Bingo Calls & Their Meanings

A big part of bingo are the bingo calls - some are well known like Clickity Click (66), Two Fat Ladies (88), Legs Eleven, and Two Little Ducks (22). Some number calls vary from club to club and current events (e.g. No.10 is currently Tony's Den). Bingo calls were used to add a bit of fun to the proceedings as well as confirm to the players the number being called. Old style bingo machines used to be noisy and the bingo call was able to clarify the number drawn by using the calls. 1 Kelly's Eye: Can also be 'at the beginning' or 'buttered scone' although this depends on your pronounciation of 'scone' as to whether it rhymes. 8 Garden Gate: Has also been Gareth Gates but since the demise of the Pop Idol's career has probably reverted back to it's original call. 10 Gordon's Den: As in No.10 Downing Street and it's occupier - used to be Tony's until Gordon managed to get in unelected. 11 Legs Eleven: The bingo crowd sometimes whistle at this call. 22 Two Little Ducks: Based on the shape of the numbers. A loud "quack quack" often is heard from the bingo players when this number is called! 32 Buckle My Shoe: Modernised bingo suggests this should now be Jimmy Choo. We think the original call is better and saves many people asking "who is Jimmy Choo?" 57 Heinz Varieties: As in 57 Heinz Varieties that appears on the beans labels. 66 Clickety Click: Can also be all the sixes, but the more well known call is often used in bingo halls. 88 Two Fat Ladies: Based on the shape of the numbers. Probably the most well known bingo call! 90 Top of the Shop: The final number of the set. Not all bingo games are played with 90 balls, so 75 can sometimes be referred to as top of the shop. A full list of bingo calls can be found at Il Dado - this includes a wide range of variations for each number.