G’day Cobber! How yer doing matey? Orright??  I’m Bruce and I want to tell you about a game we play down under.   It’s called “Dingo”. No only joking Pommies, it’s Bingo really, and the Sheilas love it!

But as you may expect with us Antipodeans, we play it slightly different from you in the States and in the Home Country!

A few years ago, nobody could imagine that a game which started as a pastime in local community halls would become such a rage worldwide. Over time, bingo has evolved into several forms and variations beginning right from 75 ball bingo to 90 ball bingo and the contemporary 80 ball bingo. Not only bingo is played with different number of balls, but is also known by different names in different parts of world.

Yep, it’s true Cobbers. It’s called Loteria in Mexico, and goes down a treat with the peons as they much their Fajitas and drink their Tequila. Here in the Land Down-Under (Australia- strewth I thought everone knew that!) it’s called  Housie.

Housie is the Australian adaptation for the much popular 90 ball Bingo and is quite different form American style 75 ball bingo. Unlike Americans and Brits, who play bingo on cards, Australians buy tickets in the form of books. For those who intend to play just for a session or two usually buy a strip of six bingo tickets, popularly known as flyers. Yes, I know flyers are what you get given when in the queue to go in for a music gig, advertising other gigs, but bear with me folks!

American bingo card has 5X5 matrix, while the Australian bingo tickets have 27 spaces arranged in three rows and nine columns. Each row bears 5 numbers and four blank spaces, which is much unlike American bingo card that includes 24 numbers except one free space in the middle. Just like 90 ball bingo, housie is played with 90 numbers distributed among three columns of every ticket, which carries 15 numbers in total. The first column contains the numbers from 1 to 9, the second column includes the numbers from 10 to 19 and so forth up to the ninth column which consists of numbers from 80 to 90. Very similar, if not the same to that beloved of Pomms, but not called Lotto or Housey-Housey or Bingo!

In Australia bingo has become a major industry, particularly in the prime cities like Perth and Sydney, where people play bingo quite seriously, hoping to hit a jackpot. Smaller towns, and even those in the Outback, still consider bingo as a social activity. Quite right too!

Australian bingo can be won in a variety of ways. However, some of the traditional winning patterns include one line and two line followed by a full house or Housie – the biggest prize winning combination in Australian bingo. Bingo fever in Australia is catching on really fast, so much so that there are a number of bingo sites offering housie online. With online bingo you could win some really big cash prizes other than just mugs, t-shirts or soft toys that you are likely to get at small funfairs and charity gatherings.

Well, I’d better untie me Kangaroo, pay a visit to the Dunny, and be on my way to Boomerang practice. G-Day and G’Luck!