80 Ball Bingo

How To Play 80 Ball Bingo?

80-ball bingo is traditionally played in the UK bingo halls as a side game between the main 90-ball bingo sessions. It’s also known as ‘shutterboard bingo’ because it was often found at UK seaside tourist attractions, with tickets built into the table with shutters that you move across to cover the numbers, rather than dabbing with a pen.

It is usually a low stakes, quick-fire game. However, online the game can command decent sized prizes, depending on where you choose to play. Not every site has 80-ball, but it can usually be found on Playtech and Pragmatic Play sites.

Tickets

Depending on where you play, the tickets may be designed to look like the table game or the shutterboard game found at the seaside. However, all will consist of a 4×4 grid and usually, they’ll have each column a different colour (traditionally red, yellow, blue and white).

1st column (red) = Numbers 1-20.
2nd column (yellow) = Numbers 21-40.
3rd column (blue) = Numbers 41-60.
4th column (white) = Numbers 61-80.

Tombola’s Bingo80 tickets take inspiration from Shutterboard bingo

Different Types Of 80 Ball Games

There are a few different ways you can play 80-ball bingo, and often the rules will switch around after each game.

Line & House

One of the most common variations of 80 ball is ‘line & house’. It may be called different things at different sites, but essentially you play first for any line of 4 across, and then when that is won you play for a full house.

All 4 Columns

In this variation there are four individual prizes for the players who are the first to dab one column, then two columns, then three and finally four (full house). Again, this is a very common variant you’ll find across the Playtech sites.

Corners Only

This is when the only numbers that matter are the four corners of your ticket. Dabbing anywhere else does not count and the winner is the first player to dab all their corner numbers.

Sometimes this variant may be combined with a full house game, so after corners have been won there is a chance for a secondary prize for winning a full house.

Full House Only

As the name suggests, this is where the game plays directly for a full house, meaning you must be the first to mark all your numbers on any one ticket to win.

Outbox / Inbox

I played this variation over at Foxy Bingo in their 80 Matey room. The game is played first for the 12 numbers around the outside of the card, so you have to imagine a box going around the outside numbers.

If any of the four numbers in the middle were dabbed, they did not count towards claiming bingo. Only when the ‘outbox’ had been won, did the game then move on to a full house game for the second part of the prize.

It is also possible to play this game in reverse, with only the four numbers in the middle of the card (Inbox) counting towards bingo.

In Outbox, only the 12 numbers around the edge count towards bingo

How To Win At 80 Ball Bingo

Just like every bingo game, it is down to luck at the end of the day. Maxing out on tickets gives you technically the biggest chance of winning, but there are no guarantees as other players may also have maxed out.

My advice is to always enjoy the games and spend what you can afford to lose. Bingo should be entertainment, not a way to earn money so if you approach it in this way you can’t go wrong.

80 Ball Bingo Variants

The only variant on 80 ball I can think of is the latest exclusive from Buzz Bingo, called The Voice UK Bingo. This uses an 80-ball bingo game with an extra feature based on the judge’s chairs that swivel around on the TV show.

Where Can I Play 80 Ball Bingo?

You can find 80 ball bingo games in the following sites & rooms:

Buzz Bingo: The Voice UK Bingo
Coral Bingo: Level 80
Foxy Bingo: 80 Matey
Ladbrokes Bingo: The Library
Gala Bingo: 1980
Heart Bingo: Session Bingo
Jackpotjoy: Session Bingo
Sky Bingo: Sky 80 & Bingo 80
Mecca Bingo: Cashline
Paddy Power Bingo: Silver Room
PlayOJO Bingo: Disco

Where To Play

80 ball bingo can be played at the following bingo sites: