A Picture Gallery of Bingo Patterns and Ways to Win

How bingo patterns work

Before each game the caller announces the target shape. Players mark numbers as usual, but a card only wins when its marks complete that exact shape. Everything else on the card is ignored for that game, so a player with twenty numbers covered can still lose to someone with only four, if those four are the four corners and the game is four corners.

Patterns belong mainly to 75-ball bingo, the North American game played on a 5 by 5 card with B, I, N, G and O across the top. The center square is a free space and counts as already marked. In the gallery below it appears as a small gold dot, and any pattern that runs through the middle gets it for free. The British 90-ball game works differently: its tickets have three rows, and the usual prizes are one line, two lines and a full house. Our 75-ball vs 90-ball comparison covers that game in detail.

Two words come up a lot in bingo halls. A crazy pattern may appear in any orientation, so a crazy T can point up, down, left or right, which makes it noticeably quicker than a fixed T. A hard way game means the free space does not count, so a winning line needs five real numbers instead of four. Both are easy ways to adjust a game you already know.

The pattern gallery

Each card below shows one pattern in green. Where a pattern can be won in more than one position, use the button under it to step through the other ways to win. The filter buttons narrow the list to lines, letter shapes or blocks and frames.

• Single lineAny full row, column or diagonal. With the free space, that gives 12 ways to win.
• Two linesAny two complete lines on one card. There are 66 possible pairs.
• Layer cakeThe top, middle and bottom rows all covered.
• Four cornersOnly the four corner squares. One way to win, so it needs exact numbers.
• Postage stampA 2 by 2 block in any corner of the card. 4 ways to win.
• Inside cornersThe four squares that touch the free space diagonally.
• Six packA block of six squares, 2 by 3 or 3 by 2. The gallery shows a few of the places it can sit.
• DiamondEight squares tracing a diamond around the free space.
• Small frameThe ring of eight squares around the free space.
• Picture frameEvery square on the outside edge. 16 numbers needed.
• Letter XBoth diagonals, crossing at the free space. 8 numbers needed.
• Plus signThe middle row and the middle column. 8 numbers needed.
• Letter TTop row plus the middle column. Played crazy, any of 4 rotations wins.
• Letter LLeft column plus bottom row. Played crazy, any of 4 rotations wins.
• Letter HBoth outside columns joined by the middle row.
• BlackoutEvery square on the card. Also called coverall. The longest game.

Which patterns play fast and which play slow

How long a game lasts depends on two things: how many numbers the pattern needs, and how many different places on the card it can be completed. A single line needs only four or five numbers and can finish in twelve different places, so in a room with several cards someone usually shouts early. That is why most sessions open with it.

Four corners looks just as small, since it needs only four numbers, but those have to be four particular numbers. There is no second chance elsewhere on the card, so it tends to run longer than a single line. The same logic explains why crazy patterns and postage stamps are popular: offering four positions instead of one speeds things up without changing how the shape looks.

Big shapes take the longest. The picture frame needs sixteen numbers, and blackout needs all twenty-four, so blackout is usually saved for the final game of the night when you want the suspense to build. As a rough order from quickest to slowest, expect:

1. Single line and postage stamp
2. Four corners, inside corners, six pack and two lines
3. X, plus sign, crazy T, crazy L, diamond and small frame
4. Letter H, layer cake and picture frame
5. Blackout

Treat that order as a guide rather than a rule. With only a few cards in play, any pattern takes longer, and a lucky run of calls can end a big shape surprisingly early.

Picking patterns for your group

For young children, stick to a single line or four corners and finish in under ten minutes. Shapes with many squares lose little players halfway through. Teachers often play one line first, then let the class keep marking the same cards for a second round of four corners, which squeezes two short games out of one set of calls.

At a baby shower, bridal shower or family party, a mixed menu keeps guests interested. Try a single line to warm up, a letter that suits the day (an X for kisses at a bridal shower, for example), then a blackout as the grand finale with the best prize. Word cards from our bingo card generator play every pattern in this gallery, because the shapes care about squares, not numbers.

For a fundraiser or community night, plan the patterns in advance and write them on the program in order, from quick to slow. Players like knowing what is coming, and it lets you set prizes that match the effort: small prizes for lines, bigger ones for frames and coveralls. If guests pay to play or the prizes are cash, look up the local rules first, since paid bingo often needs a permit.

Patterns on smaller cards

The generator can also make 3 by 3 and 4 by 4 word cards. A 4 by 4 card has no center square, so any shape that relied on the free space needs one more real mark, and lines become four squares long. A 3 by 3 card has eight lines, and its corners, X and frame still work. Very large shapes, like a layer cake, make little sense on a tiny card, so keep to lines, corners and blackout there.

Showing the pattern to players

The most common source of arguments in bingo is a player who misheard the pattern. Say it out loud, then show it. Hold up a card with the shape colored in, sketch it on a whiteboard, or put it on a projector. The board below lets you tap squares to build any shape, including ones that are not in the gallery, then switch to full screen so the whole room can see it.

When someone calls bingo, check only the squares that belong to the pattern. Read each number or word back and compare it with the called list on your caller sheet or the board in our free online bingo caller. If any one of those squares was not called, the game carries on. Our bingo rules guide suggests fair ways to handle ties and mistaken claims.

Inventing your own patterns

Any shape that fits on the grid can be a pattern, and themed shapes add a nice touch. A heart for Valentine's Day, a simple tree for December, or the first letter of the guest of honor's name all work. When you design one, keep these points in mind:

• Count the squares. Ten to fourteen squares gives a medium game; above eighteen it starts to feel like a blackout.
• Decide whether the shape is fixed or crazy, and say so before the first call.
• Decide whether the free space counts. If your shape skips the center, tell players that marking the free space does not help.
• Draw it for players. A new shape is easy to misread from a description alone.

If you print your own cards, the shape you announce has no effect on how the cards are made, so the same printed set can carry you through a whole evening of different patterns. Print enough copies for one card per player, plus a few spares, and keep the caller sheet in front of you for checking.