This bowling bingo printable deals from 91 squares, no two cards alike: strikes and spares, pins left standing, the balls and shoes around the lanes, and the moments every bowling night produces. Mark a square when it happens.
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Your own rolls, or the whole lane
Settle one rule before the first ball. On a league night, a square counts only when you roll it yourself, so a baby split becomes something to hope for. At a birthday or a family outing, it counts when anyone on your lane does it. The scorekeeper judges, using the note beside each square in the list below.
Fit the 91 squares to the crowd
A casual crowd can pick Bowling night moments in Ready-made list: 27 squares that need no bowling terms. A league can pick Pins left standing. It has 18 squares, so the card switches to 4 × 4, with no free center and a line of four.
Set How many cards to the number of bowlers plus two spares.
No printer? Everyone opens this page on a phone, picks a different card number and taps squares between turns.
For second and third prizes, play on after the first line: four corners next, then a blackout.
Questions and answers
What counts as a split?
A split is a leave with the head pin down and a gap between the pins still standing, such as the 7 and 10 in the back corners. With the head pin still up it is a washout, which has its own square.
Can bowling bingo be called like regular bingo?
Yes. Press Call the game, then Call the next one. The page draws each square once and keeps the called list on screen for checking a winner, which suits a team banquet where nobody is bowling.
Can we add squares of our own?
Yes. Under More options, press Enter after any square in the word list and type: your lane number, a name for the lucky ball, the birthday bowler's first strike. Keep each line to about 30 characters so it fits the square.
All 91 squares
Strikes, spares and scores 23
Brooklyn strikeA strike from the wrong side: the ball crosses over and hits on the far side of the head pin from the usual pocket.
DoubleTwo strikes in a row by one bowler.
Every bowler marks in a frameA mark is a strike or a spare. Everyone on the lane gets one in the same frame.
FoulTouching the lane past the foul line. The roll scores zero and the sheet shows an F.
Frame of zeroTwo rolls and no pins.
Game over 100A finished game in three figures. The most a game can score is 300.
Gutter ballChannel is the formal word for the gutter. A roll that hits nothing goes on the sheet as a dash.
Nine on the first rollOne pin short of a strike.
Open frameA frame with neither a strike nor a spare.
Same count two frames runningOne bowler, two frames in a row, the same number of pins.
Score ending in 0Any running total on the scoreboard counts: 60, 90, 110.
Someone beats their best gameTheir word is good enough.
Show all 91 squares (79 more)
Strikes, spares and scores, continued
SpareThe last pins go down on the second roll. The score sheet shows a slash.
Spare after a gutter ballAll ten pins on the second roll. Bowling slang calls it a wombat.
Spare in the tenth frameIt earns one more roll, known as the fill ball.
StrikeAll ten pins down on the first roll. The score sheet shows an X.
Strike in the tenth frameIt earns two more rolls, so the last frame can hold three.
Strike on the very first rollFirst frame, first ball of the night.
Strike, then a gutter ballSame bowler, one frame after the other.
Three spares in a rowOne bowler. Bowling slang calls it a sparrow.
TurkeyThree strikes in a row by one bowler.
Two bowlers tiedThe same running total after the same frame.
Two spares in a rowOne bowler, two frames running.
Pins left standing 18
7-10 splitThe two back corner pins. Nicknames: goal posts, bedposts, snake eyes.
Baby splitThe 2 and 7 pins, or the 3 and 10.
Ball rolls between two pinsThrough the gap without touching either side. On a 7-10 split the slang is a field goal.
BucketFour pins in a diamond: the 2, 4, 5 and 8, or the 3, 5, 6 and 9.
Corner pin left standingThe 7 or the 10, alone in the back row.
Exactly five pins downOn a first roll at a full rack.
Front pin down, next one leftOn a spare try the ball takes the front pin and leaves the one beside it. Slang: a chop, or a cherry pick.
Head pin left standingThe 1 pin, at the front of the triangle, missed on the first roll.
Just one pin on a rollA full rack, one roll, one pin.
Pin falls after a long wobbleLong enough that the bowler had already turned away.
Pin hiding behind anotherA pin directly behind another is called a sleeper.
Single pin spare madeOne pin up, and the second ball finds it.
Single pin spare missedOne pin up, and the second ball goes past it.
Sliding pin knocks one downA pin that travels across the deck and takes out another late is called a messenger.
SplitThe head pin is down and the pins still standing have a gap between them. Score sheets show it circled or in another color.
Split convertedEvery pin of a split down on the second roll.
WashoutPins left with a gap between them while the head pin still stands, so it is not a split.
Wobbling pin stays upIt rocks, it leans, it stands.
Balls, shoes and lanes 23
A 16-pound ballSixteen pounds is the heaviest ball the rules allow.
Ball bounces off a bumperTwice on one roll is still one square.
Ball ramp for a small bowlerCounts on any lane in the building.
Ball takes ages to come backHouse rule: longer than the walk back to your seat.
Ball wiped with a towel
Birthday party on another lane
Bowler in a wrist braceWorn to hold the wrist in one position through the release.
Bumpers up on a laneRails that keep the ball out of the gutters, mainly for beginners and children.
Fallen pin left on the lanePins lying on the lane or in the channel are called deadwood.
Full rack reset by mistakeA full set of ten pins is a rack, and setting a fresh one is a re-rack.
Hand over the air ventThe small blower on the ball return, there to dry a bowling hand.
Lane needs the front deskA stuck ball, a jammed pin or a frozen screen all count.
Lights go down, lanes glowBlack lights and music over the lanes.
Marbled or swirly ball
Matching team shirtsLeague night gives this one away.
Misspelled name on the screen
Nickname on the scoreboard
Scoreboard cartoon playsThe animation after a strike, a spare or a gutter ball.
Someone aims by the arrowsSeven arrows are marked on the lane about 15 feet past the foul line, as guides for aiming.
Someone brought their own ball
Someone swaps house ballsA house ball is one the bowling center supplies. A swap in the middle of a game counts.
Two balls of the same colorSide by side on one ball return.
Two-tone rental shoesCounts on anyone's feet.
Bowling night moments 27
A first-ever strikeThe bowler has to say so.
A left-handed bowler
A turn taken on the wrong lane
Ball barely reaches the pinsThe head pin stands 60 feet past the foul line.
Ball goes backwardIt slips on the backswing and heads for the seats.
Ball lands with a thudLoud enough that the next lane looks over.
Big cheer from another lane
Big hook into the gutterThe ball curves hard and drops off the edge before the pins.
Bowler blames the ballThe lane, the shoes and the lighting count too.
Food arrives mid-frame
High fives down the whole row
Last bowler up gets a strikeOn a league team the last bowler in the lineup is called the anchor.
Leaning to steer the ballTilting, hopping or waving at a ball that has already left the hand.
Photo of the scoreboard
Practice swing with no ball
Someone asks how scoring worksA strike scores ten plus the next two rolls. A spare scores ten plus the next one.
Someone bowls out of turn
Someone demands a rematch
Someone pleads with a pin
Stops to retie a shoe
Tenth frame decides the gameThe lead changes, or the win is sealed, on the last rolls of the night.
Turns away before pins fallTurning round early, sure of a strike. Counts whether or not it is one.
Two bowlers share one ball
Two-handed roll between legsCounts at any age.
Victory danceBoth arms up or both feet off the ground.
Whose turn is it?The whole lane has to call one bowler back to the approach.
Youngest bowler gets a strike
How this list was compiled: Written for this site on 2026-09-18 as a list of things that happen during a night of ten-pin bowling; nothing was copied from another bingo card. Every square is 30 characters or fewer so that it fits a 5 x 5 card printed two to a page. No bowling center, ball maker, league, governing body or brand is named. The bowling terms, pin numbers, scoring rules and lane measurements in the explanations were checked on 2026-09-19 against three English Wikipedia articles: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_bowling (strike, spare, open frame, double, turkey, sparrow, wombat, Brooklyn, mark, foul, channel, bumpers, arrows, house ball, rack and re-rack, deadwood, messenger, chop, sleeper, bucket, washout, field goal, anchor, wrist brace), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten-pin_bowling (strike and spare bonuses, the extra rolls of the tenth frame, the 300 maximum, the 60 feet from the foul line to the head pin, the 16-pound limit on a ball, the score sheet symbols X, slash, dash and F) and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split_%28bowling%29 (what makes a split, the circle on the score sheet, the 7-10 split and its nicknames, the baby split). The glossary's drinking customs, such as the beer frame, were left out under the site's clean rule. Squares without an explanation are things to watch for and carry no fact. The usual ways to win (a row, column or diagonal, four corners, blackout) were checked on 2026-09-19 against https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bingo_%28American_version%29. Licence: own work