What's So Special About Bingo?

[00:00:08] 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.

[00:00:16] 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

[00:00:25] purposes only.

[00:00:27] Hi everybody and welcome to this week's episode of the Broke Bingo Addict.

[00:00:32] Last weekend there were a couple of neat little events that were happening locally here in Southern

[00:00:38] California.

[00:00:39] Nothing major, nothing like the stuff at South Point with $20,000 a game but some nice payouts.

[00:00:45] One was happening at St. John Bosco where they were doing their strips for $11.99

[00:00:49] and there was another event over at Bosco Tech where their strips were paying $2,000

[00:00:55] and their games were paying $500.

[00:00:57] So they had like some real money going on out there and I was so excited about both.

[00:01:03] I didn't think I could do both because usually they both play on Saturday but because Bosco

[00:01:07] Tech was actually moved to Sunday it was like oh my god I can actually do both of

[00:01:11] these events and I was really excited.

[00:01:14] You know one because I always love playing bingo and two you had a chance to win

[00:01:18] big money and you know people are always saying manifest your win, manifest your

[00:01:23] win.

[00:01:24] You know you can do it just manifest it and trust me I was manifesting like a mother okay?

[00:01:29] I really did, I really thought I had a huge chance to win one of these games.

[00:01:34] You know if I didn't win at one place I was absolutely gonna win at the other place so

[00:01:39] I was really excited and looking forward to it definitely looking forward to it but

[00:01:43] long story short didn't win it either okay?

[00:01:47] Not any of the big games.

[00:01:48] I won't lie I did get $100 instant for the zipper pool tab but that's it okay?

[00:01:53] That's all I got and I was a little dejected when I left that night on

[00:01:57] Sunday night when I was going home from Bosco Tech it was like why do you keep

[00:02:02] doing this?

[00:02:04] It was like I really thought I was gonna win and you got nothing and trust me

[00:02:07] that's not the first time it happens quite often so I was thinking to

[00:02:11] myself why do you keep coming back to play bingo all the time if you're

[00:02:16] not winning a lot of money and so I put the question out on tiktok I

[00:02:20] was wondering why do we do that and you know how do we keep going so I actually

[00:02:24] went on to tiktok and I posed the question you know how did you get started

[00:02:28] playing bingo and why do you keep playing bingo right?

[00:02:33] So I was really surprised people are really really nice people are really

[00:02:36] really kind and so many people responded to that question you know a lot

[00:02:40] more than I actually expected to respond and for the most part there are a

[00:02:45] lot of people who had the same answer to that question you know let's start

[00:02:48] with the first one why did you get started playing bingo and it seems to me

[00:02:53] that most people kind of like myself got started by a family member or friend so

[00:02:58] if you don't recall how I got started was my dad my dad was a huge golfer

[00:03:05] okay huge huge huge huge golfer but at a certain point he got ill he got a

[00:03:11] lung condition called pulmonary fibrosis and then a certain point he

[00:03:16] couldn't golf anymore so he had to find something else to do with this time and

[00:03:20] he found bingo you know I don't know how he found it but he did he found bingo and

[00:03:24] we're in Las Vegas so they have that thing where it's on the hour it's not

[00:03:27] like it do in California a lot of other places at the time it was just

[00:03:32] playing for one hour like every odd hour at one of the casinos now again

[00:03:37] this is more than 20 years ago okay this is way more than 20 years ago when

[00:03:42] this was happening but my dad would go and he made a lot of friends because

[00:03:44] my dad was super personable and that was his new place and that was his new joy

[00:03:49] and I was just so happy that he found something else that he could do to

[00:03:55] entertain himself so that's how my sisters and my brother and I found out

[00:03:59] about bingo because every now and then we would go with my dad and we would

[00:04:02] suck we would suck I mean when we're some of those people who sat there and

[00:04:07] yell bingo when you don't have bingo and people look at you but anyway it

[00:04:10] was still it was fun to do that and hang out with our dad but that's how I was

[00:04:15] introduced to bingo in Las Vegas but eventually I had moved to California and

[00:04:20] the same kind of thing you're you want to do something not necessarily with your

[00:04:24] friends you just want to do something to entertain yourself and I found bingo

[00:04:28] the first place I knew about it was out at Sandman well okay now I lived

[00:04:33] in Culver City so Sam and well was quite a long ways away so I had

[00:04:37] absolutely no idea that there were places closer to me I didn't know about

[00:04:41] the bingo bugle I didn't know about all these other places the only place I knew

[00:04:45] about was Sandman well but I loved it I would go out there every few months or

[00:04:49] so I would hop in my car I would go out there and you know play I also then

[00:04:54] later on I found out about morongo which was even better because morongo

[00:04:57] had a hotel so I would go out there and spend a couple of days out at morongo

[00:05:01] even when I was married my husband was really good about the fact that he

[00:05:04] didn't mind that I would go out there to morongo and spend a couple of days and

[00:05:08] play bingo and I and it was my happy time that was my peace to be away for a few

[00:05:13] days not worry about anything just you know play some slots get a massage you

[00:05:20] know enjoy myself during the day and then I knew that when it was about you

[00:05:24] know four or five o'clock it was time to go over to the bingo hall and set up

[00:05:28] and get ready and play bingo and just talk to people that's the cool thing

[00:05:31] about bingo I don't care who you are I don't care where you go if you go to a

[00:05:37] bingo hall you don't need to know a soul because people are gonna talk to you just

[00:05:42] the nature of the beast people are gonna talk to you so I would go play bingo

[00:05:46] out there and have a really good time and come back and feel really refreshed

[00:05:49] and I just really enjoyed that little getaway for myself and Lord knows when

[00:05:54] I found out that there was a bingo hall within walking distance of my

[00:05:58] house okay that was it right walking distance within my house and that I went

[00:06:06] there and the very first night that I went there I played pool tabs and again

[00:06:12] they don't have pool tabs at the casino so pool tabs were completely new to me

[00:06:17] and I don't know which one it was but the very first set of pool tabs that I

[00:06:21] opened inside that set of pool tabs was a $250 instant so just like a lot of

[00:06:28] other people who could instantly attract it because you win so quickly that was it I

[00:06:34] was set you know so like I said a lot of people mentioned that it was their

[00:06:39] their mother their aunt their best friend their co-work there was somebody

[00:06:45] that took them out to bingo and once they got there and they saw what an

[00:06:49] incredibly friendly community was then they were kind of hooked that way

[00:06:54] others were also like me when I was on the first time when they got there and

[00:06:58] they had a big win I love when I'm playing someplace and I see somebody

[00:07:01] who's new you know who's never played bingo before and then they get a big

[00:07:05] win and you know that's it those people are coming back every chance they get

[00:07:10] because it's like some kind of a drug it's like when they have crack dealers

[00:07:15] or people who push drugs sorry to use this comparison but you know they

[00:07:19] give it to you for free because once you get that hit that thrill that

[00:07:22] excitement you're coming back all the time and that's kind of how bingo seems

[00:07:25] to be for a lot of people you know you get that nice win and you just like I

[00:07:29] gotta go back or you meet those nice people and you gotta go back so again

[00:07:34] that reminds me of Jen from Jen loves bingo and her little son you know who's

[00:07:38] clearly not a bingo player but we were playing in Texas and he must have

[00:07:41] won at least five times guaranteed it was at least five times so I know

[00:07:46] that kid is gonna be a bingo lover for the rest of his life so that was

[00:07:50] just kind of nice that people did that like I said a lot of the people

[00:07:53] that's how they were initially introduced to it but I also spoke to some other

[00:07:58] people who because of tiktok being out there that's a whole nother component

[00:08:03] that you don't even think about where it's not necessarily where somebody

[00:08:07] took them to play bingo but they actually discovered it themselves online

[00:08:12] and I talked to a few people about that I think one of them I even was

[00:08:16] bingo nurse alley was saying that you know there are people out there who

[00:08:19] suffer from depression and are just loneliness and it's amazing how many

[00:08:25] people have tuned in to tiktok to watch other people playing bingo okay

[00:08:31] they're just watching other people play listening to the conversation and

[00:08:36] joining in on the conversation which is nice because you can develop these

[00:08:40] friendships with these people that you never actually even see in person but

[00:08:44] you get to follow them you get to watch them playing bingo and enjoying

[00:08:48] themselves and winning money some people who are watching from home they're

[00:08:53] also becoming moderators for a lot of people and so even though they may not

[00:08:56] be able to travel even though they may not have the access to bingo in

[00:09:01] their local community or they may not have the funds a lot of us God knows

[00:09:05] we are on a budget okay so a lot of people don't have the ability to

[00:09:10] actually go play bingo for themselves but they can get enjoyment and

[00:09:14] they can get a community a camaraderie with people just by watching them on

[00:09:19] tiktok which is amazing to me it's just so fascinating how many people have

[00:09:24] been impacted by tiktok and the joy that it brings by watching other

[00:09:29] people play bingo so I think that that is absolutely amazing and again

[00:09:34] there are other friendships that are true friendships it's it's so weird

[00:09:37] that you see people playing all the time and you feel so close to

[00:09:40] them because you've created this connection through bingo so that's

[00:09:45] wonderful and it helps so many people with their depression or with their

[00:09:49] loneliness and I think that that's interesting that that's just another

[00:09:53] way that people have been drawn to bingo and that you can communicate not

[00:09:58] only with people in your own country which I don't go live a lot anymore

[00:10:02] very rarely but even when I did it was absolutely amazing to me that you

[00:10:07] can get people from other countries so you're not only just impacting the

[00:10:11] people around you you're impacting people in places like

[00:10:14] Italy and New Zealand and Australia or Japan or I mean you get people from

[00:10:21] all over the world which is absolutely amazing so I think that that's

[00:10:24] another nice benefit that bingo has and I know I talk about

[00:10:29] the tiktok people but again I've also noticed that a lot of the people

[00:10:33] when you go to these places when you go to these bingo halls when you go to

[00:10:36] these tournaments when you go to whatever most of these people aren't even

[00:10:39] on tiktok so just think about that think about what an incredibly

[00:10:44] large community it is and how much of an impact

[00:10:47] bingo has on people so again I kind of drifted a little bit but my original

[00:10:52] question was basically how did you get to tiktok and I think we answered that

[00:10:56] most people got to it either by somebody taking them there wasn't so much

[00:11:00] that they fell into it it was more likely that somebody initially took them

[00:11:03] and then they created another monster or another addict so the other part of the

[00:11:08] question is what keeps you back and I think we did

[00:11:11] drift into a little bit of that because ultimately I think what brings people

[00:11:15] back are two things please feel free to disagree

[00:11:20] the main thing I think is not what you would think it would be

[00:11:23] I think some people would say the money but I honestly don't think it's

[00:11:27] the money it can't be the money at least in my case it absolutely

[00:11:31] can't be the money because I'm not winning that much money actually losing money on the deal

[00:11:36] what brings most people back is the community I think bingo has an absolutely amazing

[00:11:44] community I've said it so many times you know it's the people that are there

[00:11:49] that you see that you spend a lot of time with that are like hi how are you

[00:11:54] that are you know bringing your cookies or bringing your cakes or asking how

[00:11:57] your family's doing or checking in on you when you're not doing well

[00:12:01] or that you're just doing things to enjoy yourselves together

[00:12:05] it's that other people are thinking about you and that they're doing things that you enjoy

[00:12:08] and that they've become part of your family and again this goes both ways like I've mentioned

[00:12:14] before this goes for people who are physically in the same room with you as well as people

[00:12:20] that you're watching for those people who do do that people who are just watching over

[00:12:24] TikTok or something like that it is an amazing community and there's so much support there

[00:12:29] you know I'm not going to lie for every family there's always some kind of conflict

[00:12:33] and that kind of breaks my heart that that happens but there's always people out there

[00:12:37] there's always going to be haters no matter who you are no matter where you go no matter

[00:12:41] what you do there are always going to be haters but I'm really proud to say that I feel like

[00:12:48] in the bingo category there are so many more lovers than there are haters that it makes it so

[00:12:53] much that it makes it such a great community for the most part and I really appreciate that I know

[00:12:59] it means a lot to me uh I would go and hang out with those people 24-7 if I could I'm actually

[00:13:04] playing a lot more bingo than I used to but it's just a really great way to get out the house

[00:13:09] it's a really great way surprisingly or not it's a great way to reduce your stress although

[00:13:15] sometimes I wonder about that because I know that there are times when I am waiting for a

[00:13:20] number and I I guess all bingo players can say this when you're waiting for that number when

[00:13:25] you know you're talking about a matter of one number giving you hundreds or even thousands of

[00:13:31] dollars just one number if you would just for the love of god call that one number your heart

[00:13:41] starts racing you're sweating you're praying you're doing everything you can and then they

[00:13:46] either do or don't call that number but in the meantime you've had all that stress so I

[00:13:50] think it's funny that something that can be so stressful that something that has put you on the

[00:13:55] verge of having a heart attack can also be the thing that's the most relaxing for you it's the

[00:14:00] thing that gets me out of the house and it's the thing that keeps me positive and it's the thing

[00:14:04] that I keep looking forward to and I have to also mention that when I was doing this when

[00:14:10] I asked this question on tiktok so many of the responses were very similar to one another

[00:14:15] but there was one response that I did not expect and I was told that I was able to mention it on

[00:14:22] my podcast and that was at one of my friends I was mentioning to her she was saying that she

[00:14:28] was playing bingo five nights a week five nights a week and I texted her back and I said wow

[00:14:35] live in the dream which to me would be a dream if I could play five nights a week I would

[00:14:40] absolutely love it but unfortunately my bank account said no you cannot play five nights

[00:14:45] a week but anyway I like I said I texted her living the dream and shortly after that she texted me back

[00:14:51] that her husband had passed away actually she said her husband had committed suicide and that playing

[00:14:58] bingo was you know helping her get through it and I was like there you go it is it's great to get

[00:15:07] your mind off things it's great to let you be around people who care about you it's great

[00:15:12] to help you just breathe and take it easy and just kind of get your mind off of some of those

[00:15:20] troubles that could be out there and everything so like I said while so many people are just doing

[00:15:25] it because of basic friendship there are other people who are doing it because they really

[00:15:29] need bingo to survive okay so I just wanted to say that now on the other note I absolutely

[00:15:36] have to mention that money is definitely a big part of it God knows we love that money and it's

[00:15:43] amazing you know some people and I think all of us I think most bingo players are spend more money

[00:15:50] than they need to to win you just want to say bingo so you will spend like what twice as much

[00:15:57] money to win half as much money all right it's just having that opportunity to say bingo

[00:16:02] and it's also knowing that you have that opportunity to win a lot of money sometimes

[00:16:06] those wins can be life changing I think Bosco checked the other night they had a $5,000

[00:16:11] strip heck I would have loved one in that $5,000 strip and I'm sure the person who won it was

[00:16:17] very happy that's an awful lot of bills to pay that's a vacation to take that's just

[00:16:23] unbelievably exciting and even if it's like 2,000 or 200 it's just really really nice to

[00:16:28] win but you can't negate the fact that knowing that you have a possibility of winning thousands

[00:16:34] of dollars is absolutely one of the big draws that brings us to bingo and especially now that

[00:16:40] they have pool tabs that pay such an ungodly amount of money you know I can't say all of them

[00:16:47] but I know that there are pool tabs that have gone up to $3,000 and there's strips strips

[00:16:53] I love because strips can be whatever amount of money the location wants it to be right you've

[00:16:59] got all these places that have these strips that pay four or five thousand dollars you also have

[00:17:04] cash balls that go up to ungodly amounts of money they're cash balls up to what $20,000

[00:17:09] $12,000 so you absolutely realize that money is a factor it really really is it keeps us

[00:17:17] motivated to keep going because everybody thinks you're gonna win but in the end I absolutely

[00:17:22] think it is the community that ultimately brings people back together it's the community

[00:17:27] it makes people come week after week no matter what and it's the community that's

[00:17:32] brings so much joy to so many people and is why bingo is growing by leaps and bounds it's just

[00:17:39] every other day there's a new bingo hall opening or there's some new bingo event that's happening

[00:17:46] anyway there is a lot of opportunity out there for the money and there's an

[00:17:50] awful lot of opportunity out there to make friends and to find a place that you can de-stress

[00:17:57] relax be yourself and have fun okay and I just want to say how grateful I am for bingo and I'm

[00:18:07] going to keep going whether I win or not whether my manifestation comes through or not

[00:18:13] I'm going to keep going and I just want to say that's it for this week's episode

[00:18:18] of the broke bingo attic thank you so much for listening and I hope you'll come back

[00:18:22] and listen to our next episode thanks