Behind Playtech, Dragonfish are one of the most prolific providers of online bingo games for the UK market. Despite this, many of the games I have looked at from this developer have been strikingly similar, with many lacking anything but the most basic and rudimentary feature set. However, their Linked & Loaded 90-Ball game looks a little more interesting, with the ‘linked’ part of the title referencing the fact that the progressive jackpot is shared between many different bingo sites and is much larger than that offered by other Dragonfish games.
It really makes a difference, too – at the time of writing, the Linked & Loaded jackpot stood at close to £6,000. That’s a massive number for a bingo game that costs just 5p to play, and worlds apart from the standard full house prize of around 250x the cost of a single ticket. The progressive jackpot is the only real feature of note, however, and a peek at past results suggests that it isn’t won very often either.
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*10 Free Spins No Deposit: First 10 spins: Players who have successfully verified their mobile phone number and completed age verification will be credited 10 free spins on Squealin’ Riches 20p per spin, no maximum win. Subsequent 30 spins: First deposit only. Min deposit & spend £10. Max 30 spins on Fishin Frenzy Megaways at 10p per spin. Spins credited upon spend of £10. Full T&Cs apply. 18+ Please Play Responsibly. BeGambleAware.org.
£5 Deposit
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*Up to £120 Bonus: New customers only. Deposit and stake £10 on bingo to qualify within 7 days of initial deposit. Some prizes have wagering requirements and expiry dates. Country restrictions apply. See full t&cs for more detail. 18+ Please Play Responsibly. BeGambleAware.org. #AD
£10 Deposit
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First-time depositors only (18+ country restrictions apply). Min deposit: £10. Max offer: 2,500 Free Bingo Tickets (on 250 on Street Party valid for 21 days & 2,250 For Kaching valid for 24 days) & 25 Pending Free Spins (on a game of our choice). Promo code: BINGO25. Free Spins are valid for 7 days & will be available once £5 of deposit funds have been wagered. FS winnings are capped at £2.50. All winnings are credited to your real money balance. We reserve the right to deny promotional offers based on abusive bonus activity across sites operated by the Company. Deposit balance is available for withdrawal at any time (UK only). General withdrawal restrictions & full T&Cs apply. Valid until further notice. View Full T&Cs.
200% Bonus
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First-time depositors only (18+ country restrictions apply). Min deposit: £10. Max offer: 200% Bingo Bonus up to £20 & 50 Free Spins (on Starburst). 10 Free Spins will be credited per day, across 5 days. Promo code: BONUS200. Any Bingo Bonus winnings, if applicable, must be wagered 4x before withdrawal. Any Free Spins winnings, if applicable, will be credited as bonus funds. FS winnings must be wagered 99x before withdrawal. Free Spins are valid for 7 days. Games Bonus win cap: £100 + original bonus amount. Wagering contribution varies by game. We reserve the right to deny bonuses based on abusive bonus activity across sites operated by the Company. Deposit balance is available for withdrawal at any time (UK only). General withdrawal restrictions apply. Valid until 31.12.2023 View Full T&Cs.
£10 Deposit
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First-time depositors only (18+ country restrictions apply). Min deposit: £10. Max offer: 100% Bingo Bonus up to £10 & 50 Free Spins (on Starburst). 10 Free Spins will be credited per day, across 5 days. Promo code: FREE50. Any Bingo Bonus winnings, if applicable, must be wagered 4x before withdrawal. Any Free Spins winnings, if applicable, will be credited as bonus funds. FS winnings must be wagered 99x before withdrawal. Free Spins are valid for 7 days. Games Bonus win cap: £100 + original bonus amount. Wagering contribution varies by game. We reserve the right to deny bonuses based on abusive bonus activity across sites operated by the Company. Deposit balance is available for withdrawal at any time (UK only). General withdrawal restrictions apply. Valid until further notice. View Full T&Cs.
£10 Deposit
Our Score
First-time depositors only (18+ country restrictions apply). Min deposit: £10. Max offer: 2,500 Free Bingo Tickets (on 250 on Street Party valid for 21 days & 2,250 For Kaching valid for 24 days) & 25 Pending Free Spins (on a game of our choice). Promo code: BINGO25. Free Spins are valid for 7 days & will be available once £5 of deposit funds have been wagered. FS winnings are capped at £2.50. All winnings are credited to your real money balance. We reserve the right to deny promotional offers based on abusive bonus activity across sites operated by the Company. Deposit balance is available for withdrawal at any time (UK only). General withdrawal restrictions & full T&Cs apply. Valid until further notice. View Full T&Cs.
Many online bingo games boast a strong theme and, perhaps, even a bonus round or two – examples include Rainbow Riches Bingo and Fluffy Favourites, for instance. Unfortunately, Linked & Loaded 90-Ball is a much more straightforward example of the genre, and there really isn’t much to separate the game from other 90-Ball games available elsewhere. In fact, the only real feature of note is the progressive jackpot, although that may be enough to tempt players as it currently pays out in excess of 100,000x the cost of a single ticket!
Those tickets are of the standard 90-Ball variety – three rows of five numbers each, with a few blank spaces to break things up a bit. Three prizes are awarded during each round – the one-line prize typically pays around 50x the cost of a single ticket, whilst the two- and three-line prizes increase this to about 75x and 115x, respectively. Those numbers are based on ticket prices of 5p each, which seems to be a fixed amount regardless of the number of participating players or the time of day.
Even though 90-Ball bingo is by far the most common format of the game found at UK-based bingo sites, I still recommend that players check out our guide to the 90-Ball format before beginning to play a new game. It’s easy to forget things over time, and there could be a few tips and tricks that you haven’t learned previously. Next, you’ll need to buy your tickets – Linked & Loaded is available around the clock and allows players to purchase between 1 and one hundred tickets for each round.
The first prize available during each round is paid to the player or players who fill one of the three lines on one of their tickets in the fastest time. This can be the top, middle, or bottom row – all that matters is that you’ve crossed off all five numbers. So even if you don’t get lucky with the one-line prize, you could find yourself in a great position later if you successfully cross off three or four numbers on all three rows early on. The round concludes when a player fills all 15 numbers on one of their cards.
Most Playtech bingo games offer a ‘community’ jackpot, meaning the prize is shared 50/50 between the winning player and the rest participating during the round when it hits. However, Dragonfish doesn’t subscribe to that model, with the entire jackpot being paid in full to the winning player.
The progressive prize offered in Linked & Loaded 90-Ball currently stands at £5,891 – a huge number in comparison to the cost of a single ticket. Looking back at the history of previous winners suggests that the prize only drops around once a year, though, which isn’t so surprising after learning that the requirements for claiming it includes filling an entire bingo card within just 32 calls or less. This means you’ll need to hit roughly every other number throughout the game to stand a chance, which must be a tall order!
If you’re looking for a big jackpot game of 90-Ball when playing Bingo, this is the one to go for. The odds of winning the jackpot might be low, but it’s like they always say – you’ve got to be in it to win it!
Article by Chris Howlett
Chris has over 11 years of experience playing and writing about bingo and online slots.