Bingo Lingo

Admission – To be eligible to enter a bingo hall and/or participate in a bingo game.

Admission Packet – the minimum number of cards purchased to be admitted in a bingo hall. This packet usually contains 3 to 6 cards for every game.

After Game – a game played after the end of a regular game.

Auto-purchase – Automatic purchases are made by Bingo software features for a player at the beginning of a new game.

Ball Gate – Part of the ball dispensing machine, the one-way flap at the top of the ‘ball runway’ which the ball passes under to enter the main playfield area.

Ball Lifter – The mechanism used to raise the ball from beneath the playfield to the ‘ball shooter’ tip.

Basket Bingo – basket prizes are awarded to players during game.

Bingo Board – called numbers are logged on an electronic board.

Bingo Books – a number of bingo cards bound together to be used at each game of a bingo session.

Bingo Card – it contains 25 spaces, one blank and the rest numbered.

Blackout – a type of pattern where the whole card must be covered in order to win.

Bonanza Bingo – a progressive coverall jackpot.

Breakopen – a multi-play card.

Buy-in – to purchase bingo cards.

Caller – the person who calls the numbers drawn.

Cash-In-Prize – A form of bingo where the prize is a cash payout. This is taken from the money paid in.

Catch-up – a method that automatically marks the numbers that are called on the player’s card.

Chat Room – A handy monitor or screen where you can read and exchange messages with other players.

Consolation Prize – The prize or prizes offered on some special games if there is no winner in a predetermined number of calls.

Coverall – see blackout.

Dauber – Bingo dauber is ink-filled bottle/pen with a foam tip on it used to mark called numbers. When you touch the bingo card with the foam tip it marks the square.

Early Bird Game – a game that starts earlier than usual or the first game of a session.

Face – an individual bingo card.

Flimsy – a thin bingo card which costs 1 or 2 dollars and pays a bit more than a regular game.

Four Corners - a type of pattern where the numbers in the corner of the card must be covered to win.

Free Space – the square in the center of the card which serves as a Joker.

Game Room – Some online games divide the players into game rooms.

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

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

Hardway Bingo - bingo card without a free space.

House – A casino or gambling center/centre or a gambling hall/property. Also the property owners or the operators of a gambling game, such as Bingo.

Instant Bingo – breakopen tickets which contain the letters of the word Bingo, numbers or bingo card faces.

Lucky Jar – the prize for having the lucky number on a card.

Main Stage Bingo – the main event of a bingo session.

Minimum Buy-in – The least amount you must spend to be eligible for prizes.

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

Money Ball – a number is drawn before the game starts and if you have it, your winnings duplicate.

Pattern – a shape which is needed to cover a card.

Parti – Short for participation bingo, a type of slot bingo or cash bingo where the prize is cash and depends on the number of players, since the cash prize is at least 50% of the money paid in. The most common boards used for parti bingo are inlaid cards and hand-held shutter boards.

Postage Stamp Pattern - a type of pattern which consists in matching 4 numbers in a 2×2 grid in any corner.

Prize Bingo – game played for a set prize.

Progressive Jackpot – 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.

Quickie – when numbers are called quickly.

Rainbow Pack – players are allowed to play for 3 or 4 prizes simultaneously.

RNG - Random Number Generator.

Serial Number - The minimum five-character number printed by a manufacturer on each set of charity game tickets/cards. Each ticket in a set contains the same serial number.

Session - 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 s

Shutter Board – A hand-held re-usable plastic board with pre-printed numbers, usually in a 4×4 format. These numbers are marked off by closing shutters over them. ession usually lasts somewhere between two and a half hours and three hours and 15 minutes.

Speed Bingo – when numbers are called quickly in a regular game and you can bingo in 3 numbers.

Speedgame – a quickly-called coverall. One card sold at a time.

Table Board Bingo – similar to lottery games, players win different prizes by completing specified patterns.

Texas Blackout - a bingo variation. A first number is called. If it is even, all the even numbers of your cards will be Jokers and you will have to cover them. The same applies for odd numbers.

T.E.D. – See G.T.I.

Texas Blackout – A variation of bingo. The first number called will be either odd or even. 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.

Validation - Eligibility required to win additional jackpot amounts. Price varies by number of cards played.

Wait – The only number that a player needs to complete a pattern and
win the game.

Wild Number – played in double bingo leading to triple bingo. For example, if 34 is drawn, all number ending in 4 should be covered.

Wrap Up – last game of a session.