Get Down With the Bingo Lingo

If you’ve ever wondered ‘how to play bingo in the UK?’ then you have come to the right place. We absolutely love bingo in all of its forms whether that be in the traditional halls or online with us at Bucky and we want to share the love with you. So, if you’re new to one of the greatest games on the planet, don’t fear as we are here to guide you through how to play bingo and all of its little intricacies.

What is Bingo?

With its origins in Italy and aristocratic France, bingo is a popular game in the United Kingdom and the USA. Depending on the type of bingo you are playing, you will likely have a card with numbers on it which will be marked off if they match the number that gets called or generated. The winner of the main prize is the first to mark off all of their numbers.

Different Types of Bingo

There are plenty of variations of online bingo and we have lots of options right here at Bucky. When you play bingo in the UK, you will traditionally be playing 90 ball bingo which, as you would expect, has 90 balls that can be drawn out. The other version is more popular in the States and features 75 balls and a card laid out in 5x5 squares.

Bingo Lingo

Now that you are all brushed up with your bingo knowledge, it is time to get down to the bingo lingo. Often referred to as bingo calls, when a number is drawn, it will often have a specific nickname to go with it.

Some of these nicknames are based on the visual representation of the number as for example 88 is known as ‘two fat ladies’ whilst 81 is a ‘fat lady with a walking stick’. Similarly, 22 is ‘two little ducks’ and 11 is ‘legs eleven’ (when this gets called players often wolf whistle in response).

There are also calls that rhyme with the number with ‘knock at the door’ called after a 4. ‘Man alive’ is number 5 and ‘clickety click’ is bellowed out following a number 66.

The final variety of bingo calls are ones that have a specific meaning attached to a number. For example, the condiment colossus Heinz famously has a ‘57 varieties’ slogan and so ‘Heinz Varieties’ is the call for number 57. Hitting the inner bull in darts will score you 50 points and so ‘bullseye’ is called for number 50 whilst a 10 will be called as ‘Theresa’s (or the name of the current prime minister is) Den’.

So next time you play bingo with your friends, impress them with your new-found knowledge of bingo lingo. If you want to play bingo online in the uk then head over to one of our popular bingo rooms where you can play 90 ball bingo, 75 ball bingo, or even play in one of our themed rooms! As well as bingo, we also have plenty of great online slots to play, like the ever-popular Rainbow Riches slot.