The New Bingo
I played bingo only a few times while growing up, though my memories of those games are quite clear. My parents used to take me every now and then to the local community club (which would be turned into a bingo hall for the night) to meet friends and have a few laughs.
Our local hall was pretty makeshift, a far cry from the Gala Bingo or Mecca Bingo halls that are commonplace in most inner cities today, with their bright lights, big computerised screens linking halls from all over the country, displaying huge jackpot figures and great national prizes.
We didn't have those fancy screens back then or any expert bingo caller. Instead we had a local community worker who would call out the numbers and the hall consisted of a makeshift arrangement of chairs with the caller standing on a wooden box covered with material, drawing numbers from a bingo blower which looked something like a Blue Peter project.
Our local hall was pretty makeshift, a far cry from the Gala Bingo or Mecca Bingo halls that are commonplace in most inner cities today, with their bright lights, big computerised screens linking halls from all over the country, displaying huge jackpot figures and great national prizes.
We didn't have those fancy screens back then or any expert bingo caller. Instead we had a local community worker who would call out the numbers and the hall consisted of a makeshift arrangement of chairs with the caller standing on a wooden box covered with material, drawing numbers from a bingo blower which looked something like a Blue Peter project.
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The Offline Days...
Bingo at the time was simply a way of getting people in the community together, to help form a community spirit. And it did. People would come from estates all around and we would know pretty much everyone at the club. Fathers would be surrounding the bar as mothers with their children screaming in excitement, would get ready to play. "What do I do, what do I do?" would be the cry from a young first timer, their question drowned out by the sound of voices buzzing with excitement as the game began.
I still recall the time I first heard the phrase "two fat ladies%u2026 22". I used to love those old catchphrases. My sisters and I would double over with laughter and we would be thinking of our own phrases all the way home. Of course these phrases have been lost now as society has become more politically correct and the wave of internet bingo has brought the game into a modern era.
I still recall the time I first heard the phrase "two fat ladies%u2026 22". I used to love those old catchphrases. My sisters and I would double over with laughter and we would be thinking of our own phrases all the way home. Of course these phrases have been lost now as society has become more politically correct and the wave of internet bingo has brought the game into a modern era.
The Online Days...
However, with some 65% of the UK now buying National Lottery tickets each week, and some 100,000 people regularly gambling at bingo online, you wonder where the future lies for this great community retreat. Couple that with the new Gambling Act (due to be enforced at the end of 2007) which proposes the development of super casinos in a number of key areas across the UK, and you can be forgiven for thinking that bingo will lose all its traditional and local community appeal.
Perhaps all is not lost however. Online bingo has also done some good to promote the land-based bingo craze, as figures show an increase in bingo hall attendance to over 80 million admissions this year, a 2% increase on the previous year. Bingo expenditure has also reached some £1.83 billion and contributing £82 million to the exchequer.
Perhaps all is not lost however. Online bingo has also done some good to promote the land-based bingo craze, as figures show an increase in bingo hall attendance to over 80 million admissions this year, a 2% increase on the previous year. Bingo expenditure has also reached some £1.83 billion and contributing £82 million to the exchequer.
by bingogal
I am a stay at home mom who plays bingo a little more than I should ;-)
I created this lens because I have found it difficult to find good deals at... (more)
I created this lens because I have found it difficult to find good deals at... (more)
