Bingo Trivia - Did you know…
-
Bingo is the most popular fundraising game in
the world
- Bing Crosby's
nickname as a child was “Bingo”
- Screeno, a form of
bingo, was played in movie theaters during the depression
- The casino game,
Keno, is based on the game of bingo
- Most bingo players
also like to play slot machines
- A majority of
bingo players have a pet, most notably a cat
- In 1929, bingo
reached North America, and became known as “Beano”
- Bingo became
popular in Australia in the early 20th century. It was known as
Housie
- Bingo’s origin can
be traced back to 1530, to an Italian lottery called “Lo Giuoco
del Lotto D’Italia”. It is still played every Saturday in Italy
-
In the 1800s a
Lotto game similar to Bingo was used as an educational tool to
teach German children multiplication tables
- Physical exercise
will tone up the body, but the game of bingo enhances the player’s
mental speed, observation skills and memory. Research shows that
bingo keeps you in peak mental form. It provides an enjoyable
social experience, too!
- The number of
possible bingo cards is 552,446,474,061,129,000,000,000. If you
could print a million cards per second, it would take
17,505,972,382,599.7 years to print every possible bingo card. And
only 4,976,640,000 cards would have the same twenty-four numbers,
but in a different arrangement
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Bingo Superstition - Did you know that most
bingo players have…
- lucky bingo seats
- lucky bingo
numbers
- a fetish about
leaving money on the bingo table. It’s bad luck!
- lucky clothes they
wear to bingo, such as shoes, shirts and ties
- lucky days and
times that they like to play bingo. Lucky bingo halls, too
- bingo daubers in
their lucky colour and/or in the shape of their lucky charms
- a bingo ritual
where they walk around a chair three times - for luck - before a
game!
- photos of loved
ones, particularly grandchildren, displayed on the bingo table
- lucky charms, such
as a rabbit’s foot, elephant, teddy bear, frog, troll doll, monkey
and gem stone
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Bingo Etiquette - THE DOS AND DON’TS OF THE
GAME
Do choose your favorite, luckiest
numbers.
Do bask in the excitement of a
BINGO win.
Do relish every win, yell BINGO
loud and clear!
Do participate in this
fun-loving social event.
Don’t brag about your winnings.
Don’t whine about your losses.
Don’t take a fellow player’s lucky seat.
Don’t blame the callers. They are just the
bingo-ball messengers.
Finally, Do put Bingo on your ‘To
Do’ list, and keep it there!
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Bingo Lingo
Caller: The person who calls out
bingo numbers as they tumble from the holder.
Coverall / Blackout: A bingo pattern where you must cover all numbers
on the card to win.
Dauber: A foam-tipped bottle/pen
filled with ink used to mark the numbers called. Available in fun
colors and shapes. Daubers are the only acceptable method of marking
paper cards in bingo halls.
Free Space : The center square of the bingo card. It’s a
freebie, and it counts toward your winning bingo
pattern.
Game Board: The display board that
show the bingo balls in play. Can also show the pattern-type of game
being played.
Game Variations: Different ways that a game can be played, such
as Double Bingo, Triple Bingo, Coverall, Progressives and Hardway.
Each variation has specific rules, which are listed in your game
program.
HallBall: First number drawn at the
beginning of the bingo session.
Hardway Bingo: Bingo in a straight line without using the free
space.
Double Hardway: Bingo in two
straight lines on the same card without using the free
space.
Jackpot: A big prize usually awarded
by winning on a difficult pattern, such as the blackout, in a
specific number of balls.
Progressive Jackpot: A jackpot that
grows until it is won and requires a separate buy-in.
Minimum Buy-In: The minimum amount you must spend to be eligible
for prizes.
Money Ball: A number drawn before
the game that doubles your winnings if bingo is called on that
number.
Pattern Bingo: A specified pattern you need to cover on the bingo
card in order to win the game, such as Letter X, Letter T, or
Blackout.
Rainbow Pack: Packet of
assorted-colored bingo cards that allow players to play for more
than one prize denomination at once. Blue cards are the least
expensive, then red, green and tan - which pays the top
bucks.
Outside Square: A large-square bingo pattern. Player must mark all
numbers in the B row and O row, and the top and bottom lines on the
same card in order to win.
Inside Square: A small-square bingo
pattern. Player must mark all the numbers surrounding the free space
in the I, N and G columns.
Validation: After a called bingo to
determine players' eligibility for the jackpot award.
Wild Number: The wild number is
determined by the first number called in a game. For example, if the
first number called is G47, then all numbers ending in 7 will
qualify as a wild number and should be daubed on all bingo cards.
Wild numbers are often used when playing double bingo, where a
player must bingo twice on the same card to win.
WOB:
Wild on Bingo. An expression created by the writer to end this
glossary
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