Bingo Terminology Bingo

Bingo has its own terminology or language. These are the more common terms that are used to describe most aspects of the game of bingo.

We regret that we have had to remove our bingo banners because our bingo game promoters have decided to withdraw from the U.S. following the new antigambling legislation. We are checking out some who currently say that they will remain in the U.S. market. We will post their details as soon as our test players make their selections

Bingo

– The name of the game – The word called out by the winner on obtaining the winning combination.

Bingo game names

– These range from the more common to the exotic or just the plain crude such as “Road Kill” where toads (frogs) hopping across a highway are splattered by passing vehicles.

Blackout or Blockout

– A specific bingo game where the player must get all numbers on the card. In some venues and games disks are placed over the called numbers, hence “blackout”.

Blower

– A vacuum cleaner like apparatus used to mix the balls using high volumes of air at low pressure.

Cage

– The mostly obsolete wire cage used to manually mix the balls before drawing.

Caller

– The person who announces the type of bingo gaming being played and the result as each ball is drawn. A good caller is the life blood of the game.

Card

– Originally a sheet of light cardboard on which the bingo grid and numbers are printed for the game.

Checker

– the person who checks your card after you excitedly scream ‘Bingo” to verify that you really do have all the required numbers in the correct pattern.

Coverall

– Another term for “blockout”.

Covered Square

– The square at the center of the diagonals of the board that is marked “Free Space”. It counts as a hit if the square falls within the announced pattern for the game.

Diagonal Bingo

– The winning numbers must be on the diagonal specified by the caller.

Double Bingo

– The caller nominates the two rows and or columns in which the numbers must appear at the commencement of the game.

Early Bird

– Games played prior to the main session. These games often have lower prize pools.

Fingertip Card

– Not common now. The card has shutters that can be closed to mark the called numbers.

Free Space

– See covered square.

Four Corner Bingo

– The player must have the numbers on the four corners of the board.

Hard Card

– A reuse-able bingo card. This is not common in this disposable age.

Indian Bingo

– Games played at venues on Indian Reservations. Now also includes online games played under Indian Gaming licenses.

Late Bird

– Games played after the main session. These games usually have a smaller prize pool.

Master Board

– Originally the rack on which balls were placed after being dawn and announced. These have been replaced at most venues by electronic boards or video monitors.

Sleeper

– A player who has a bingo but does not realise it until after the other balls are drawn and called.

Soft Card

– The common player cards used at almost all venues.

Super Jackpot

– A bingo game where all squares must be covered and the prize pool continues to build up until a winner is declared.