The title of this one is a little bit misleading, as it's not a ‘penny bingo’ game despite that being part of the title! At the time of writing, the cost of buying in on Penny Express Bingo from Dragonfish was 5p per card – I have read elsewhere that tickets are sometimes sold for just 2p each, although I’ve never observed this during my time writing this review. Despite the low buy-in, the game still includes a progressive jackpot prize that currently stands at a little over £836. The RTP is about average by online bingo standards, advertised as being a minimum of 80%.
I’m not sure what your odds of winning the jackpot in this game are, but I have to guess they aren’t great, considering the size of the regular prizes! At the time of writing, these were – literally – just a few pennies each, with the one- and two-lie prizes even coming in at less than the price of a single ticket! I’m sure this will improve if the game is played at peak times, but it still seems slightly embarrassing for both the developer and the bingo sites hosting this game to me!
No Deposit Needed
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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.
I was expecting this game to be largely the same as the Penny Bingo offered at Playtech-based sites such as Mecca Bingo - that’s certainly what the title would suggest, so I was surprised to find that it’s a 5p game just like most of the other Dragonfish bingo variants available at sites such as Mint and Robin Hood. In fact, compare the screenshots on this page to other Dragonfish games, such as Linked & Loaded 90-Ball, and you’d be hard-pressed to tell the difference – there aren’t even any unique background images to separate them as you’d find in Pragmatic Play’s bingo games. This really does seem a little disappointing and makes you wonder why huge sites such as 888 Bingo are choosing to focus on these particular versions of online bingo.
Still, if all you are looking for is a cheap and standard game of 90-Ball, I guess that’s what you’ll find with Penny Express. The game utilises standard tickets with three rows of five numbers, priced at just 5p each. As mentioned previously, the tickets may go cheaper when the room is busier, and indeed that is what I have read elsewhere, albeit not on the bingo sites themselves. At the time of writing, there were only eight players in the room, which could explain why ticket prices had been forced a little higher. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to say with any certainty as little information is available within the game. Players can purchase up to 96 tickets each, although I wouldn’t recommend doing so if the prize fund is just a few pennies in total!
First up, why not check out our guide to the 90-Ball bingo format before beginning to play Penny Express? It’s full of useful information, tricks and tips, and frequently asked questions. Next, you’ll need to buy some cards! You can purchase just one if you wish or as many as 96 if you feel flush. Games take place every five minutes around the clock,
Each round pays out three times to the first player, who can complete one, two, or three lines on one of the cards in the quickest time. Unfortunately, at the time of writing, the one-line prize was only paying 3p, which has to be a joke considering that the game costs 5p to even play. Worse still, the two- and three-line prizes weren’t any better at just 4p and 6p respectively. I wouldn’t even bother playing the game normally with prizes as low as this, even when there is a reasonably-sized progressive jackpot on offer.
As far as I am currently aware, Dragonfish does not offer community-progressive jackpots. That means that if you are lucky enough to win the big one whilst playing Penny Express, you’ll be able to keep the full amount for yourself!
Despite the appallingly low regular prizes offered in this game at the current time, the jackpot currently stands at £836.94. That suggests that people do play this game quite frequently, and I probably just caught it at a bad time. To win the jackpot, you’ll need to cross off all 15 numbers on one of your cards within 36 calls – a little less strict than the 32 calls required in some other Dragonfish games, but still a tricky requirement that has resulted in the prize-only being won half a dozen times since the game launched more than five years ago.
This is the first time I’ve played an online bingo game, that I’ve struggled to find anything positive about it to report! Penny Express should be a bustling room full of players purchasing penny tickets in the hope of hitting the progressive jackpot – instead, we’ve got only a handful of players battling each other for a 6p full house. If the room looks like this when you visit, I’d suggest that you give the game a miss.
Article by Chris Howlett
Chris has over 11 years of experience playing and writing about bingo and online slots.