Glossary
Speak fluent bingo.
12 terms
- Buy-in
- The package you purchase to play a session. Contents and price vary by hall and session — check with your hall.
- Warm-up
- Early games played before the main session begins. Listed separately on each hall schedule.
- Session
- A scheduled block of bingo games with a set start time.
- Dauber
- An ink marker used to mark called numbers on paper bingo cards.
- Paper bingo
- Traditional play on printed cards marked with a dauber.
- Electronic unit
- A handheld device that tracks your cards and marks called numbers automatically.
- Pull tabs
- Instant-win paper tickets with tabs you pull open to reveal symbols.
- Coverall
- A pattern that requires marking every number on the card. Also called a blackout.
- Pattern
- The shape you need to complete on your card to win a given game, announced before it starts.
- Caller
- The staff member who draws and announces each number.
- Free space
- The center square of a standard card, already marked for you.
- Midnight Bingo
- A late-night session that begins at midnight — technically the start of the next calendar day.