Bingo Glossary
Welcome to our Bingo dictionary. We list all the current bingo terminology and their meanings. Scroll down past our suggested list of bingo rooms to get started with our Glossary! This dictionary/glossary is constantly updated. Drop us a message if there are any terms you know that we’ve left out or anything you would like explained! Otherwise Happy Bingo Days to you!
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Bingo Terms Explained
90 Ball – UK style bingo using 90 balls.
90 Ball bingo is played at most bingo sites.
75 Ball – American style bingo using 75 balls.
80 Ball – Internet popularized 80 ball uses 80 balls.
“BINGO!” – What you yell when you hit the winning pattern Board – An electronic bingo board that lights up the numbers as you play.
Bingo Card – A bingo card has rows and columns with numbers that is used for keeping track of what numbers you hit.
Buyin – How much it costs to get in the bingo game (1 ticket)
Caller – The person who calls out the numbers in a bingo game.
Chat – Most online bingo halls have interactive chat with other players.
Chat Games – Side games where you can win $ by playing mini chat games during the bingo game.
Consolation Prize – A prize given to bingo players for either the 2nd person to hit bingo or if during a progressive game nobody gets bingo within the max amount of balls.
Coverall – A bingo game with the objective to cover “all” of the numbers on your ticket.
Daubbers – A marker to “Dab” your numbers on your bingo ticket as they are called out.
Diagonal Line – A winning pattern from one corner to the other, including free space.
Early Bird Bingo – The first bingo game of the day/night.
Fair And Square – A bingo game where everyone must buy the same amount of tickets so nobody has an advantage of multiple tickets, like is available in normal bingo games.
Fair and square games are available at most online bingo sites.
Four Corners – A bingo pattern where 4 corners must be marked for a bingo call.
Free Space – The free bingo space in each game, usually in the middle of the ticket.
Full House – When a player covers all numbers on their card in a regular game.
Hardway Bingo – Hitting a straight line without using the free space.
Inlaid Cards – Bingo cards that are built into the tables already.
Instant Bingo – lottery scratch cards available with other lottery tickets that let you play bingo for cash prizes.
Jackpot – The main cash prize in a bingo game. Last Call – Last bingo game of the night.
Late Night Bingo – Bingo starting after 11:00 pm (sometimes 10:00)
Lights Out – Last game of the night.
Lucky Jar – A progressive jackpot that you get when the “money ball” is won on.
Max Bet – Maximum amount of money you can buy one ticket for in any game.
Max Tickets – The maximum amount of tickets you can buy in any one game (varies wildly)
Min Buyin – The min. amount for a bingo ticket in any particular session.
Money Ball – If a winner hits bingo on the money ball, they usually win double the jackpot.
Moonlight Bingo – See Late night bingo.
Multiple Winners – When the prize is split among two people hitting bingo on the same number.
On The Way – The game before the coverall game Pattern – The winning formation you need to get numbers on to win the game.
Payout – Amount or % amount that the winner of the bingo game gets.
Postage Stamp – A pattern where the goal is to get a block of 4 numbers blacked out in any 4 corners. (2×2)
Progressive – When a bingo jackpot must be won within a certain amount of balls and isn’t, a progressive jackpot grows until somebody beats the threshold.
Quickie – A game where a whole card must be filled and numbers are called very fast.
RNG – Random Number Generator (to ensure fairness)
Session – A long night of bingo.
Shutterboard – A special type of bingo ticket where the numbers are covered by slots or “shutters” and you close them as the numbers are called out.
Texas Blackout – Whatever the first number called is, even or odd, you have to get all of those numbers on your card covered to win.
Tickets – The tickets are the paper or other material you use to keep track of your numbers.
Wild Number – Wild Card number’s last digit can be played on the whole bingo card. For instance a wild number 13, a player can cross of 23,33,43, etc. Wrap Up Game – Last game of the night.