Bingo Glossary

Bingo sites, like bingo halls, usually require a minimum purchase of cards - possibly between three and six - to be eligible to participate in the game.

The card used in bingo, arranged in five columns of five numbers each by five rows, creating a total of 24 numbered spaces and one blank space. The numbers on the bingo card are random. The five columns, like the five letters that form the word bingo, are in the following order: the numbers in the B column are between 1 and 15, in the I column between 16 and 30, in the N column between 31 and 45 (including the blank space), in the G column between 46 and 60, and in the O column between 61 and 75.

Like Blackout, covering the entire bingo card to win. This is usually reached only after calling most of the 75 bingo numbers, usually as many as 50 to 60.

The term referring to a particular bingo sheet - all 24 numbers plus the free space in the center of the N column.

Besides the buy-in, the purchase of bingo cards to be eligible to play, the minimum buy-in is the lowest wage to spend to be eligible for prizes.

Usually, to win at bingo, a straight line must be covered. Other standard patterns include horizontal, vertical and diagonal lines. Some bingo games may feature a four corners pattern, a coverall or others.

A fast-pace version of bingo, in which the first number called is followed by erasing all the numbers on the bingo cards, by all the players, which are accordingly odd or even. For example, if an odd number is drawn, then all odd numbers are Wild Numbers and can be covered. The game continues as a Blackout game.

Spicing up the bingo game, the Wild Number is decided by the first number called, for example, 16 is drawn, all numbers ending in 6 are marked off the bingo cards.