The American version of the game is based on seventy-five numbers played on a five number by five number playing grid with the letters of the word play live bingo across the top. The B column contains the range one through fifteen; I contains the range sixteen through thirty; N contains the range thirty-one through forty-five; N contains the range forty-five through sixty; and O contains the range sixty-one through seventy-five. The middle spot on the card in the middle of the N column is the Free Spot. A regular bingo free game consists of a vertical, horizontal or diagonal line and sometimes four corners depending on house rules. The American version allows for pattern games to be played since patterns can be easily made with the square grid.

The game of bingo began as a form of the Italian national lottery in the sixteenth century and quickly spread throughout the continent and eventually to America. Two versions of the game developed. The British version is based on ninety numbers played on a ticket that has nine vertical columns and three rows, with five numbers on each of the three lines. Each vertical column corresponds to a numerical range with the first have the range of one through ten; the second, eleven through twenty; the third, twenty-one through thirty; the fourth, thirty-one through forty; the fifth, forty-one through fifty; the sixth, fifty-one through sixty; the seventh, sixty-one through seventy; the eighth, seventy-one through eighty; and the ninth, eight-one through ninety. A regular bingo mecca consists of one line.