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Bingo Conference

Spider

Spider

"The Cadre Constable"
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I as most of you know, I've been at the ACGM Annual Conference this weekend. That is the Association of Charitable Gaming of Missouri. They are the the group that helps all of the Bingo halls in the state of Missouri. Can you believe that there are only around 225 Bingo halls left in the state? I figured there was a lot more. They said that 10-20 years ago (I forgot the exact figure), there were around 1000!

Anyway, there were business items to take care of like electing new Board of Director members, giving annual membership and treasurer reports, and then we also had some round table, panel discussions, and open forum sharing of ideas. These were great because we could ask other bingo halls how they do things, or how they have addressed certain things in an effort to make ours better. We learned about a new game called the Queen of Hearts which is kind of like a progressive 50/50 game. I think it's going to be a really good game for us to implement and will be a lot of fun.

We also played some bingo, with real money, and proceeds helped out the ACGM with expenses and to help put on the conferences in the future. I didn't win anything, (I never do when I play real bingo), but I still had fun.

WE still have dinner tonight (all our meals were included), and a variety band after dinner if we want to watch that show. I'm going to skip the show so I can go to a couple Antique stores tonight. I need to go on the hunt for razors! Wish me luck!

I also got some SWAG. You know, the Stuff We All Get. Promotional merchandise and such. There is a pic below of what I'm bringing home. Those daubers are Neon, and are for using during Cosmic Bingo. That sounds like tons of fun!

I think there one more drawing during dinner, so I could possible get something else.

All in all I had a good time, and would like to come back next year. Didn't really know what to expect, but I think it's better than what I was expecting.

 
He’s got the official flash light and pen set...watch out world!

I notice Bingo is not a part of their acronym. Do they do other games too? Or is it just because their primary function is charity?
 
Nice haul KJ!

So back in CT, I live near Foxwoods Resort Casino, one of, if not the largest, casino in the country. I used to work there, and because I was an employee, the only game I was allowed to participate in there was the bingo. Now, to give you an idea of the size of this bingo hall, it can very easily fit 2 football fields, side by side. It's ginormous! Occassionally, I would go to play bingo, not necessarily to win anything, (the chances are pretty remote), but to watch the people. So, I would get there early, buy a ticket and invariably sit over on one of the sides, where I could pay attention to what was going on among the other players. The weekends were when the larger games were held, and typically were anywhere from $50-200 for a ticket...this is when I would typically go. I did have to make sure to get there early for prime-time games, (10am, 1pm, 4pm), because they would sell out (over 3600 people!!!!)

The funny thing is that the majority of the players are retirees, and quite a few purple haired women among those. They would come into the session with a large tote full of daubers, knick-knacks, chachkees, and little accent pieces to decorate their playing area, special mats for their cards, etc...they were ALL IN on these games. They would purchase 3-6 tickets each, and have that many cards in play per game, with a specific colored dauber for each card.

But that wasn't the funniest thing. What made this so funny was the reaction of people. When a call was made, all you saw was a flurry of purple hair, wrinkled hands, and most of all...the mumbling. These old women were so competitive, it made some of my HS sports teams look like pick-up games on on the town lawn. And lord forbid you hit a BINGO. There were thrown daubers, tipped drinks, pounding on the tables, and I've never seen so many elderly ladies cuss in my life. There was genuine bad blood towards whoever made the BINGO call. And LORD FORBID the bingo caller made a mistake. Oh lord...I saw that happen once, and he was mobbed at the stage by about 30 60-somethings, screaming at him. Was one of the most memorable times I have prior to joining the military.

EDIT:

Here's a picture of half the bingo hall during a session...looks like a weekday game.
 
Pretty similar to my experience, just on a smaller scale we get 60-70 people.
 
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