Even if you have played bingo for years, some of the terminology can be confusing. So if you are new to playing bingo and want to learn some of the terms, or even an experienced player that wants to brush up, read on.
When buying your bingo packet upon entering, you are given a set number of cards, and the option of buying speed games that take place at the beginning of your visit. Your bingo cards will have an average of 12 faces depending on where you play. A face is the part of your card that has the numbers located on it for you to color to have a bingo. A dauber is used in brick and mortar bingo halls to color the numbers on your card when they are called. Each game is normally played on a different card, unless noted by the caller. In order for you to have a Bingo, you must have daubed the winning number on the last number called. If you call on the last number called, a bingo hall worker will come to your table and check your card. There are numbers in the center or bottom of each face on your card, and these are used to punch into the computerized system to check your bingo status. If you actually have a bingo, the caller will alert all other players to a bingo, and move on to the next game.
Normally, a bingo session is opened with a few speed games played on single face cards. The caller will call out numbers in a hurried tone, and it is up to you to daub the numbers accordingly, and keep up. The first person to cover all the numbers on the card is the winner. If you can keep with the pace of the caller, you have a good chance of winning the jackpot which is normally $50. There are normally a total of 3 speed games, and this is more or less to give regular bingo players time to get to the hall before the beginning of the first game.
Regular bingos are the traditional bingo layout. These are always either diagonal from one corner to the other or straight across any row on the same face. For this, you would need to cover 1 number under each of the letters, B-I-N-G-and O straight across in the same row or diagonal to win. There are normally 2 of these games played consecutively so that you have a chance to ‘warm up’. The remaining games vary by location, but almost all include a Pickle Jar and Lollipop, as well as Even Stevens and Postage Stamp. The games that are normally played on the same card are the postage stamp and the lollipop, as you have to have a postage stamp to get a lollipop. This is normally included in the pickle jar, and the jackpot ranges, but is usually quite large.
The difficulty of the bingo called will determine the jackpot in most cases. The pickle jar is almost always played out in 3 stages, where the opportunity for 3 people to win is present. If no one gets the specific bingo for the first portion of the game that is played in 30 numbers or less, then it is carried out to a second part that is worth 2/3 of the jackpot. If no one bingos on these numbers in less than 50 numbers, it is played to a third part that is worth 1/3 of the jackpot. When someone finally bingos on this game, they will have only 1/3 of the total pickle jar jackpot, but if you win with someone else, it will be divided equally.
