Where the Bingo balls land after being shot out of the ball gate.

The spring that shoots the numbered ball into the runway.

A form of Bingo where players can win a basket of prizes.

A display board, usually electronic, that lights up showing each number as it is called.

A book of Bingo cards, designed to be played in a series of games.

A numbered card having 5 rows and 5 columns, which make up 24 numbered spaces, and one blank space in the middle, which serves as a free space and is automatically marked off. Players mark called numbers off on their bingo cards. See Bingo Equipment

See Dauber

A pattern for which you must cover the whole card to win. Usually 50 to 60 of the 75 bingo numbers have to be called to cover all the numbers on a card. But blackouts in as few as 43 numbers have been recorded (Same as coverall).

An air pressured device that mixes the bingo balls and dispenses them for the caller who announces the number and displays it on a bingo board.

A type of progressive coverall bingo. Between 45 and 48 numbers are called prior to the regular bingo session. If within the predetermined maximum number of calls, no winner has emerged, the game becomes progressive, with a higher maximum being set each successive night it is played, until someone hits bingo.

Buying bingo cards or an Admission Packet (see above). Converting cash into bingo cards.

The person (or machine) who calls out the bingo numbers for the players.

See Bingo Card

A version of Bingo where the prize depends on the amount of money paid in the Buy-in.

A screen displayed alongside your game where you can type in messages to other players and read their responses.

A lesser prize or prizes offered on some special games if there is no winner within a predetermined number of calls.

See Blackout

An ink-filled bottle/pen with a foam tip, used to mark called numbers. When you touch the bingo card with the foam tip it marks the square.

A bingo game that starts before another regularly scheduled game.

Bingo cards printed on thin sheets of paper. They usually have three cards printed on a single sheet but flimsies are also printed in one, two, four, six or 9-card formats. Typically a flimsy sheet costs one or two dollars and a win on a flimsy in a special game usually pays quite a bit more than a win in a regular game. Also called 'Throwaways' in some areas.

A Bingo pattern in which you must cover the corner numbers to win.

The middle square of the card. You get it free every game and it counts towards your winning pattern.

An electronic dauber system used to play multiple packs at once. These usually require a rental fee and only one is allowed per player.

An electronic display that is attached to the bingo board to show the pattern needed to win that particular game. It looks like a bingo card and shows what variation of bingo you are playing on that particular game on the program. For example: four corners, chevron, regular, blackout, etc.

Some online games divide the players into game rooms. The smaller group makes a more manageable chat room.

A bingo card printed on heavy cardboard material usually having shutters to cover each number as it is called out.

Bingo in a straight line without the use of the free space.

Refers to whoever is running the game. The house can be a Bingo Parlor, Casino or Bingo Hall.

A Bingo card with a 4x4 numbered grid.

A big prize usually awarded for achieving a difficult pattern (such as a blackout) within a specified number of balls.

A container with cash. You win the contents of the lucky jar if you bingo on the lucky number. The lucky number is usually the first number called at the beginning of a session. Money is added to the jar every time the lucky number is called or if the caller makes a mistake in announcing the game. Usually you can win the lucky jar only on regular games. There is no lucky number in play on special throw-away games.

The principal event at a Bingo session. The attraction that draws the most players.

The smallest amount you must spend to be eligible for prizes.

A number drawn before the game that will double a player's winnings if bingo is hit on that number.

Session of bingo that starts late at night, usually about 10:00 pm.

Two or more players bingo at the same time. When this happens, the cash prize is divided among them. For example, if there are five winners on a $500 game, they each receive $100.

A table with a set of screens where draw numbers are displayed and where players can sit. Usually they have six or eight seats.

This is a way of announcing or repeating the Bingo number drawn in a humorous way. In a crowded, noisy room, it also helps to confirm the number called. Bingo play using nicknames persisted in British Bingo halls until faster computer draws replaced air-blown balls.

A player is said to be On when one or more cards he or she is playing lacks only one number for a bingo.

The game(s) played prior to the blackout game, using the same card for the blackout. First the preliminary game(s) are played and then more numbers are called until there is a blackout.

The shape you need to create on your card by covering called numbers. You only need the numbers that form the pattern to win the game. The most basic patterns are straight lines in a horizontal, vertical or diagonal direction. One popular pattern is the “blackout” or “coverall” where you have to cover the whole card to win.

The percentage of sales paid out by the House. The average payout among all bingo halls is approximately 75 percent. This compares with a payout of approximately 45 percent on state lottery games.

Matching four numbers to form a postage stamp (a 2 x 2 grid) in any of the four corners.

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, consolation prize(s) of lesser dollar amounts are paid. Different variations of progressive games add dollars or numbers, or both, to the jackpot. There is usually a separate buy-in for Progressive Jackpot games.

A packet containing bingo cards varying color, each representing a different cash denomination. It allows players to play for three or four different prize denominations at once.

An evening of casino games like blackjack and roulette. These are sometimes held in bingo halls but more often in restaurants and hotels, Eagles & Elks clubs and other fraternal organizations.

Random Number Generator; the machine used to pick the numbers to be drawn.

An entire evening or daytime program of bingo consisting of regular games usually played on hard cards and special games played on throwaways, flimsies or paper sheets. A session usually lasts somewhere between two and a half hours and three hours and 15 minutes.

Six or nine numbers, respectively in a block on one card.

Games that usually are played with a different set of cards than the pack purchased at admission.

A coverall that is called very quickly. It is sold as a special game one card at a time.

A bingo game in which the winner splits the sales of the game (the pot) with the bingo hall or House. For example, the winner might get 60 percent of the sales and the house would keep forty percent.

See G.T.I..

A variation of bingo. If the first number called is Even then all the even numbers on all your cards are Wild (Jokers). Cover all the even numbers. If the first number called is Odd, cover all the odd numbers. The game then proceeds to a blackout.

See Bingo Card

Checking after bingo is called to establish a players' eligibility for the jackpot award.

Veterans of Foreign Wars, an organization which frequently hosts Bingo games.

The wild number is determined by the first number called in a game. For example, if the first number called is G47, then all numbers ending in 7 will qualify as a wild number and should be daubed on all bingo cards. Wild numbers are often used when playing double bingo, where a player must bingo twice on the same card to win.

The name of the last game of a session