Bingo Equipment

To the uninitiated, knowing what you need to play Bingo is a must, while if you’ve played before, you might think that you know everything there is to know about Bingo equipment. But read on, you might be missing something that could give you the winning edge.

Bingo Card

This is where you’ll make your millions! Bingo is played by crossing off numbers on a card or disposable sheet printed with one or more card faces to obtain a predetermined pattern, so the card is crucial. The process of buying the card/s is called the ‘buy-in’, and the more cards you have (and the quicker you are at finding the correct numbers), the greater your chances are of winning. Many people buy books of tickets, and seasoned veterans will usually play between one and six books in a single session. In New Zealand, a book usually contains fifty tickets which are played over the course of the night (or day), while in the UK, playing is divided into sessions with different books, each with a designated number of pages. Players in the UK usually prefer to buy books of six tickets containing all possible numbers in different combinations. Depending on where you live, the card will look different – in the UK, there are only three rows containing 15 numbers, while in the US, cards are arranged to show 25 squares.

Dabbers

Also known as ‘daubers’ in some clubs, these fun items of Bingo equipment are used to mark the numbers that have been called. Available in a variety of colours, they are a must have to retain a neat, legible card.

The Caller

The person known as the caller picks and announces the numbers (usually printed on balls) on a random basis. He or she will also announce the pattern of the game before calling the first ball.

Bingo Numbers

There are 75 balls (or 90 balls, depending on which country you live in) in the Bingo cage, which is either mechanical or manually operated. Some Bingo clubs use electrically operated blower machines that have a trap to automatically catch one or more balls. A rush of air blows balls into a chute, and the caller selects the first one to announce. Each ball is printed with a letter from the word ‘Bingo’ and a number from 1 to 75. All of the balls are equal in size, weight, shape and balance, so that during the Bingo game, each ball has an equal chance of being used.

Mechanised Cash Bingo (MCB)

Not traditional Bingo equipment. You’ll find mechanised Bingo in the bigger Bingo clubs on specially modified tables. Essentially, this system replaces paper cards with a plastic Bingo board that is split up into four columns of colours. The customer chooses when they want to play, and inserts money or a credit into the coin slot. There are only 80 numbers in play. The numbers are called faster by the caller than in traditional Bingo, and when a player has a winning combination they simply press a claim button to stop the game. Winning combinations are usually any line down, across, diagonal, four corners of four centre squares. You’ll find that the number calling for MCB differs from that of traditional Bingo in that simple repetition replaces the traditional ‘Bingo lingo’.

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