The Rules

Bingo is a game of numbers, not unlike Keno or other lottery games. The game is run by a caller, who draws numbers at random, from 1 through 75 (each accompanied by one of the five letters in the word “bingo”), and calls them out to the players. Each player pays for one or more game cards. This is known as a buy-in.

Each of the cards consists of a five-by-five grid of numbered squares, with the center square marked as a free space. In the traditional game, you are supposed to get five numbers in a row, column, or diagonal covered to win. Now the object is to fill in squares in any of a number of patterns identified by the caller before the game begins. (More on those patterns shortly.)

As the caller announces each number drawn, the players check their game cards for that number. Whoever has that number marks the square. The caller continues to announce numbers until someone fills in a pattern and shouts, “Bingo!” At that point an employee (called a floorperson, or a checker) will inspect the winning card for two things: to make sure that the numbers marked form the correct pattern for that particular game and that the numbers marked have been called. If the pattern and the numbers are right, the game is over, and the winner receives the prize. If more than one card wins, the prize is distributed among the players with winning cards.

It’s just that simple, at least for the basics. That’s how Edwin Lowe knew he had a winner when he discovered bingo. Now, on to some details that Lowe probably never imagined.

If you played bingo as a kid, you probably used tokens to mark your cards. Well, that’s impractical when the players are elbow to elbow, and the excitement is building. That’s why bingo parlors generally use crayons or felt-tip markers (called daubers, dabbers, or dobbers) to mark the squares on paper cards known as throw-aways. But you may also find games using plastic cards with sliding covers to mark the squares (shutter cards or fingertip cards) or disposable cardboard cards with fold-down tabs in addition to the simple cards and tokens just as you used years ago.

But whether you use tokens on cardboard or felt pens on paper, this aspect of the game is basically the same as when Edwin Lowe made his mark in gambling history. In the “B” column, the numbers go from 1 to 15. In the “¡” column, from 16 to 30. Under “N”, from 31 to 45 (and the free center spot, of course!). The numbers from 46 to 60 are under “G”. In the “O” column are the remaining numbers, 61-75.

When the game was known as beano, those numbers were drawn from a cigar box. Now, they’re usually printed on balls that are spun around in a cage or a glass blower, to ensure that each number is chosen at random. The caller then places each ball in a masterboard or rack. Many bingo parlors also have electronic boards to post numbers as they’re drawn and called, which makes it easier for the players to note and mark the numbers on their cards.

Some bingo operations also use an extra ball, distinctively colored and without any numbers. If this ball is drawn, the players can cover any one square on their cards as they like at any time during that game.

There may be differences in the type of cards, the means of drawing the numbers, and in the use of a wild ball, but the only real complication in bingo games is the patterns.

As mentioned earlier, before each game the caller announces the pattern for that game. A simple game pattern might consist of filling in a single row, perhaps the top or bottom, or completing two rows (double bingo) or getting all four corners of the card. Other patterns might be to form letters, such as T or X or Z, or even short words, such as HI.

Some of these patterns are easy for a bingo novice to understand, such as letters, a picture frame (the outside 16 squares), or inside square (the eight squares and the free squares that form the center of the game card). Other patterns may seem a little more unusual, such as bowtie, happy face, Mutt and Jeff, tic-tac-toe, hang the caller, and love letter.

Other patterns include six pack (a 2 x 3 cluster anywhere on the game card) and double postage stamps (two 2 x 2 clusters in any two corners of the card or in designated corners), also known as double Dutch or double Pennsylvania. It may be unnecessary to point out here that many of the patterns are known under several names, further confusing bingo beginners. Rest assured that the game operators or the aficionados around you will be more than happy to explain the patterns being used in a particular session-if you ask before the game begins.

The hardest pattern is usually saved for the final game of a ses-sion, when the stakes are highest, the coverall (also known as blackout or jackpot bingo). Usually only 48, 49, or 50 balls are drawn. The first player to fill all twenty-four squares on his or her card wins. If there is no winner (which is very likely, considering the odds, which we’ll discuss shortly), the caller may keep drawing numbers to produce a winner, although the prize is generally reduced. (The laws in some jurisdictions require a payout, so in those states, coverall games must continue until somebody wins-even if the prize is modest.)

You may also encounter the opposite pattern, no-number, where numbers are drawn and called until only one game card remains totally unmarked. This is a game where the person who is usually the loser wins!

There are also variations on coverall. For example, in Texas blackout, all even or odd numbers are covered at the start of the game: if the first ball drawn is an even number, all evens are covered; if odd, all odds are covered. Then the game continues as usual for coverall.

The basics of the game are simple, but virtually every bingo hall and parlor is likely to try something a little different, to add a little variety to life. We can’t cover all the possibilities, but you won’t have any trouble adapting to them as you go and enjoying the local differences.

A few terms might help you feel at home wherever you play. When a player needs only one number to win, that’s called a wait, logically enough. If you need two numbers to win, that’s called a wait for a wait. And a player who suddenly realizes he had a bingo on a number called previously is known as a sleeper. Finally, games played before the regular session begins are known as early bird games, while games played after the regular session are called late bird, of course!