Bingo calls are central to the lingo of bingo halls and are used to provide clarity on the number that a caller is referring to. For this reason, bingo calls tend to vary from location to location. While some calls have maintained a measure of consistency, some numbers keep getting varying calls.
Bingo calls are pretty straightforward most of the times and do not require any special exposure to bingo halls to know the numbers they refer to. Others, on the other hand, tend to be quite obscure and will need some decoding to understand them. In the latter category are numbers which have political or Biblical undertones and those that try to rhyme the number’s appearance with its description.
Depending on the criterion used to name a number, most numbers are referred to using varying bingo calls. For the same reason too, bingo calls tend to be very dynamic – what is in vogue today might get a new variation tomorrow. Different locations will also show different preferences in coding a number. The list of bingo calls therefore keeps growing but this is no reason for the learner of bingo to feel out of place or intimidated. On the contrary, bingo calls present a witty and fun way to learn bingo as most of the calls are laced with humor.
Below are some common bingo calls. Of course this list is far from exhaustive and covers only the first 30 numbers but offers insights on what is used to code numbers and would be a good way to start learning the huge number of bingo calls out there.
1. Kelly's Eye / At the Beginning / Nelson's Column
2. One Little Duck / Me and You / Buckle My Shoe / Doctor Who
3. Cup of tea / You and Me / Debbie McGee
4. Knock at the Door / B4 / Bobby Moore
5. Man Alive / One Little Snake
6. Tom's tricks / Tom Nix / Chopsticks
7. Lucky Seven / God's in Heaven / David Beckham
8. One Fat Lady / Golden Gate / Gareth Gates
9. Doctor's Orders
10. Tony's Den / Downing Street / Uncle Ben/ Gordon’s Den
11. Legs Eleven
12. One Dozen / Monkey's Cousin
13.Unlucky for Some / Devil's Number/ Baker’s Dozen
14. Valentines Day
15. Young and keen / Rugby Team
16. Sweet Sixteen / She's Lovely / Never been kissed
17. Dancing Queen / The age to catch 'em
18. Coming of Age / Now you can vote
19. Goodbye Teens
20. One Score/ Blind 20 / Getting plenty
21. Key of the Door
22. Two Little Ducks / All the Twos / Quack Quack
23. Thee and Me / The Lord is my Shepherd
24. Two dozen / Did you score?
25. Duck and Dive
26. Pick and Mix / Half a crown / Bed and Breakfast
27. Gateway to Heaven / Little duck with a Crutch
28. Over Weight / In a State
29. You're doing Fine / Rise and Shine / In your prime
30. Dirty Gertie / Speed Limit / Flirty thirty / Blind 30 / Ali G
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As this list of bingo calls indicates, there is much humor and hardly anything intimidating in learning the lingo of bingo.