B-I-N-G-O

Last Friday night Madelyn and I were frantically "dabbing" all of our I-26 squares on one of the strangest adventures we've had in Austin...... we were playing BINGO with a definitely different crowd then our usual Austin hangouts. At least 5 times a week we pass a giant BINGO hall off the side of the highway. Every time we pass it, we comment on how funny it would be to actually go play BINGO. The giant sign outside of the building says you can win 500 dollars! How hard could that be? One line across.... BINGO..... hand me my 500 dollars!

Last Friday we were sitting around our tiny apartment itching to leave. There was nothing playing at the movies, there was nothing happening downtown, and all of our friends were busy. Suddenly I remembered the funny looking BINGO hall off the side of the highway........ and we were off.


(waiting for our game to start. With the BINGO board in the background)

Before we jump to the next portion of the story, I think it's important to mention, that all BINGO establishments in Texas have to follow certain rules. The most important is that the BINGO hall is non-profit. All of the proceeds from BINGO go to local charities around the Austin area. So it's for a good cause.... except you have the possibility of winning! I don't see how it's much different than going to an auction for a charity: you give money, and you might walk away with something. Anyway..... back to the story.


(The official BINGO card. 12 games per card!)

We arrived for the first "set" of the night. We were honest with the people working there, and told them we had never been. They were very helpful, and explained the rules. Here is how it works: Each night there are 4 sets, each set consists of 5 games. This isn't elementary school BINGO, one line across isn't going to give you anything. Each game is completely different, you might have four corners and a line, three lines, an L shape, etc. For each game you get 12 bingo cards.... so for the set that we attended we played 60 BINGO cards in total. We played LOTS of BINGO, and for a whopping 6 dollars each, it was well worth the money. Also, in order to be an effective BINGO player you have to buy a special BINGO "dabber", which kind of like a giant marker with a large circular tip. This helps you mark the BINGO boxes efficiently.


(me with my "dabber")

Lets just say, there is a whole population of people who LOVE to play BINGO. I've never seen anything like it. Once the BINGO game starts the place is quieter than a library. There is a whole list of rules and the only one in bold is "TURN OFF YOUR CELL PHONES". Madelyn even sneezed and was met with a group "bless you" in stereo. The numbers are called one at a time off of little balls that come out of some machine. There are some extreme BINGO players who play multiple boards at one time (that's 24+ BINGO cards!), some have special BINGO bags to hold all of their multi-colored dabbers, some have special BINGO dabbers..... these people are dedicated.

Each game I thought I was going to win, every time someone called BINGO I was only one or two squares away. I was reminded by the women across from me that EVERYONE was one or two squares away. Of course! If people weren't so close to winning, why would they keep coming back?


(Madelyn outside the BINGO place, with her dabber and filled in BINGO card)

We had SO MUCH FUN! I know it sounds strange, but we had the best time. We partied with the Austin elderly! And I gotta say.... those people know how to have a good time! We didn't win the BINGO game.... but it didn't matter, because we had such a good time.