Though the design of bingo cards may vary from one bingo hall to the other, in general each bingo card has a total of 27 squares that are grouped in three rows and nine columns. Bingo cards have fifteen different numbers and each one of the three rows has five of these fifteen numbers.

Numbers are placed so that the first column from a total of nine included in the card contains numbers from 1 to 9, the second column contains numbers from 10 to 19, the third column contains numbers from 20 to 29 and so on. The third column of the bingo card contains numbers that go from 80 to 90.

Generally, cards are sold to bingo players in pairs with a value that varies depending on the bingo game and that may go from as low as one cent to as high as several dollars. The front of the card shows its series, the range of bingo cards within each series, order number and the number of cards that are part of that specific series.

Usually, the back of the card shows taxes to be paid as well as a description of the main bingo rules. Generally the back also shows a warning indicating that marks or corrections that do not allow reading identification elements properly will render any prizes void. Understanding bingo cards is an important part of understanding the bingo game.