Bingo Calls

Bingo Calls

In its earlier days, the game of bingo was used at carnivals as a fundraiser for charities in the United States. At these large gatherings, it was difficult to get attention and the announcers began using distinctive calls to attract attention to the game. Eventually, after the game's commercialisation, winners began to enjoy greater prizes, which often resulted in an excited frenzy as the thrill of winning was discovered.

When bingo arrived in the UK, it was received with great enthusiasm. The game soon became a popular pastime with bingo playing halls and clubs springing up across the country. The UK developed its own bingo call traditions and varieties that were somewhat different to that of the game played in the USA. Instead of calling out the numbers in bingo calls, the British attached rhymes and meanings to each and every number starting from 1 to 90, which soon formed the infamous 'Bingo Lingo'.

After the advent of online bingo in 2002, the traditions were still ardently followed by bingo websites to attract former bingo hall players. Bingo websites understood that it was important for the same atmosphere and traditions to be emulated in the online games in order to get players to enjoy the games from the comfort of their homes. Online bingo makes it possible to choose the voice of the announcer for each game, which is the online equivalent to bingo halls that introduce celebrities to call the numbers.

Every number's rhyme is carefully thought out and each holds significance. These rhymes include unlucky-for-some 13, Valentine's Day for 14, one score for 20, half-century for 50 etc. Some of the numbers have unique names: 1 = Kelly's eye; 2 = one little duck; 8 = one fat lady; 88 = two fat ladies (figurative for bulky ladies); 18 = coming of age; 28 = overweight and 32 = buckle my shoe. While these are the more traditional calls, modern day calls are known to include rhymes that refer to current events such as the World Cup or Olympic Games.