Bingo Terminology
You will notice that playing bingo online and at land-based bingo halls that bingo games and people have it's very own terminology and slang. So if you're playing a bingo game or you're hanging out in the bingo community at one of the chat rooms or forums and you hear a word or phrase that you don't understand you can come here and look it up. If on the forums I suggest asking for the meaning at the boards since it's a great way to make new friends online. However if you're embarassed we've listed the most popular bingo terms here for you.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Bingo | A game of chance played with cards having numbered squares corresponding to numbered balls drawn at random and won by covering five such squares in a row. |
| Bingo Card | A card containing 24 numbers and a "free space" arranged in a 5x5 square. At the top of each column is the appropriate letter, spelling out B I N G O. Each column has 15 random numbers from its number set. The sets are as follows: B is 1-15, I is 16-30, N is 31-45 G is 46-60, and O is 61-75. |
| Blackout/Coverall | This is a pattern where you must cover all numbers on the card to win. |
| Bonanza Bingo | A progressive coverall Jackpot that is usually played as the 13th game of the session. Forty-five numbers are drawn before the session and players mark them on separate cards and set aside. There is an additional fee to play this game, usually $1. The countdown begins at 48 numbers or less and go up one number per week to 52 numbers or until won. The amount of the jackpot is determined by card sales for that game. |
| Buy-in | Buying bingo cards or an Admission Packet. Converting cash into bingo cards. |
| Caller | The person or software online :-) who calls out the bingo numbers as they are drawn. The numbers themselves are usually randomly generated by machine blows. |
| Cash-In-Prize | A form of bingo where the prize is a cash payout. This is taken from the money paid in. |
| Chat Room | For those who are playing online bingo with their home computer on the internet, chat rooms provide a great way for players to converse with other bingo players in real-time allowing players to read and exchange messages with other players. |
| Dauber | Bingo dauber used offline at land-based bingo halls. It's an ink-filled bottle/pen with a foam tip on it used to mark called numbers. When you touch the bingo card with the foam tip it marks the square. Online your software program has an auto-dauber which marks the called numbers for you. |
| Face | Is the individual bingo sheet containing 24 numbers plus the free space in the middle. |
| Free space | This is always the middle square of the card and if included in the current pattern counts towards your winning numbers. |
| Four Corners | A pattern where you must cover the corner numbers of the card. If you get those four numbers, you win. |
| Bingo Room | Some online sites have different rooms for example a dime room where the bingo card price .10 cents and a Quarters room where the price of a bingo card is .25 cents. AKA Game Room. |
| House | A casino or gambling center/centre or a gambling hall/property. Also the property owners or the operators of a gambling game, such as Bingo. |
| Jackpot | A big prize, usually awarded for a "coverall" within a specified number of balls. Sometimes the jackpot is a "Progressive Jackpot," which allows the jackpot to grow each time that it is not won. |
| Main Stage Bingo | The main event of a session of bingo (the one said to draw the most customers). |
| Minimum Buy-in | The least amount you must spend to be eligible for prizes. |
| Money Ball | If a game has a money ball, then a player's winning is doubled if bingo is hit on that number. If a money ball exist, it will be drawn before the game. |
| Multiple Winners | Two or more players bingo at the same time. When this happens, the cash prize is divided among them. |
| Payout | The percentage of sales paid out by the House. |
| Pattern | The shape you need to cover on your bingo card using the numbers called out during the game. While the variations of patterns are almost endless. |
| Progressive Jackpot | A Jackpot that gets bigger until it is won. It builds daily, weekly, or monthly if it is not won in a specific number of calls. If there is no winner in X number of calls, consoladation prize's of lesser dollar amounts are paid. |
| Quickie | Numbers are called as quickly as possible & the card must be full to win Bingo. |
| Wrap Up | The name of the last game of a session. |
