Any regular bingo player can share in the possible fondness for bingo calls. The practice holds a place in many bingo player’s hearts because of the camaraderie it can represent. For example, bingo calls represent a time when people assembled in halls to play bingo.

The size of the establishments meant that not everyone could hear the numbers called out clearly, especially if it was noisy. For example, a 48 could easily be confused with a 58.

Nowadays, most players can register at online casinos like King Casino to play bingo online.

In this King Casino blog post, we’ve compiled some traditional bingo calls, modern bingo calls, funny bingo calls, and more!

Traditional Bingo Calls

Each number from 1 to 90 has a nickname assigned. For example;

• 1 is Kelly’s Eye, rumoured to be a nod to Ned Kelly or military slang.
• 2 is One Little Duck because the number 2 resembles a duck.
• 3 is Cup of Tea because 3 rhymes with tea.
• 4 is Knock at the Door because 4 rhymes with door.
• 5 is Man Alive because it rhymes with 5.
• 6 is Tom Mix, a classic cockney rhyme.
• 7 is Lucky 7, an obvious name to represent many people’s association with luck and the number 7.
• 8 as Garden Gate 
• 9 is Doctor’s Orders, a gag on people’s fear of going to see the doctor.
• 10 is (Prime Minister’s Name) Den. The number 10 is an ode to the current Prime Minister.
• 11 looks like a pair of lets, so Legs Eleven is a suitable nickname.
• 12 is One Dozen.
• 13 has a global rep for being an unlucky number that’s why it’s called as Unlucky for Some.
• 14 is Valentine’s Day.
• 15 is Young and Keen.
• 16 as Sweet 16 must be one of the easiest ways to remember this calling card.
• 17 is Dancing Queen inspired by Abba’s classing ‘Dancing Queen’.
• 18 is when many people ‘come of age’, so Coming of Age is a suitable nickname.
• 19 means Goodbye Teens, the last year of teenagehood.
• 20 is One Score, an old counting term because 20 units are in a ‘score’.
• 21 is Royal Salute. It’s a nod to the 21-gun salute.
• 22 is Two Little Ducks, because 2 looks like a duck, and there are two of them this time.
• 23 is Thee and Me, or The lord is my shepherd, a bible verse and an Old-English rhyme.
• 24 is the sum of two dozen, hence the nickname Two Dozen.
• 25 is Duck and Dive, a rhyme.
• 26 is Pick N Mix which makes for a memorable rhyme.
• 27 is Gateway to Heaven.
• 28 is Overweight.
• 29 is Rise and Shine.
• 30 is Dirty Gertie.
• 31 is Get up and Run, one of the oldest bingo calls that dates back to WW2.
• 32 is Buckle My Shoe, an old English nursery rhyme. It goes ‘One, Two, Buckle My Shoe’.
• 33 is Fish, chips and peas.
• 34 is Ask for More. It’s a nod to the Oliver! musical, an adaptation of the classic Dickens tale where Oliver Twist asks for more.
• 35 is Jump and Jive, a rhyme that means dance.
• 36 is Three Dozen, because there are 3 12’s.
• 37 is More than Eleven.
• 38 is Christmas Cake, a rhyme.
• 39 is 39 Steps, an Alfred Hitchcock original set in Britain.
• 40 is Life Begins to represent a culture where people think the fun stops at 40.
• 41 is Time for Fun.
• 42 is Winnie the Pooh, the storybook character from A. A Milne.
• 43 is Down on your Knees, a wartime warning used by soldiers.
• 44 is Droopy Drawers because if you look at the number, it looks like sagging trousers, i.e., droopy drawers.
• 45 is Halfway There because we’re halfway to 90.
• 46 is Up to Tricks.
• 47 is literally Four and Seven combined.
• 48 is Four Dozen because there are 4 12’s.
• 49 is PC, a card paying homage to an old British show, The Adventures of a PC.
• 50 is equal to Half a Century.
• 51 is Tweak of the Thumb/I love my mum.
• 52 is Danny La Rue, a famous entertainer.
• 53 is Stuck in the Tree.
• 54 is Clean the Floor.
• 55 is Snakes Alive because the two 5’s look like snakes slithering.
• 56 is Was she worth it? This bingo call originates from when a marriage licence could cost 5 shillings and 6 pence.
• 57 is Heinz Varieties to represent the 57 varieties of canned beans available.
• 58 is Make them Wait to reference steam engines.
• 59 is Brighton Line, also a train reference.
• 60 is Five Dozen because there are 5 12’s
• 61 is Bakers Bun, a rhyme.
• 62 is Turn the Screw or Tickety-boo.
• 63 is Tickle Me, a rhyme.
• 64 is Red Raw.
• 65 is Old Age Pension because it’s the year when most people could retire.
• 66 is Clickety Click, a rhyme.
• 67 is Made in Heaven.
• 68 is Saving Grace.
• 69 is Either Way Up because the number 69 looks the same upside down.
• 70 is Three Score and 10 because a Score is 20, and if you add 3 of them and a 10, the result is 70.
• 71 is Bang on the Drum.
• 72 is Six Dozen, because there are 6 12’s.
• 73 is Queen Bee.
• 74 is Candy Store/Hit the Floor, a rhyme.  
• 75 is Strive and Strive because you ‘strive’ to get a Full House.
• 76 is Trombones. It’s from The Music Man musical, where there was a parade featuring 76 trombones.
• 77 is Sunset Strip, an old TV show.
• 78 is Heaven’s Gate.
• 79 is One More Time.
• 80 is Eight and Blank because 8 + 0 is 80
• 81 is Stop and Run.
• 82 is Straight on Through.
• 83 is Time For Tea because 3 rhymes with tea.
• 84 is Seven Dozen because there are 7 12’s.
• 85 is Staying Alive because 5 rhymes with alive.
• 86 is Between the Sticks, a football reference representing the goalkeeper ‘between the sticks’.
• 87 is Torquay in Devon, a town.
• 88 is Two Fat Ladies.
• 89 is Nearly There or Almost There because we’re almost at 90.
• 90 is Top of the Shop i.e., the highest bingo number.

Funny Bingo Calls

As you’ve noticed, some bingo calls poke fun at British culture or events. Most funny favourites include the rhyming bingo calls and the number shapes. For example;

Golden Gate rhymes with 8.

10 for the Prime Minister’s Den. The phrase changes depending on who’s in office. It refers to 10 Downing Street, the UK PM’s London address.

Dirty Gertie for 30. Many speculate what this phrase may mean. Some believe it refers to a statue unveiled in 1927, while others say it’s a song, Dirty Gertie, from Bizerte. You might also hear 30, referred to as Burlington Bertie, a song from the Bow Musical era.

Rude Bingo Calls

One of the best parts about bingo culture is that bingo calls evolve. Different bingo circles like to switch things up occasionally, so you might encounter some rude bingo calls, too. They include;

• 19 is Keep ‘em keen
• 20 is Getting plenty
• 21 is Adult fun
• 24 is Did you score
• 37 is One night in heaven
• 69 is Your place or mine
• 87 is Grandma’s gone to heaven

Modern Bingo Calls

One of the best things about bingo call culture is that it keeps evolving. Some examples of modern bingo calls include:

• 1 is Little Jimmy, YOLO, or One Direction, named after consecutive 1972 number 1 song holder Little Jimmy Osmond. One Direction is the famous English band, while YOLO is the acronym for ‘You Only Live Once’.  
• 2 is Doctor Who. It honours William Hartnell, the time travelling doctor.
• 3 is I’m Free, Debbie McGee, the famous catchphrase from John Inman in the Are You Being Served sitcom.
• 4 is Bobby Moore, named after the 1966 World Cup English football captain.
• 6 is Little Mix, a fun rhyme and an ode to the popular band Little Mix.
• 7 is David Beckham, Popular With Strictly’s Len. David Beckham wore the number 7 jersey for most of his time at England and Manchester United. Len Goodman was a head judge on Strictly Come Dancing, a TV dance show from 2004 to 2017.
• 8 is Gareth Gates, Tinder Date. Both names rhyme, but also feature in modern pop culture.
• 9 is Selfie Time, a rhyme.
• 11 is Eyebrows on Fleek because the 11’s resemble eyebrows.
• 15 is Dancing Queen, Dabbing Machine, Yass Queen, all rhyming words. Of course, Dancing Queen is a hit song from Abba. The dabbing machine is a dance craze that went viral in 2015, i.e., ‘dab’, but it could also be the marker used to cross out bingo cards. ‘Yass Queen’ is modern Instagram slang.
• 22 is Desmond, Tay Tay, a rhyme that sounds like South African activist and archbishop Desmond Tutu. However, ‘Tay Tay’ is also a name for Taylor Swift.

Christmas Bingo Calls

Bingo calls can go seasonal, too. For example, Christmas bingo calls usually entail practices during the festive season. We’ve listed some below that might be the quirkiest you might come across.

• Will the turkey ever be done? as 1
• How much chocolate have the kids had? They’re going to spew! as 2.
• Who’s got a Secret Santa present for me? as 3.
• Uncle Ian’s such a bore! as 4.
• Dinner’s nearly ready, don’t get back from the pub late! as 8.
• Have an Alka-Seltzer, you’ll be fine! as 9.

Irish Bingo Calls

Bingo calls not only reference seasons or pop culture but also regions. For example, Irish bingo calls might feature items like a pot of gold, a four leaf clover, a horseshoe, a rainbow, and a gold coin.

Printable Bingo Calls – Download as PDF

You don’t need to Google what type of bingo calls you need to know. You can potentially print bingo call sheets that you can download online.

It’s a collection of all the popular bingo calls- new and old that you may need to know for your next bingo game. With a printable version, you can always have a quick scan to see what a number means.

Simpy save the page as a pdf and hit download to get your own printable bingo call sheet.

Best Bingo Number Calls List

If you’ve kept up with our article until now, then you have access to the best bingo numbers calls list. Our comprehensive bingo blog will help you learn all the nicknames we discussed, plus more!