Bingo Glossary

Admission Packet: A packet of at least three to six bingo cards. It is the minimum number of cards that one must purchase for participation.

After Game – A bonus game that is played after the regular session of Bingo is over.

Basket Bingo: A type of Bingo game where the winners receive “basket” prizes.

Bingo Card: A card divided evenly into 5 rows and 5 columns containing 24 different numbered spaces and one “free” space. Each column is headed with one of the letters B-I-N-G-O. The numbers on every card are assigned at random.

Bingo Marker: A tool used to mark off the called numbers.

Blackout: Also known as coverall, it is the winning pattern in which the player must cover every number on their card in order to win.

Buy-in: The act of exchanging cash into bingo cards.

Caller: The employee of the bingo hall who announces the drawn numbers.

Chat Room: Found in online Bingo halls and online casinos. A chat room is a area where the players can read and swap messages.

Face: The actual individual bingo card made up of 24 numbered and on free space.

Four Corners: A bingo pattern where the player has to cover the four numbers found in the four corners of bingo card.

Hardway Bingo: When bingo game is won by achieving a straight line without the use of the free space.

House: Another name for the casino or bingo hall. Also refers to the owners and operators of the game.

Jackpot: The big prize of a bingo session rewarded for achieving a blackout or coverall pattern within a predetermined amount of numbers called.

Minimum Buy-in: The least amount of bingo cards one must buy in order to take part in a bingo session.

Money Ball: A specific number drawn prior to the start of the bingo game. If a player gets a bingo when this number is called the winnings are doubled.

Payout: The total percentage of sales that the house pays out to their players. In bingo, the average payout by the house is 75%.

Postage Stamp Pattern: A common bingo pattern which consists of marking off 4 numbers in a 2x2 grid in any of the 4 corners.

Progressive Jackpot: A cash jackpot that grows until it is won.

RNG: RNG is short for random number generator and is a mechanical device that assures that the bingo numbers picked are completely random.

Six-pack, Nine-pack – When the pattern to be achieved is a block of 6 or 9 numbers respectively.

Texas Blackout – A type of bingo game where if the first number called is even then all the even numbers on your card are considered wild. Every player can cover up all the even numbers on their card and the game proceeds as a blackout game. And if the first number called is odd, then all odd numbers are considered wild.

Wild Number Game: A bingo game that includes wild numbers. In this game if, for example, the number 12 is the first number called, then all numbers on your card ending with a 2 can be marked off. If the first number called is 21, then all numbers ending with a 1 are to be marked off.