduced until 2008. It matches the sportsbook well, offering exciting promotions and a reasonably wide game selection from high-tech software providers. Tickets start at 5p-50p while the prize pools begin at £5, upwards of £200. Here's what to expect:
Famous for its iconic TV ad campaigns, Foxy Bingo has served online bingo lovers for over 15 years. The site is now part of Bwin.party Digital Entertainment. It features a good looking site that makes you want to sign up. They recently revamped and added several interesting new promotions for new and existing customers. Tickets start at 25p. You can expect:
This platform is the official casino and bingo site of the UK-based radio station Heart Radio. They launched the present new version of the site in September 2021. It features fantastic bingo rooms provided by Pragmatic Play alongside active chat rooms and promotions, including a newbies room with attractive prizes. Other offerings are:
Another one from the media industry, Sun Bingo, is owned by News Group NeWspaper Ltd, who also run The Sun, a best-seller tabloid newspaper from the UK. You might have seen its unique all-singing, all-dancing TV ads, some featuring comedian Jayde Adams and the catchphrase "are you gonna bingo?" The site was launched in 2007. It features plenty of live bingo rooms with support for chats in addition to slots and other casino games. Here are its defining features:
William Hill is a popular name in the sports betting industry, known for quality gambling services and excellent customer service. It has been operational since 2007 and comes with a colourful, easy to use interface. There is a seemingly endless array of rooms. When you want to try other gambling options, William Hill conveniently lets you access all of their offerings from a single account. Tickets go from 1p to 50p, while the prize pools average between £10 and £1,250. Other features include:
The triple 888 brand is recognisable across the UK, even by non-punters. 888 Holdings run 888 Bingo under its operating arm Cassava Ltd. You cannot access the other 888 products from their bingo site, and you can only choose between 75-ball and 90-ball variants. Other than that, you get easy navigation, plenty of rooms, and a plethora of interesting bingo games such as High-5 (75), Roller Coaster (75), Sunny '90s, Late Night show (90), and more.
This 14-year old bingo site is part of 888 Holdings, which have done a great job, as is the case in the rest of their products. Wink Bingo has won the WhichBingo Awards five times, voted for by real bingo players. You can expect:
We determine the best bingo sites depending on who checks the most boxes in our list of factors that matter to a punter, including:
The security of your prefered bingo site should come first, or you risk losing your money in addition to personal details. Every platform on our list employs standard SSL encryption technology that matches banks' security levels.
Licensing shows how trustworthy a bingo site may be. Authorities such as the UK gambling commission have extensive security, privacy, and other compliance requirements that these platforms must meet before they are licensed.
The last thing you want is to get stuck with a difficult to navigate website. You should find your way around easily, right from signing up and depositing to playing and withdrawing money. Accessing customer support shouldn't be rocket science either. Also, colour themes that are exhausting to the eye or unattractive are a turnoff.
Even if you are a really big fan of, say 90-ball or 80-ball, you will always want to break the monotony occasionally. It helps if your online bingo platform has a vast list of offerings for you to choose from. This also gives you more opportunities to find game terms and prizes to your liking.
Bingo is supposed to be one of the most fun games you can play, whether in the halls or online. A great bingo site should have an active community with interesting chat functions that keep you engaged while playing. You should also be allowed to hang out in the chat rooms even when you don't want to play.
There are hundreds of bingo sites out there, and they all compete to give bingo lovers the best offers and promotions. You shouldn't settle for any less. It should start with a nice welcome offer followed by free rooms for new players to learn about bingo. There should also be daily, weekly, and monthly promos to keep things exciting for existing customers. We are talking about cheaper tickets, free tickets, jackpots, and so on.
There are dozens of ways to pay online. You want a site that gives you many channels for depositing and withdrawing. Variety increases the chances of having your current transfer method featured, so you don't have to sign up for another payment method in addition to the bingo site. It also gives you more flexibility if you feel the need to switch wallets in the future.
A mobile-optimised site is great because it offers you the same experience using your PC or mobile device. However, an app is even better. It always comes with additional features such as reminders for when your favourite game is about to start. You will also find promotions exclusive to mobile betting apps, among other things.
Any bingo site worth its salt should be committed to providing its customers with excellent services. This includes round the clock, responsive customer support, so you can have issues and clarifications addressed fast.
Live chat is a must. Email and telephone are pretty standard, and so is a social media account. Social media accounts especially help build an active community where you can stay connected to other bingo lovers, share tips, and talk about recurring issues.
There are at least 80 bingo software providers. However, only a handful repeatedly appear across many bingo sites. These are providers who are characterised by:
The software provider should also be consistent. You don't want to go with a company that may close down any time and leave the betting site unsupported. For instance, Microgaming was once popular but retired and left brands such as Butlers Bingo stranded. Jumpman Gaming was always great, too, but adopted Pragmatic Play's bingo suite and abandoned its in-house bingo solution.
We have identified three bingo software providers that you would be safe using based on the above considerations.
Often used interchangeably with Virtue Fusion, Playtech was launched in 1999 before it acquired Virtue Fusion in 2010. It has since grown into a global brand that powers bingo and sportsbooks in addition to other casino offerings such as poker. Their bingo product often has at least 8 bingo variants and 13-20 rooms.
Many established bingo brands use Playtech software, including:
Several land-based bingo halls use Paytech's software to host their online sites as well, including Mecca Bingo and Gala Bingo.
Pragmatic Play is one of the newer entries into the bingo and casino software sphere. They only started in 2015 but have perfected the art fast enough to become one of the leading bingo software providers. They also have over 100 other products, including table games and slots.
Their bingo product has the usual bingo variants such as 90-, 80-, 75-, 50-, and 30-ball in addition to other unique types such as Bingo Blast. You will find Pragmatic Play's bingo games on popular sites like:
Founded in 2007, Dragonfish is part of 888 Holdings. It deals in online gaming services. The company opened up its bingo product to third-party operators in 2009. It provides reliable, user-friendly, and action-packed bingo games covering 75-ball, 90-ball, and more variations. They boast over 140 partnerships with bingo brands, including some of the biggest names such as:
Four main things characterise bingo sites that have the highest payouts:
Here are the Average RTPs of Popular Bingo Games:
Bingo in the UK was especially popular in the 1950s and has not changed much ever since. Online bingo and land-based bingo are played by crossing off numbers on the ticket you have as they are called out.
If you hear names like 90-ball or 80-ball, that's because of how things were done in the past. The bingo caller would receive balls with numbers printed on them before calling out. The numbers to be called out are still called a ball, although some bingo games use cards.
The numbers on your ticket are determined by the type of bingo game you will be playing. All you have to do to win is cross off the required numbers and shout "bingo" before anyone else, then your ticket will be verified. However, you don't have to do much in online bingo because the computer does most of your work.
Your bingo ticket will typically have 27 spaces made out of nine columns and three rows. You may have more than one card to increase your chances of winning. Each game or room may present different factors determining the winning pattern. The most obvious one is when you must mark off five numbers in a single line. Then the game will continue, and the next win will have to feature 10 numbers in two lines.
The winning pattern may also be a completely covered card (blackout), a pyramid pattern, bench chair, triangle, or crossed lollipops. You could win money if there is a special prize for getting any of these patterns.
A computer program in online bingo has replaced the caller's position. Also, An electronic random number generator (RNG) ensures that the numbers are random and called out fairly. It is also defined by:
There are various types of bingo characterised by each ticket's numbers and how many numbers can be called out. Among the most played bingo variants to know are:
Each ticket has 15 numbers arranged in a 9 by 3 grid. The winning rules may involve:
Like 90-ball, each ticket has five rows and five columns, and each column has a letter, all of which spell out BINGO. Each column has numbers in sets of 15. The "B" has 1-15, "I" has 16-30, etc. there is also a special space at the card's centre that is left free and counted as already covered.
You may win 75-ball in the following ways:
This variant is relatively new compared to 90-ball and 75-ball but has won the hearts of many bingo lovers. It has 16 numbers arranged into four columns and four rows. Each column is allocated a different colour.
The winning rules in 80-ball include:
Steven is responsible for all content on BettingGuide UK. He is an experienced iGaming content writer that has been working in the industry since 2018. If you have any questions regarding online gambling in the UK, don't hesitate to contact him.