Bingo in the United Kingdom (UK)

(Casinos Guides)

Affectionately known as 'Housey Housey', the UK version of bingo is similar to that played in America, with the main differences being the actual cards, the way that the numbers are called, and the total number of balls used - 90 rather than 75. Each UK ticket contains a total of 27 spaces, spread over three rows, with five numbers in each row.

Although the UK is home to many modern bingo halls, with excellent facilities, other popular venues include church halls, sports clubs and schools, where books of 'tickets' are sold upon arrival. As the game begins, the caller announces what the prizes are for that particular game, before beginning to call out each of the random numbers.

Online: Bingo in the United Kingdom (UK)

When the numbers are called, players look at their cards to see if any numbers match, and then cross them off with their large marker pens ('daubers' or 'dabbers'). When the relevant combinations of numbers have been matched, players call out to notify the caller of their win, often shouting 'House', 'Housey', 'Bingo' or simply 'Yes - I've won!'

The winning bingo combinations for UK games are:

• Line - where all five numbers on any given horizontal line have been correctly matched
• Two Lines - where all ten numbers on any two horizontal lines have all been correctly matched
• Full House - where all 15 numbers on the playing ticket / card have been matched and marked

Larger bingo clubs and halls in the UK now use an 'auto-validation' system, where staff are able to quickly check winning cards without the need to read each of the numbers out. This saves time and means that more games can be played at any given time.