Bingo Glossary: 90+ Bingo Terms and Slang Explained, A to Z

Whether you’re stepping into a VFW hall for the first time or trying to follow a British bingo show, the lingo can be confusing. This glossary covers more than 90 terms, with US usage first. Terms marked (UK) are mainly British, and many of those belong to 90-ball bingo. New to the game? Start with how to play bingo.

A

• Admission pack (or admission packet): The minimum bundle of paper a player must buy to enter a hall session, usually covering the regular games.
• Any line: A pattern won by completing any single row, column or diagonal. Also called a straight line or regular bingo.
• Any two lines: A pattern requiring two complete lines anywhere on the card.
• Auto-daub: A feature of electronic bingo units and apps that marks called numbers for you automatically.

B

• B column: The first column of a 75-ball card, holding five numbers from 1 to 15.
• Ball blower: A machine that mixes numbered balls with air and pushes one at a time into a chute for the caller. Common in larger halls.
• Beano: The carnival game, played with dried beans as markers, that Edwin S. Lowe saw in 1929 and renamed “Bingo.”
• Bingo: The game itself, and the word a player shouts to claim a win.
• Bingo board: See master board and flashboard.
• Bingo cage: A rotating wire drum that mixes the balls before each draw. The standard tool for home and small-hall games.
• Bingo hall: A venue dedicated to bingo, run by a charity, tribe or commercial operator depending on state law.
• Bingo minder: An older name for a handheld electronic bingo unit.
• Blackout: Marking every square on the card, all 24 numbers plus the free space. The same as coverall. See our blackout pattern guide.
• Bonanza bingo: A game where some numbers are drawn before the session starts, and players hope those pre-drawn numbers help them cover the card in a set number of calls. See bonanza bingo.
• Booklet (or book): A set of paper sheets bound together, one sheet per game in a session.

C

• Called number: Any number that has been drawn and announced in the current game.
• Caller: The person who draws and announces the numbers and verifies winners. See how to call bingo.
• Card: A single bingo grid. In US 75-ball bingo, a 5×5 grid with 24 numbers and a free space.
• Charity bingo (charitable bingo): Bingo run by a nonprofit to raise money, licensed and regulated by state law. Most US hall bingo is charity bingo.
• Chips: Small plastic discs used to cover numbers on reusable cards.
• Class II gaming: Under the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, the category that includes bingo (including with electronic aids) and related games like pull-tabs when played in the same location. Tribes regulate Class II games with federal oversight.
• Coverall: Another word for blackout: covering every number on the card.
• Crazy pattern: A pattern that can be placed in any orientation on the card, such as a “crazy L” or “crazy kite.” Any rotation or position counts.

D

• Dabber (UK): The British word for a dauber.
• Daub: To mark a number, especially with an ink dauber.
• Dauber: A bottle-shaped ink marker with a foam tip for marking paper cards. See what is a bingo dauber.
• Diagonal: A line running corner to corner through the free space. A diagonal needs only four numbers.
• Double action: A card with two numbers in each square, giving more chances to mark.

E

• Early bird: A game or short set of games played before the main session starts, often with a separate paper purchase.
• Electronic bingo: Bingo played on a handheld or tabletop device that stores and auto-marks your cards. Rules vary by state.
• Electronic linked bingo: Bingo played simultaneously across several venues on a linked system. Minnesota, for example, reports it separately from paper bingo.
• Eyes down (UK): The call that a game is about to begin.

F

• Face: The industry term for a single printed card layout. A “6-on” sheet has six faces.
• Flashboard: A large lighted display that shows every number called in the current game.
• Floor worker (or floorperson): Hall staff who sell paper, check winning cards and pay prizes.
• Four corners: A pattern using just the four corner squares. See the four corners pattern.
• Free space: The center square of a 75-ball card, which counts as already marked.
• Full house (UK): Covering all 15 numbers on a 90-ball ticket. The UK equivalent of a blackout.

G

• G column: The fourth column of a 75-ball card, holding five numbers from 46 to 60.
• Game: A single round of bingo, played until a pattern is won.
• Good bingo: A caller’s confirmation that a claimed bingo has been checked and is valid.
• Guaranteed prize: A prize paid at a fixed amount no matter how many people play.

H

• Hard card: A reusable cardboard or plastic card, as opposed to disposable paper.
• Hardway bingo: A line completed without using the free space. See hardway bingo.
• House (UK): What UK players often shout instead of “Bingo!”
• Housie (or housey-housey): An older British and Commonwealth name for bingo, still used in Australia and India.

I

• I column: The second column of a 75-ball card, holding five numbers from 16 to 30.
• Inside square: A pattern made of the eight squares surrounding the free space. Also called a small picture frame.
• Instant bingo: A paper instant-win game related to pull-tabs, listed in federal law alongside bingo as a Class II game.

J

• Jackpot: A large prize, often for a blackout within a set number of calls.

K

• Kelly’s eye (UK): The traditional British call for number 1.

L

• Last number: The final number called before a bingo. Many halls require it to be part of the winning pattern.
• Legs eleven (UK): The traditional British call for number 11.
• Letter patterns: Patterns shaped like letters of the alphabet, such as X, T, L or H.
• Line (UK): In 90-ball bingo, completing one horizontal row of five numbers on a ticket. The first prize in a 90-ball game.
• Lotto: The Italian lottery game, played by about 1530, that bingo descends from. Also an old name for home bingo-style games.

M

• Master board: The caller’s board that holds or lights each ball as it’s called, used to verify winners.
• Matinee: An afternoon bingo session.

N

• N column: The middle column of a 75-ball card, holding four numbers from 31 to 45 plus the free space.
• Ninety-ball bingo: The main UK game, played with numbers 1 to 90 on 9×3 tickets. See 90-ball bingo.

O

• O column: The last column of a 75-ball card, holding five numbers from 61 to 75.
• “On” (as in 3-on, 6-on, 9-on): The number of faces printed on one sheet of bingo paper.
• One to go (or “waiting,” “set”): Needing just one more number to complete the pattern.
• Outside edge: A pattern covering every square around the border of the card. Also called a picture frame or large picture frame.

P

• Pack: A bundle of bingo paper sold for a session. See also admission pack.
• Paper: Disposable printed bingo cards, as opposed to hard cards or electronic cards.
• Pattern: The shape that must be completed to win a game. Browse our bingo patterns.
• Perm (permutation): A defined set of unique card faces, such as 9,000 faces. Also short for perm number.
• Perm number: The ID printed on each face that lets the caller look it up in the verification book.
• Picture frame: See outside edge.
• Postage stamp: A pattern of four squares forming a 2×2 block in a corner. See postage stamp.
• Progressive jackpot: A jackpot that grows each session until someone wins it, usually by covering their card within a set number of calls.
• Pull-tab: A paper ticket with tabs you pull open to reveal symbols, often sold at bingo halls. See pull-tabs.

Q

• Quickie (or speed game): A fast game, often with a small prize, played between regular games.

R

• Random number generator (RNG): Software that draws numbers at random in electronic and online bingo.
• Regular game: One of the main scheduled games in a session, as opposed to specials and early birds.
• Rolling jackpot: See progressive jackpot.

S

• Serial number: A number printed by the manufacturer on bingo paper, shared by the sheets in a package, used for tracking and audits.
• Series: The number of unique faces in a set of bingo paper. A “9000 series” contains 9,000 unique faces.
• Session: A full program of bingo games, such as an evening session.
• Set: A grouping of bingo paper sold by a manufacturer.
• Shutter card: A reusable card with small sliding windows you close over called numbers.
• Six-pack: A pattern of six squares forming a 2×3 block. See six-pack.
• Sleeper: A winning card that nobody claimed before the next number was called.
• Special: A game outside the regular program, often with its own paper and a bigger prize.
• Split pot: A prize divided equally among players who bingo on the same number.
• Strip (UK): A set of six 90-ball tickets that together contain every number from 1 to 90.

T

• Thirty-ball bingo: A fast online format using a 3×3 card and numbers 1 to 30. See 30-ball bingo.
• Ticket (UK): A 90-ball card: a 9×3 grid with 15 numbers.
• Tombola: An Italian and European game descended from lotto, and the British name for a raffle-style draw. In the 18th century, Naples created a home version with cards and called numbers.
• Top of the shop (UK): The traditional British call for 90, the highest number.
• Two fat ladies (UK): The traditional British call for 88.
• Two lines (UK): In 90-ball bingo, completing two rows on the same ticket. The second prize.
• Two little ducks (UK): The traditional British call for 22.

U

• U-Pick-Em: A game where players choose their own numbers on a blank card. See U-Pick-Em bingo.

V

• Verification: Checking a claimed bingo against the numbers called, usually by perm number.
• Verification book (master control book): The manufacturer’s certified record of the numbers on every face in a permutation.

W

• Waiting: See one to go.
• Wild number: In some variants, the first number called makes every number with the same last digit “wild,” so players mark all of them.

X

• X pattern: Both diagonals marked, forming an X. Needs eight numbers. See letter X.

Numbers

• 75-ball bingo: The standard US game, played with numbers 1 to 75 on 5×5 cards. See 75-ball bingo.
• 80-ball bingo: A mostly online format with a 4×4 card of 16 numbers. See 80-ball bingo.
• 9000 series: A set of 9,000 unique faces, the accepted industry standard set size for printed bingo paper.

Want more?

For the full list of traditional number calls, from “Kelly’s eye” to “top of the shop,” see our bingo calls page. For the rules behind many of these terms, read bingo rules and etiquette.