The Highs and Lows of Playing Bingo

[00:00:00] Hello and welcome to The Broke Bingo Addict.

[00:00:12] This is a podcast that ventures through the wild and crazy world of bingo.

[00:00:17] This is much more than your grandmother's bingo.

[00:00:20] My name is Shari and welcome to this week's episode which as always is for entertainment

[00:00:26] purposes only.

[00:00:28] Hi everybody and welcome to this week's episode of The Broke Bingo Addict.

[00:00:32] I don't know if you were aware or if you were listening to my podcast at the time but back

[00:00:36] in November I was participating in a bingo event in Las Vegas that was the South Point

[00:00:43] $2 million extravaganza.

[00:00:45] Now they have that event three times during the year.

[00:00:48] They have it in March, they have it in July and they have it in November.

[00:00:52] I think this was my fifth time participating in this event which I'm really very fond of.

[00:00:58] I love it because a lot of my friends go, it's just a whole bunch of people from all over

[00:01:02] the, I was going to say country but it's people from all over the world.

[00:01:04] It holds like 2,000 people in the hall and it's just a really fun event.

[00:01:09] Even though I actually don't remember how many times I've played before, I definitely

[00:01:15] know that this was the first time that I've won even a penny.

[00:01:19] I had played in the event, I had played not only the daytime events but I have played the

[00:01:23] nighttime ones what they call the super sessions and I never won a penny which isn't to say

[00:01:28] that all of the most friends that I've mentioned hadn't won.

[00:01:30] I had even one of them, Margie Bear won 20,000, Mia won 20,000 so people have won.

[00:01:36] It just wasn't me so I couldn't tell you how excited I was to finally win.

[00:01:43] Now the event takes place during the week over the course of four days.

[00:01:46] There's two sets of two days.

[00:01:48] Okay, so there's a Thursday, Friday set of days and there's a Monday, Tuesday set of days.

[00:01:53] So each one of those days has got 30 games and out of those 30 games the majority of them

[00:01:59] pay $20,000.

[00:02:01] Then during that day for each day there's two $50,000 games and then there's also

[00:02:06] two $25,000 games.

[00:02:09] Now I was lucky that at the end of the very first day when I was playing in November

[00:02:13] I split one of the $25,000 jackpots.

[00:02:17] Okay so I got $12,500 and that was the biggest jackpot that I have ever gotten.

[00:02:22] I mean to this day that's still the biggest bingo win that I've ever had in my life and I mean

[00:02:27] it was exciting.

[00:02:31] I mean I can't tell you how loud I screamed and how excited I was and my whole table was excited

[00:02:36] and it was just really a really great day for playing bingo but you know what I have noticed

[00:02:42] since that win which by the way again was back in November and we're talking April now

[00:02:48] my bingo luck has shriveled like the dickens.

[00:02:53] Now I won't say that I haven't won okay I have won.

[00:02:56] I've won a few paper games but I have not won an instant from any kind of a pool tab.

[00:03:03] I've not won a strip.

[00:03:05] I've not won a high paying bingo game

[00:03:09] and I can't tell you how many times I was just sure I was going to win something okay.

[00:03:14] I mean the first time being when I went down to Houston back in February

[00:03:18] I went down to Houston to participate in Tanya's aka Confessions of a Bingo Attic.

[00:03:23] She had her lovely 2004 bingo pelusa and you're talking two days okay.

[00:03:29] I mean you're talking bingo bingo bingo almost the entire day pull tabs out of your mind

[00:03:36] 20 paper games and then just a ton of pull tabs even though I had a great time

[00:03:41] and I definitely plan to go back I didn't want a penny okay so that's one time.

[00:03:45] Absolutely sure I was going to win.

[00:03:46] Then there was another event there was Winners Bingo up in Stockton.

[00:03:50] They had an eight year anniversary event that had just some really massive payouts

[00:03:54] you know thousands of dollars for these strips and these games

[00:03:58] and just went up there with just knowing I was going to win something

[00:04:02] and seeing all these other people win something which really kind of she's like

[00:04:07] you're happy for everybody to win but at the same time you're like what the hell

[00:04:10] okay so I went up to Stockton I had a great time yet again walked away with nothing but

[00:04:15] a smile on my face so there was that thing going to one of my regulars going to Bosco

[00:04:20] Tech when they've had a thousand dollar strip thing going on and again absolutely

[00:04:24] sure I was going to win something and not winning.

[00:04:26] So like I said over the course of the past few months I've only won a few bingo games

[00:04:32] paper and nothing for more than 300 dollars so that just made me think about it.

[00:04:37] You know what do you do to kind of change your luck because sometimes this can go on for a long

[00:04:41] time I remember going back to when I was playing bingo just across the street from my house at

[00:04:47] a place called Buckingham Heights Bingo I literally no exaggeration went 10 months okay 10

[00:04:56] straight months where I didn't win a penny just kept on going because that's what bingo players do

[00:05:04] you just keep on going and you keep hoping that something is going to change but in the meantime

[00:05:08] the nice part of that is it's not just about the bingo game it's because you're also going there

[00:05:14] and you're hanging out with your friends you're relaxing you're getting away from your stress

[00:05:18] and you're having a good time but trust me in the back of your mind you still want to know

[00:05:24] what's going to happen or when is it going to happen that you break this crazy losing streak so

[00:05:30] anyway with that thought in mind and my recent you know kind of stalemate right now I put it out

[00:05:34] there to some people and I wanted to hear what other people said about what to do to help

[00:05:39] Lee try and break this limbo period of when you're not winning one of the easiest things

[00:05:45] to start off with was to change your seat and this actually happened for me a couple of weeks

[00:05:49] ago I was playing at this bingo hall that I play at every week or this is st. Joseph's I play every

[00:05:55] week and I usually on Thursday as soon as they become available on bingo me now that's I go in

[00:06:00] there and I grab my seat and a lot of times I don't even need to do that most people tend not

[00:06:04] to grab the seat that I want but for this particular week for some reason like as soon as I

[00:06:09] went on it went in there to get my seat somebody had already grabbed it so I was forced to sit

[00:06:14] in another seat which was very atypical I almost always get my seat and I thought that's

[00:06:18] okay we're good we're going to do what they say you know try something different maybe this will

[00:06:23] break this up and maybe you'll win here okay so I tried that again had a good time that's going to be

[00:06:29] the theme of a lot of this had a good time but didn't want to die okay so that was one of the

[00:06:33] things that I tried in that didn't work so the other thing that people said to do which is

[00:06:37] you know took a little bit more effort was to go someplace different all right I could do

[00:06:41] that so I mixed it up I was playing at the bingo club more which is not to say that that's

[00:06:45] someplace different because I like the bingo club but that's not someplace that I generally go a lot

[00:06:50] actually one of the times I did win at the bingo club and I think it was $300 I won one of the

[00:06:55] special game so it was $300 and I will admit I was really excited because I did think I thought

[00:07:00] okay this is great the spell is over we're moving on we're going to get some more bingles

[00:07:05] going on instead of just doing just laxadaisical kind of stuff going and having a good time so I

[00:07:09] was really excited but boom right back in that little stalemate of not winning anything so that's

[00:07:16] okay we're going to keep playing bingo one of the other things that people said though was to have a

[00:07:21] positive attitude and I've had that a lot many people say you have to go in there knowing

[00:07:25] you're going to win and I try that I go in there every time like I said I played those two

[00:07:29] special events and I knew I was gonna win again particularly in Houston I knew I was gonna win

[00:07:35] but as hard as I tried to stay positive you know at the end of the day when you don't you get really

[00:07:39] depressed it's like wait a minute I just knew I was gonna win something and I'm walking away with nothing

[00:07:44] but a smile on my face from having to hung out with some really nice people so trying to stay

[00:07:49] positive is actually the one I think I have the most difficulty with I I feel like I am really

[00:07:53] kind of working that process and yet for some reason it's just not panning out for me at this

[00:07:58] time I know it's going to change eventually but I'm just saying at this particular time

[00:08:02] now the other thing people say is to just stop going just don't go for a while and I don't know if

[00:08:09] I can do that this is my happy place I retired from you know my job a few years ago and this is

[00:08:15] my way to get out of the house and again see some of my friends not that I don't got with

[00:08:20] other friends doing other things but this is my really one joy that I can count on because I can

[00:08:24] do it at least a couple of nights a week and just kind of chill and I know other people

[00:08:29] have told me that they're able to do that like they'll take a month off I seriously couldn't take a

[00:08:33] month off I'm gonna try to cut back and do maybe once a week because like I said I used to go play

[00:08:39] two times a week so maybe I'll try to cut back and do once a week but I have actually said that

[00:08:43] before and still do it two times a week but I'll see so I at least feel like that's a good

[00:08:48] one to kind of cut down on the money because as much as you're having a good time as much

[00:08:51] as I'm enjoying it you are spending a lot of money and if you're not winning you know that's

[00:08:55] money that's just gone so you got a kind of account for that which by the way brings up the other

[00:09:00] issue because some people are talking about pay more money that you should spend more money

[00:09:05] getting pool tabs or spend more money on strips and I don't disagree with that really I think

[00:09:10] you can increase your chances by doing that but I also know that I've done that and I have it

[00:09:15] once so so are you just exacerbating it are you making it worse that you're spending even

[00:09:20] more money and you're not winning I don't know I kind of have a toss up with that

[00:09:24] but then I see people who are spending a lot and they're winning a lot but I just don't feel

[00:09:29] like I'm in a position to take that chance I wonder if a lot of people are in the position to

[00:09:33] take that kind of chance if you are God bless you but for myself personally I feel like I'm

[00:09:37] kind of doing the opposite right now I feel like I'm not going to spend so much money

[00:09:42] just to lose it you know you put out all this money for these pool tabs in particular

[00:09:47] and they don't get your return back and I'd like to say that I'm not going to buy the

[00:09:51] pool tabs and I've tried to cut down on them which is by the way obviously the most money

[00:09:55] saving thing you can do but as we all know the pool tabs are pretty much the most fun because

[00:10:00] it's really exciting especially when you get down to one number and you think you're going to get

[00:10:04] it so that's really something that's difficult to cut back on it's like crack yes pool tabs are

[00:10:11] cracked so I don't know if that's going to happen but that's the other thing that somebody

[00:10:14] said oh the other one that's good somebody said to you spray and I'm going to have to do

[00:10:20] this one of the things I have never done is I've never used the spray and I see a lot of people

[00:10:25] I was watching who was it I was watching Miko Yum-Yum play the other day and she was doing that she

[00:10:30] had all of her spray going and I've seen a lot of people use their spray and I've just never

[00:10:35] done that but I do know that Tanya of Confessions of a Bingo Attic I'm pretty sure she's got

[00:10:40] that in her B-teek and I think I'm going to go and see about getting some of that because

[00:10:44] at this point it absolutely can't hurt so it's that it's also saying holy spirit activate

[00:10:50] holy spirit activate I think that's one I've done that thing where you get up and you

[00:10:55] walk around your chair and everything like that so there's a few things that I've actually tried

[00:11:00] have not necessarily worked but you never know anything can help even like doing the one I've

[00:11:05] seen Kiki Marie when she plays or other people have done this too so I shouldn't say just Kiki

[00:11:09] but you get down to that last number which by the way I am the queen of I am the queen of one away

[00:11:15] okay nobody can take that title from me and I get to one away and what I'm doing now is I see people

[00:11:21] mark the number just go ahead you know manifest it mark that number cover it up and then hopefully

[00:11:27] that'll work or see Kiki like I said she taps the screen with it or whatever and I've

[00:11:31] done that where I've tapped something it's like come on give me that number but at this point

[00:11:36] that has never worked for me to manifest that number again not saying I'm going to stop

[00:11:40] just saying at this point it has not made a difference in me wanting that number or not

[00:11:46] but no matter what whether it's tapping the screen whether it's moving location whether

[00:11:50] it's using the spray whether it's moving seats whether it's having a positive attitude

[00:11:56] when push comes to shove bingo players are just going to keep playing bingo and I'm definitely

[00:12:01] a bingo player and I'm definitely going to keep playing and just know the sooner or later that

[00:12:06] my dry streak will you know kind of perk up and hopefully be in a winning streak because that's

[00:12:11] the other thing too as much as people have a dry streak you absolutely have winning streaks too

[00:12:16] and I recall way back when I was on one I think before I had the 10 months of dry I think I

[00:12:22] had 10 months of winning every single time so it's just the way the numbers fall and you

[00:12:27] just got to go out there and have a good time speaking of winning I wanted to talk about what to

[00:12:32] do when you are winning at bingo okay so like I said this lovely little $12,500 was the biggest

[00:12:38] win that I've ever had playing bingo and along with that came the lovely little tax paper for me

[00:12:44] having to file with Uncle Sam about it so I wasn't sure I asked a couple of people about

[00:12:48] what to do and I had seen one lady who had mentioned that she was a tax accountant so

[00:12:53] she said that what she did is for whatever amount that she lost she just claimed that exact

[00:12:58] amount so that's what ended up happening with me I spoke to my tax people obviously and I had

[00:13:04] told them that that was the case though I had you know won this money and they said the same thing

[00:13:09] so unfortunately you can't claim more than what you won because the sad part of this was

[00:13:13] is that I had to go back and keep track of what I had lost okay I wanted to make sure that

[00:13:18] Uncle Sam wasn't going to get me I wanted to make sure that if I was going to say

[00:13:21] that I lost $12,500 that I was going to be able to prove it and the good thing is with bingo me now

[00:13:27] and the fact that most of my bingo purchases were done with my ATM card I was able to go back

[00:13:32] and track it so I just went back and looked and make sure that everything wasn't like overlapping

[00:13:36] that I wasn't counting something twice and I'm talking before I even got to the end of the

[00:13:40] year before I got down to like 12 months I was already up $13,000 so I kind of stopped

[00:13:47] right then because I told my tax lady it's like yeah this is not a problem if anything it's kind of

[00:13:52] depressing when you stop and you look and you see how much money you spend but yeah so anyway

[00:13:59] when you're doing that different states I don't know might have different rules I think it should

[00:14:03] be pretty much the same for everybody but that was the case you can't claim more than what you

[00:14:09] lost but you can absolutely claim up to what you lost so that should have evened everything

[00:14:13] out and so I'm really happy at the time when I was doing it that they asked you if you want to

[00:14:17] take your taxes out and I was really happy that I was like yeah no we're not going to do that because

[00:14:22] like I said I definitely want to take advantage of that money as much as possible so anyway

[00:14:27] that's all I wanted to say winning or losing bingo is just such a great place to be

[00:14:34] place to hang out and have a good time so I'm going to continue and definitely going to

[00:14:38] let everybody know when my losing streak ends for an extended period of time okay and I hope everybody

[00:14:44] has a winning streak of their own in the meantime thank you so much for listening to this week's

[00:14:49] episode of the broke bingo addict and I hope you'll come back for the next one thanks