Virtue Fusion Bingo Sites
Virtue Fusion is one of the biggest online bingo networks, bringing together massive numbers of players from some of the biggest and best known bingo sites in the UK. In 2010, they were bought in a multi-million pound deal by gaming software giant Playtech, with the result that wherever you find Virtue Fusion bingo, you’ll generally also find slots both from Playtech itself and from its Ash Gaming subsidiary and/or a Playtech casino. The bingo platform itself is also slowly being rebranded as part of Playtech One.
Playtech Virtue Fusion is the world’s leading online bingo network which powers the giants of online bingo such as Mecca Bingo, Gala Bingo, William Hill Bingo, BetFred Bingo plus many others. Playtech has more than 40% market share in the UK and has become by far the largest supplier of its kind in the industry. Gala Bingo Undoubtedly a top Virtue Fusion site, Gala Bingo has many exclusive games including the likes of Coronation Street bingo. Play and get £50 bonus cash when you deposit £10. Virtue Fusion has been about since 2001 and in that time have managed to propel themselves right to the top of the food chain when it comes to online bingo games. The company actually started life at a fairly slow pace and at one point they were even up for sale.
What’s So Great About Virtue Fusion
Huge linked games
Over 60,000 players are active on the Virtue Fusion network every day and at peak times there can be as many as 13,000 players at the same time. This means that the network can run absolutely huge jackpot games several times a day and many players find these irresistible.
Bingo Variants
This is an area where Virtue Fusion really excels. As well as 75 ball, 80 ball and 90 ball bingo there are a number of special variants, ranging fromRainbow Riches Bingo which is based on 40 ball bingo and also includes three progressive community jackpots and a coin collecting bonus, to Lucky Numbers Bingo which is a standard 90 ball bingo game with an extra lucky numbers side bet. Deal or No Deal Bingo is also a very popular bingo variant in both its 75 ball and its 90 ball form.It doesn’t stop there as even the regular forms of bingo are very frequently played with an extra twist. Examples of this are Roll On Bingo, where numbers continue to be called after full house until a set number of further (smaller) full house prizes have been won, and Last Chance Saloon, where all losing players who bought the number of tickets required to qualify are given a scratchcard to play for a consolation prize.With all of these different types of bingo game going on it’s unlikely that players are going to get bored at a Virtue Fusion site.
Network promotions
The size of the Virtue Fusion network means that when a promotion runs across all the sites, the prizes can be really substantial. For instance, the final weekend of every month has a total advertised prize fund of £250,000. Another example of a big money network promotion is the £1 million slots prize draw that has been run a few times now.
Customised promotions
An example of a customised promotion is the slot of the week promotion that is found at many Virtue Fusion sites. The way it always works is that you enter a bonus code, play £10 on the slot and get a bonus. Which slot it is, which days the promotion runs on, whether or not the bonus is related to the player’s VIP scheme level and what wagering requirement it comes with vary from site to site as these are the customisable parts of the promotion and the site operators decide on what these options should be (as well as whether to run the promotion at all in the first place).Another example is the free room for newbies that is commonly found at Virtue Fusion sites; the operator decides when the room should be open, what the prizes should be and how long the new player gets access for. Contrast that with Dragonfish where all new players across the network get access to the network free bingo room with the same rules for all of them.Further examples of custom promotions include daily scratchcards, reload bonuses and bonus back on losses. These types of promotion are found across the Virtue Fusion network but the details are always fixed by the sites themselves.Virtue Fusion is the only bingo platform/network that offers such a wealth of customisable promotions and the result is that the Virtue Fusion bingo sites are all different from each other. It is very much NOT the case that once you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all.
Chat hosting and networking
On networks such as the Live Bingo Network and the Dragonfish Network, when you play in a network bingo room the chat host is the same whichever site you are playing from and you can see the chat from all the other players from other sites on the network. This is not the case at Virtue Fusion; each site has its own chat and chat hosts, with each chat host typically covering several rooms on the site. That means that the sites have much more of a community feel about them.Virtue Fusion actually goes one better than that though. The bingo timetable on offer in the networked rooms is the same for every site, but several instances of the same type of game can be running (with different numbers called in each instance) meaning that you are competing with players from some other sites on the network but not all of them. The number of players can therefore be kept fairly constant and, of course, the number of players in your instance of the game is always shown.This matters because the larger the number of players in a bingo game, the higher the variance the game has – i.e. a game with a lot of players has large prizes but a low chance of winning whereas a game with a few players has small prizes but a relatively high chance of winning. It’s natural for bingo players to want to mix it up a bit with the variance and the Virtue Fusion way of offering super busy BingoLinx and other big games running across the entire network, moderately busy network games running across fewer sites and quieter games in site exclusive rooms can cater to that. Players can thus get the best of both worlds.
Progressive jackpot slots
Again due to the size of the network, there are many progressive jackpot slots on offer and some of them have jackpots in the hundreds of thousands or even millions of pounds.
Licensing
The big Virtue Fusion sites such as bet365 that also offer their players other forms of gambling such as a sportsbook have their own licences, whereas the smaller ones such as Bucky Bingo come under Virtue Fusion (Alderney) Limited’s own licence.
What Next?
One of Playtech’s current stated objectives is to facilitate seamless play across all channels and devices whether at home, on the move or in a venue. Mobile and tablet bingo has now come to all Virtue Fusion bingo sites and we can expect the mobile version and web version to resemble each other more and more closely, as the web version is migrated from Flash to HTML5 . Omni-channel gaming wallet systems like Coral Connect could also become widespread at Playtech/Virtue Fusion bingo sites. Lastly, there seems to be a recent trend for Virtue Fusion to work with smaller operators as well as with the huge names like Gala and Paddy Power, and this can only mean even more Virtue Fusion bingo site launches and an increase in Virtue Fusion’s dominance of the online bingo world.
Virtue Fusion bingo sites offer a variety of bingo games, each with their own playing style and unique characteristics. Some simply require you to match lines, whilst others give out prizes for making pre-determined shapes. Some games also involve progressive jackpots that can result in huge wins.
The games take place in bingo ‘rooms’ – and each room will be dedicated on of the different bingo games. The exceptions to this are the multi-game rooms which rotate through the different types. Some of the rooms will also have special features – such as progressive jackpots, BOGOF bingo games and even free bingo. We should also point out that not all bingo rooms run all the time – and some of the rooms only run during the busy peak times.
For the most part, the rooms are shared between all sites on the Virtue Fusion network. However, a lot of bingo sites operate private rooms that are only available to their players. These private rooms are usually linked to some kind of promotion that the site runs – such as free bingo happy hours, or money-added jackpots.
Bingo Games on Offer at Virtue Fusion
There are four distinct game types that can be played, and are summarised below. For more details about any particular game, just click the ‘read more’ link.
90 Ball Bingo
The most popular form of bingo in the both the UK and on the Virtue Fusion bingo network is 90 ball bingo. It is played 90 balls and tickets made up of 27 squares (3 rows and 9 columns) containing 15 numbers. There are five numbers on each row, along with 4 blanks. Prizes are awarded for completing one line, two lines and the full house. In this version only rows count as ‘lines’.
There are quite a few options for games when it comes to 90 ball bingo, including games, such as the Chase, Big Banker Bingo, Emmerdale, Coronation Street, and Rush – just to name a few.
80 Ball Bingo
The least common form of bingo on the network is 80 ball bingo. It is played with 80 balls and tickets that are laid out in a four by four grid. Each square contains a number – so there are 16 numbers per ticket. This bingo variant can be played in a variety of different ways, including: Line & House, Four Lines and House Only. An example of 80 ball bingo is the game 1980 Bingo.
75 Ball Bingo
The most popular form of bingo in the US, and a variant that is gaining in popularity on the Virtue Fusion network. It is played with 75 balls and tickets made up of five rows and five columns. The middle square is a ‘free square’ and represented by a star.
There are two different types of 75 ball bingo – the first involves completing lines, and the second requires you to make specific patterns on the bingo ticket.
50 Ball Bingo
50 Ball Bingo features a card that has ten squares made up of two rows and 5 columns. Each square contains a number between 1 and 50 with 50 bingo balls numbered between 1 and 50 released and called out. Prizes are awarded to the first person who fills out line 1 of the card and then to the person who fills out the entire card. Coconut Island is a good example of a classic 50 ball bingo game.
40 Ball Bingo
40 Ball Bingo is made up of a bingo ticket that has eight spaces, arrange in four columns that are 2 spaces deep with each space having a random number between 1 and 40. As you may have already been able to guess, there are 40 balls, numbered between 1 and 40, which are drawn at random and then read aloud.
If your ticket has said number, this is automatically ticked off with the aim being to tick off a line or pattern’s worth of numbers to win a prize – or better yet, the entire card! An example of 40 ball bingo is the ultra popular Rainbow Riches, themed after leprechauns and pots of gold.
Joker Jackpot Bingo
This quirky bingo game is played with a deck of cards instead of bingo balls. Your tickets consist of 9 playing cards arranged in a 3 by 3 grid, and can include up to two jokers (one red, one black).
In the regular game, prizes are awarded for making a specific ‘J’ pattern, and for completing a winning hand (getting a full house). There are also two jackpots: one for completing a winning hand in under 16 cards, and a progressive jackpot for completing a winning hand in under 14 cards and finishing on a joker.
Bonus Bingo Games
The games listed in the section above are all distinctly different from each other. There is also another versions of these games that you can play, that come with minor modifications or bonuses.
Lucky Numbers Bingo
Lucky Numbers bingo is a 90 ball bingo game with the addition of three ‘lucky number’ jackpots. When you buy your tickets you get to choose three ‘lucky numbers’. To win, you must match one of your lucky numbers to the number used to complete the 1 line, 2 lines or full house prizes. The prize you receive depends on how many you matched (1, 2 or 3) and getting them all right wins you £500.
Speed Bingo
Speed bingo is just like regular bingo, but faster. So, if you’re a seasoned bingo player and you’re finding the pace of play a little to slow in the regular rooms, or you find the wait for the next ball when you have 1tg a little too nerve racking, then this game might be for you.
Virtue Fusion Bingo Games
Usually balls are called every second, so try to keep up! Speed bingo can be found in the ‘Garage’ network room.
Deal or No Deal Bingo
Not to be confused with the bingo site of the same name, this is a bonus game that can be added to both 75 and 90 ball bingo variants. The game is played in special ‘Deal or No Deal’ rooms and the main game is the same.
However, there is also a bonus game where the player who wins the full house gets to play against the banker to win bonus cash. Plus a community jackpot can be won, 50% of which is shared amongst all players who bought tickets in the game.
Emmerdale Bingo
Themed around the long-running ITV soap opera, Emmerdale, this is a 90-ball bingo game that makes up for in feature games what it lacks in terms of a single progressive jackpot. It’s a Gala Bingo exclusive and rewards loyal players.
Though, as mentioned, there’s no single jackpot, there are several smaller jackpots that are won by hitting given targets. Fans of Emmerdale who are also bingo lovers will most certainly enjoy this game.
Rush Bingo
Rush is a fast and furious variation on 90-ball bingo, with games centred around the idea of getting things done as quickly as possible and getting straight onto the next one.
There is a progressive jackpot that rolls over until it’s one, but one of the main features of the game is to place side bets on things like the colour of the ball that results in House or whether it will be Odd or Even.
Coronation Street Bingo
Another 90-ball bingo game based on a hit ITV soap opera, and exclusive to Gala Bingo Coronation Street has both a main jackpot and a feature game. The latter is called the ‘Golden Cobbles Jackpot’ and anyone who completes a line, 2 lines or House on the Golden Cobbles bingo ticket wins a corresponding prize.
Fans of the the show will enjoy the sound of either Reg Holdsworth or Fred Elliot calling out the numbers.
Bingo Lotto
Bingo Lotto is another game exclusive to Gala and is something of a cross between bingo and the lottery – two of the nation’s favourite games! It’s played like a 50-ball game, except it only has 49 balls and the jackpot starts at £25,000 and increases each time it’s not won.
The balls are released in lotto fashion and the bingo ticket is designed to look similar to that of a lotto ticket where three numbers will win you the first prize, four numbers for the second prize, and all six numbers for the jackpot.
Coconut Island
As the name suggests, you’ll find a distinctly Caribbean feel to Coconut Island Bingo where you can escape to a tropical island in the comfort of your own home, whilst enjoying a game of bingo!
Played with 50 balls and exclusive to Gala Bingo, Coconut Island has two different jackpots. You’ll also find regular feature games being played, such as 1ToGo or 2ToGo.
The Chase Bingo
With calls done by the Governess, this game is themed around the hit TV quiz show of the same name, the Chase. It’s a 90-ball game and has a progressive jackpot, as well as an interesting feature.
Virtue Fusion Bingo Games Free
The feature is where the Chase’s theming really comes into its own and it’s a chance to win a decent whack of money in addition to the House prize. Any fans of the gameshow looking for a bingo game will definitely find this version quite enjoyable.
Rainbow Riches Bingo
Themed around clichés from the Emerald Isle, Rainbow Riches is a 40-ball game that sees contestants trying to fill their clover leaf-shaped ticket. There’s a leprechaun on a rainbow whose progress along it leads to the game’s jackpot’s being won, as well as a wishing well that fills with gold coins for loyal players in order to reward them.
This is probably one of the most popular games out there for both seasoned players and newbies alike!
Virtue Fusion Bingo Games Download
Big Banker Bingo
Another Gala Bingo exclusive, Big Banker Bingo is a 90-ball game and has a progressive jackpot that starts life at £5000 and increases every time it’s not won. The main theme of this game involves a ‘banker’ trying to persuade the winner of House to take an amount of money on offer rather than what’s ‘in the box’, or in the safe as the case may be. That’s the feature game and if you’re lucky you can add a decent amount to your House winnings.