Bingo has come a long way from the crowded smoky halls of the past, and although you can still find a local bingo hall if that’s what you’re into, more and more people are crowding online to participate in internet bingo.
It just makes sense - at a time when so many of us are on the computer all day long, we’ve got to find something online that can fill our need for a fun little hobby, with or without other people. Internet bingo gives us just that opportunity and since it’s based on a parlour game, bingo has the added bonus of being a pretty colourful game in terms of its own vocabulary and the characters who play it.
If you didn’t graduate from the bingo hall into internet bingo, you might be a bit confused about the terminology going on, so here’s a quick rundown of the vocab you can expect to find at any game, online or otherwise:
Blackout
Blackout refers to a pattern on your bingo card where you have covered all the numbers - in most internet bingo games a blackout will win you the highest amount possible. Sometimes a blackout is referred to as a coverall.
Caller
The caller is the person (or virtual figure) who chooses and announces each number. With internet bingo games, the caller is generally eliminated in favour of a random number generator but you can find some games where they’ve been etched in for a touch of atmosphere.
Dauber
If you’ve seen bingo played in halls, or even on TV, you will have seen those diehard players with a dozen cards and a giant marker to cross out the numbers as they’re called - this big specialised marker is the dauber, and when you’re playing internet bingo you can usually employ a virtual dauber to make sure you aren’t missing any of the numbers.
Free Space
Your Free Space is in the centre of the bingo card, and will be blank. It’s just a little boost as the game gets started, because you can daub it out before any numbers are called and feel like you’re on the way to a win!
Game Board
In internet bingo games, the game board is usually displayed on the side or the top of your screen, and this shows all the numbers that have been called for the current game. Useful if you feel like you’ve missed any, or if you just had to nip into the bathroom for a quick second!
Money Ball
This isn’t in use in all bingo games, but if it is the Money Ball will be chosen before the game starts and if you have it, it will double your winnings. Not a bad little side game of chance.
Pattern
The pattern refers to the shape of the daubs on your card; specifically the shape of the daubs that you need to win. Patterns include the blackout, straight and diagonal lines, diamonds and more complicated shapes in certain games. You really need to know what patterns you’re looking for to know when you’ve won at traditional bingo, but internet bingo games usually let you know the second it happens - thank God!
Stella Stevens is a fan of playing bingo online, and offers us some tips with regards to the language.
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