Glossary
After Game – This is the last game played during a session of bingo, usually reserved as a finisher experience for the players and a wind down game.
Ball Lifter – This is a part of the bingo ball machine that is designed to lift the ball up into the shooting area so that it can be fired into the field of plays.
Blower – This is a system that uses compressed air blown through a system of tubing that will launch a ball up into the area of play where it can be selected and have its number called for the players.
Caller – This professional is the person hired by a land based bingo hall or casino that will select the numbered balls and announce to the players what the number is.
Cash-In-Prize – This is a style of prize that allows the players to win a prize that has been bought or, if in cash, created by all those who have paid in on the game.
Face – This is the gaming sheet used to play bingo and it generally has 24 different spaces, each numbered so that they can be checked off during play.
Four Corners – This pattern is created by covering the numbers in the corner of a bingo card. All four of the corners must be covered before bingo can be called.
Free Space – At the center of most bingo cards, in amongst all the numbers on the card, there is normally a blank space that players are allowed to fill automatically. This acts as a wild card would in a card game.
Game Board – This is the read out unit that is normally attached to a wall or held on a portable stand. It shows out the numbers as they are called, generally making use of either a digital number read out or a system of electronic lights. It will sometimes also show the specific pattern players are looking for as they play.
Game Room – In an online setting, this is what the specific games are called in the areas that they are being hosted.
G.T.I. or T.E.D. – This is the electronic dauber system that will help players in a game of online bingo. It will organize multiple cards for them and help keep track of how close they are to achieving bingo.
Hard Card – This is a bingo card that has been printed on a heavy type of paper such as card board and it has shutters on it to act as markers when the numbers are called.
House – A slang term in bingo lingo that refers to the venue in which bingo games are played. These are the land based operators but can also be online.
Inlaid Card – These pre-printed cards are generally in a format that contains a 4 by 4 grid and they are laid out on a table. Black discs are used to cover the numbers that are being called out.
Jackpot - This is the prize, generally in cash, that bingo players are gaming for a chance to win during a session. It is usually added to by each of the players with their admissions fee.
RNG – Stands for Random Number Generator and comes up with the numbers in the same way a bingo ball machine would.