Online Bingo Lingo

Does not matter whether you play Bingo online or offline, if you do not know the Bingo Lingo you may feel like an alien in the Bingo World. Therefore, to make you feel at home, we have compiled a comprehensive list of jargons used every now and again by Bingo pros. Track through them and master the Bingo Lingo.

1. Admission

In a traditional Bingo hall it is the fee to be paid to enter the hall for playing. But in the world of online bingo, you just need to do a free sing up to start playing.

2. Admission Packet

It is the minimum number of cards that has to be purchased for admission into a Bingo Hall. Usually it’s a number between 3 to 8.

3. After game

An additional game played after the regular session.

4. Basket Bingo

It’s a type of Bingo game where winners get items kept in a basket instead of cash.

5. Bingo Book / Booklet

It is a book bearing all the tickets for all the games to be played during a session.

6. Blackout / Coverall / House all

When you have marked all the number on you Bingo ticket it is called Blackout or Coverall or House all.

7. Bonanza Bingo

A type of progressive Bingo with prizes increasing every week till the time it is won.

8. Breaking the Bubble

It is the minimum number of balls required to complete a line on a Bingo ticket. In other words it is the earliest point at which any player can have a Bingo.

9. Casino night / Vegas night

These are the Bingo events where you can also play casino games like poker and blackjack.

10. Dauber

A pen used to mark called number on the Bingo ticket. These days most of the online Bingo sites  offer auto-daub, a feature which automatically marks the called numbers on your Bingo tickets. It is quite handy when you have multiple tickets.

11. Early Bird

Typically the first game of a session

12. Eyes Down

Traditionally eyes down is announced before the first number is called. At times people use it to refer to the time remaining to the start of a new Bingo game.

13. False Alarm

As the name suggest, when someone calls a false Bingo its called false alarm. At times it is also referred as a ’social error’, ‘falsie’ or ‘bongo’.

14. Flyer

It is a Bingo ticket having only one Bingo Game printed over it.

15. Forwards and Backwards

These are the numbers prefixed or suffixed with the wild number drawn at the beginning of the Bingo game. For instance if the wild number is 6 and if the first ball that is called is 66 then all squares with number 6 prefixed or suffixed to them are considered called.

16. Free space

It refers to a blank square at the center of a Bingo ticket. It is used as wild card or joker.

17. Game Board

The large display board showing all the number being called during a Bingo game. You will find virtual game board on online Bingo Sites.

18. Hardway Bingo

A type of Bingo game played with tickets not having the center blank space.

19. Inlaid card

It a kind of Bingo ticket which is inlaid on the table top and players use discs to cover their numbers.

20. Instant Bingo

A type of Bingo game where scratch cards are used as Bingo tickets and thus the Bingo number are hidden initially.

21. Jumping the Gun

Just like jumping a race, jumping the gun in the Bingo world refers to a situation when a player calls Bingo just before the next number is called. The player is not be sure whether it going to be the right number to have a valid Bingo still he/she ends up calling the Bingo in excitement.

22. Lucky jar

It is a addition prize on offer if you win the game on call of a pre-decided lucky number. At times the lucky number is the first number called in the game. And with every repetition of the lucky number more cash can be added to lucky jar depending upon the rules of the game.

23. Market Bingo / Prize Bingo

Bingo games having no cash prizes. The prizes may include a variety of commodities.

24. Money ball

A type of Bingo game where a number is drawn at the start of the game and if you hit Bingo at the call of this number you get double prize.

25. Parti Bingo

A Bingo game which played on a 4 x 4 board. Usually a Parti Bingo game moves faster compared to traditional Bingo game.

26. Pattern Bingo

A style of Bingo game where player tries to cover a pattern instead of covering all the numbers on the ticket. These patters may include line, covering the four corners, or forming the shape of a letter.

27. Payout

A percentage of the game fee paid out as prizes. The higher the payout the better it is from a player’s point of view.

28. Progressive Jackpot

Very popular these days, progressive jackpots are the jackpots carried forward from one Bingo game to another till the time they are won. Thus it is a kind of guaranteed jackpot to be won. Also depending upon the rules of the game, the prize money of a progressive jackpot may increase over time.

29. Quickie / Speed Bingo

As the name suggest, it’s a kind of fast track Bingo game where number are called rapidly and you can even win with a simple pattern.

30. Session

A time frame during which a given number of Bingo games will be played.

31. Split Pot

A scenarios when two or more players hit the Bingo on call of the same number and prize is divided equally amongst the winners.

32. Standard

These are the numbers ending with the same digit as the first digit called in a Bingo variation game.  Let’s assume the ball is 55, in that case all the numbers ending with 5 (inclusive of the single digit 5) are called numbers.

33. Waiting

A player is called ‘waiting’ when he or she needs only one more number to complete a line and call a valid Bingo.

34. Wild Numbers

It is a kind of Bingo variation where players are permitted to use wild number identified by the caller. It is a general practice to use the first ball drawn to determine the wild number but rules a may vary and are announced by the caller at the beginning of the game.