Bingo Caller: Bingo Number Generator

How to use it

1. Choose the gamePick 75-ball for B-I-N-G-O cards or 90-ball for tickets with three rows. Switch only before the first call, or press New game.
2. Call numbersPress Call a number or Space for each ball, or switch on automatic calling every 5, 8, 12 or 20 seconds and read the numbers out.
3. Check a winner against the boardWhen someone shouts bingo, compare their card with the highlighted board or the list of calls, then copy the calls or start a new game.

What the bingo caller does

• Calls 75-ball B-I-N-G-O or 90-ball numbers, each one once per game, with the letter shown for 75-ball.
• Marks every call on a bingo board on screen, so players can check a number at a glance.
• Is a bingo generator for the calls, not for cards: it does not print bingo cards.
• Calls automatically every 5, 8, 12 or 20 seconds, or on each press of Space.
• Keeps the game on this device, so a reload does not lose the calls, and Copy the calls gives the list as text.

What the caller does

Each press draws one number from those not yet called, using the browser's cryptographic random numbers. The number appears in large type with the three calls before it underneath, lights up on the board, and joins the numbered list of calls below. When every number has been called, the button stops.

The game is saved on this device as you go. If the page reloads, the browser closes or the projector cable comes loose, open the page again and the calls so far are still there. New game clears them after asking first, so a stray click cannot wipe a game in progress.

The caller does not read numbers aloud. Someone in the room does that, which is also how most halls keep the game moving at the speed the players want.

75-ball bingo: B-I-N-G-O

The 75-ball game is the usual American one. Each column of the card belongs to a letter: B holds 1 to 15, I holds 16 to 30, N holds 31 to 45, G holds 46 to 60 and O holds 61 to 75. A card is a five by five grid with a free space in the middle of the N column, so it carries 24 numbers.

Because the letter follows from the number, the caller shows both, such as B 7 or O 68, and the board is laid out in five rows, one per letter. Players look only in the matching column, which makes the game quicker for beginners and for large rooms.

Winning patterns are set by the host: a line across, down or diagonally is the classic, while four corners, a letter shape or a full card make longer games. Announce the pattern before the first call.

The board fits a phone in portrait: on a small screen the numbers shrink to keep all of them in view, and the latest call stays at the top in large type.

90-ball bingo

The 90-ball game is common in the UK, Ireland and Australia. A ticket has three rows and nine columns; each row holds five numbers and four blanks, so a ticket has 15 numbers. The first column holds 1 to 9, the second 10 to 19, and so on up to the last column with 80 to 90.

Games usually run in three stages on the same calls: one line, then two lines, then a full house with all 15 numbers. Keep calling after each winner is checked; the caller keeps the list, so you never need to remember where you were.

Running a game night

Put the page on a television or projector and press Present: the menus and the guide disappear and the number fills the screen. Automatic calling frees the host to walk the room; eight seconds suits most groups, twelve or twenty seconds suit young players and people new to the game.

When someone calls bingo, pause the automatic calling, check their numbers against the highlighted board, and copy the list of calls if you want a record. A false call is easy to settle when everyone can see which numbers have come up.

For prizes drawn from a list of names rather than numbers, a raffle picker fits better. For a quick number in a class game without the board, the number wheel spins any range up to 200.

Traditional calls and nicknames

In British and Irish halls, many numbers have rhyming or picture nicknames that a caller says before the number. Some of the best known: Kelly's eye for 1, legs eleven for 11, two little ducks for 22, clickety-click for 66, two fat ladies for 88 and top of the shop for 90. The caller on this page shows plain numbers, so use the nicknames your group knows, or none.

In American 75-ball games the letter does the same job, B 9 or G 52, and helps players find the column. A short pause after each call gives slower players time to dab, and repeating the call once is common in a noisy room.

Pace, breaks and fair play

Decide the pace before the game and keep to it. With automatic calling the interval is the same for every number, which players tend to find fair. Pause it for a bingo check and switch it on again afterwards; the next call continues the same game.

Settle the house rules in advance: whether a winner must call out before the next number, what happens when two people win on the same call, and whether a missed win counts later. The list of calls shows the order in which numbers came up, so a claim can be checked against the exact call on which it was made.

Between games, press New game and confirm. The previous calls are cleared from the board and from this device, and the next game starts with every number back in.

Is every number equally likely?

Yes. Each call draws from the numbers left with equal chances, using rejection sampling so that no number gains from rounding. After 30 calls in a 75-ball game, any particular number has been called with a chance of 30 in 75, which is 40 percent, whatever happened in earlier games.

Streaks and clusters still happen, such as three numbers in a row from the same column. They are part of random calling, not a sign of a fault; the page is spin the wheel random shows a live test of the same generator over thousands of draws.