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Bingo Halls Directory
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Bingo halls are notoriously the venues in which bingo is played. Around the world, they have come to symbolise the quintessence of bingo – senior citizens, a camp bingo caller and small amounts of money to be awarded as Jackpots. Add to this the fact that so many church organisations are taking to bingo as a way of raising funds and instigation social behaviour amongst the congregation and the bingo hall quickly becomes a vision of tameness, tranquillity and relaxed gaming. However, this is not always strictly the case.
Whilst very much frequented by single women and particularly those from a working class background, as well as senior citizens, the bingo halls of today can be fierce battlegrounds of players frantically scouring complex cards to mark off the numbers that have been called before the next call is made. The caller may be relentless in his/her timing and only a matter of seconds is permitted for a player to search their cards and cross off any corresponding numbers that have been called. The competition is not just stiff amongst the players – each year a “caller of the year” competition is held in which bingo callers compete for a two week holiday.
In the US and Canada, the game has become so commercialised that bingo halls may well have special screens that display the number that has been called. If players are victorious on a particular number, then a rule usually exists that means they cannot call “Bingo” until that number has been called. It is not unusual for players to be operating in teams and with around thirty cards in their possession. The average bingo game in the UK tends to last for four and a half minutes and the average speed of a proficient bingo caller is 23 numbers per minute. In this heated atmosphere, a slip of concentration can result in falling behind and one missed number could potentially forfeit a victory.
However, along with the fast pace of the bingo halls, there is also a potent social element. Many of the online bingo sites try to emulate this social element by encouraging discussions on current affairs and creating competitions for people to play for prizes other than cash. It means that the winning of money is not the only objective of the players and that if they do not win, they have paid to have a good evening out with people whom they may have enjoyed spending time with.
Fruit machines are often added to bingo halls and the low costs of the cards can lull a bingo player into a false sense of security, meaning that they end up buying more and more cards without realising that the costs of their evening are gradually mounting to a potentially harmful level. It is for this reason that bingo players need to be particularly careful when playing bingo that they are aware of the amount of money they can afford to both spend and lose. With care, bingo can be a game that brings both amusement and social companionship to its players.
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