B.I.N.G.O.

When I was 11, my Dad was transferred to Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas, Nevada. Some time after that, my grandparents started coming out to visit us on a regular basis. They started by coming out for 2 weeks. Then, over time, it eased into being a month-long stay. Then they started staying for the winter. And the year I got married, they just stayed until June.   

My grandparents were not big gamblers, but when they came to Las Vegas, they enjoyed playing the slot machines (back in the day when they were coin-operated and had a pull-handle) but they really only did that between BINGO games, because they really enjoyed playing BINGO. It was a low-cost way to play a game over several hours with the chance to win something. I think it cost about $12 for a "Rainbow," which was 4 different colored cards. 

Many of the casinos had a BINGO hall, but Pappy and Grandma had their favorites.  I think their most favorite place was The BINGO Palace, where they would play the 9 am and the 11 am games because they gave away free donuts.  My Pappy loved the free donuts (especially the maple bars) and would often bring one or two home to share or enjoy later. 

Growing up, every child in the US played BINGO at one time or another - often in schools during indoor recess or as part of a class party. And when I was old enough, I enjoyed going to the casinos to play BINGO with Pappy and Grandma occasionally, which just tickled them.

But BINGO in the UK  .......  it's not what you think. 

This would be the ONE thing you'd think would have to be the same, right? There is only one way to play BINGO, right?  How can it possibly be different, you ask?   

But just as with many other things here in the UK, I was fooled once again. 

But, IT'S NOT the same!

Last summer I heard from Katrina that they play BINGO here. 
Well, I like to play BINGO. It's a pleasant-enough way to pass a couple of hours. And sometimes you win and you get to call out, "BINGO."  

That alone is a pleasure worth playing for. 

BINGO is played here in Thurso at the British Legion Hall every Sunday night ("Eyes Down" at 7:30 pm). And every now and then, they have a charity BINGO, where the money raised is given to a specified charity. 

They have charity events all over the place here. I will save that topic for another post, but for now, I will just say that I think Scottish people are some of the most generous and giving people I have met. 

Ever since I heard about the BINGO, I had been watching for it to be advertised and waiting to play (this was before I learned they play every Sunday).  

I was a single winner and won 10 pounds

Back at Thanksgiving, we had several Scottish friends over to share Thanksgiving dinner with us and the question was asked, "So, Jodi, what is next on your bucket list of things to do here in Scotland"  And I immediately answered, "BINGO."  

And they all laughed.

They looked at each other and at me with a look that said, "why would you want to play BINGO?" And then they laughed again. 

I didn't understand why that was funny, but they sure thought so. 

Well, after a little discussion, it became clear that we were NOT talking about the same game. 

I described our version of the game. 

They described theirs. 

And then we all laughed because we had both just learned something new.

I asked them if they would like to go with me to play. And again they laughed. (I’m still not sure why that was so funny- but these 4 people apparently do not play.)

In February - after Christmas had passed and the holiday traveling was over -  I decided it was time. I rounded up my fellow American adventurers - Katrina and Leah - and we went to BINGO at the British Legion one Sunday night a few weeks ago.

Katrina had played once or twice before, so she had an idea of the rules, but we were obviously new-comers to this regular group of ladies who played weekly, so thankfully the woman who sat at the table behind us took us under her wing and helped us through.  This woman explained the different ‘books’ and 'bingos' to us and I could lean over and ask her questions between games, as they came up.

Where do I even begin to start to describe this game? 

Obviously, the first thing is that the cards are definitely not the same.

Here is a picture of an American BINGO card.

It has 5 columns – B -I-N-G-O, with 5 spaces under each column. Each space contains a number, except the middle square, which is designated as a “free” space. The game is played with 75 numbers. Each card holds 24 numbers.  

Column B contains numbers 1-15.

Column I contains numbers 16-30

Column N contains numbers 31-45

Column G contains numbers 46-60

And Column O contains numbers 61-75.

How to play American BINGO: 

A caller randomly draws numbers and calls them out. If the number is on your card, you get to cover it. When you get 5 numbers in a row or down a column, or diagonally across, you get to call out “BINGO.” There are various forms of this game – four corners, a cross, an X, a T (and many others) and of course, black-out.

Numbers are called out like this:  “B-18,”  “N-44,” and “O-63.”

A round is over when someone gets BINGO and the card is verified.  Cards are cleared and a new round begins.

Here is a picture of a UK BINGO card.

There are 9 columns, each containing 10 numbers. 

The first column has numbers 1-9. The second column has numbers 10-19. The third column has numbers 20-29. You get the idea. 

Unlike American BINGO cards, every game card has every number from 1-90, and you must cover each number as it is called because the game will continue on to "Full House" after someone gets the BINGO for that round. 

You can see that the page is broken down into sets of 3 rows. The BINGO must occur within one of the sets. 

This becomes very difficult if you are playing something like "4 corners," because the numbers can be offset. Take the last section on the card above, for example. The 4 corners would be #24, #80, #5 and #74.  You must be looking at the whole sheet at the same time and yet be able to see what is happening in each of the 5 sets. 

Here are the set of 'books' we bought. We could have bought a single game or we  could have bought just a book of 3 games, or just the book of 10 games, etc. but in for a penny, in for a pound, right? So for 10 pounds, we bought the set and we got to play for 2 hours.

The game goes very fast.

The Caller calls out the numbers pretty quickly, so there is no time for chit chat or even questions in-between. One even has to be careful about letting one's mind wander between numbers.

The Caller calls out the numbers like this:  

“3 and 2, that’s 32,” 

“5 and 3, that’s 53,” 

“all the 3’s, that’s 33.” 

And when it is a single digit, it sounds like this: “9. On it’s own - #9”

When you get BINGO, you call out “House!” 

Once the BINGO card has been verified, play then continues until a whole section has been covered. This is called “A Full House.”  Then a new game begins on a new card/sheet.

15 games - each game describes how to win under "Line Game"

Oh, and if you should hear “3” and mark the 3 before your brain registers that she continued with “4, that’s 34,” then you have to hold your finger on the mis-marked spot so that you don’t accidentally call out “House” when you don’t really have it – or until that number is actually called.

This is Cristy making that same mistake - LOL!

It was quite entertaining and worth the 10 pounds to play. Definitely something my American friends should all experience. 

And Cristy* did this past Sunday night.  Sadly, she did not get to call out "House" for herself. Actually, none of us did that night. However, the first time we played several weeks ago, I got to call it twice! I won 10 pounds for being a single winner and had to split the second one with another winner, getting 5 pounds each. 

One of my wins

Cristy, me, Katrina, and Leah

* Cristy, came to visit us here in Scotland. Yes, at the end of February! 
Who does that, right? 
Who goes to the northern-most part of Scotland in the middle of winter??
Our dear friend, Cristy!!  And we are so glad she did!  

She slipped in just before 'The Beast From the East' hit Scotland, played BINGO, Mahjongg, and Pop Up Quiz Night at a nearby pub, walked in the cold, wind, rain and snow across the Thurso beach and along the river, and saw the 'must-see' sights of Northern Scotland, like Loch Ness and John O'Groats and then left as soon as the railroad was running again and just before the sun, warmth and blue skies returned. 

If you are planning to visit us here in Thurso, try to be here for a Sunday evening. 
We'll go play BINGO together.