Tonight turned out to be very informative. I walked into this drab white building (I thinks it's white) expecting about 30 people including us and a slow speaking caller. There were about 100 people there and the caller was slow during all games except speed, which makes since.
BTDub, playing bingo is not like riding a bike. I played bingo at some point in undergrad. Not religiously, but a couple times. I knew what to stamp, which sheet to use, and when to call. I was totally lost at the beginning of the night. I Walked in past all the rows of table to talk to the Head Woman In Charge. I inform her it's my first time. She says buy this (points at a paper clipped stacks of boards) and you also get a free dabber. I paid her. She was done with me, so I went to my seat.
First sound starts, I mark an entire line and call bingo along with 2 others. HWIC comes over to call out my code and caller man says not a good bingo. GREAT! Now the whole room knows i'm a first timer. Friend shows up. I send him to do what I did with the HWIC. This older lady comes back to ask if I wanted to sit by her, but she only had 1 seat available. The lady in front of me, which I later found out holds the name Kim, said she would help us out...otherwise known as... I'll make sure these idiots don't call fake bingo anymore. Kim was great. She told us which sheet to use and how to win before each game. We got the hang of it as the night progressed.
At some point, I looked around at the eclectic group of peopleband was kind of in awe. Women, men, young, old, alone, in pairs/groups, intense looking, scared looking, releaxed looking, prepared (tip cup, snacks, wet wipes, bingo bag with 12 dabbers, and multiple sheets per game), unprepared (1 dabber and 1 sheet), and people like me (smiling, looking around, asking questions, talking to friends, texting, and drinking a diet coke. It's amazing how 1 thing can bring so many different people together.
The organization putting this on also had their crap together. Snack stand, hot food, drink station, pull tabs (kinda like scratch offs, but not), people working the floor to sell extra sheets, and free popcorn. The ball caller was jacking up stuff every now and then like forgetting to call the wild number. He said it had been a while since he did late night (7-9), but overall they were on it.
Winning is fairly simple... well, if you know the rules of the game. Each game requires you to get a predetermined pattern (Big Y, 4 corners, straight line, Crazy T, coverall, etc. You get it, yell bingo, HWIC or HMIC comes over and calls out your sheet code, ball caller say that's a good bingo or that's not a good bingo (statement may differ depending on location). You split the prize for that game if multiple people get bingo.
I won 2 games by myself sending me home with a whopping 100 smackers. I spent $20 to play though.
I was a liitle anxious as we apprached the last ball call. I wanted to win the jackpot... $200. Some girl yelled as I dabbed a number leaving me with 2 left. CRAP #^&%. Maybe next time.
Yes. There will be a next time. I had fun.
I will be prepared next time though.
1. Arrive early - they have early bird bingo too.
2. Bring my supplies (bingo bag with the works -see above)
3. Set up my station before game play.
4. Release bladder before gameplay.
5. bring snacks
6. Peer pressure more friends into going.
I kept my game boards and plan to put pictures of them up as soon as I buy my camera.
Last thing.
If I really let go, I would play bingo every week, and the sh!t would hit the fan because $12.50 + adds up and the money is going to eventually run out. If only I could guarantee at least 1 win a week.
