How To Run A Successful Bingo Fundraiser

Playing Bingo

Like most people, I had played bingo before, mostly at church fundraisers and the county fair. Like most people I enjoyed the excitement of winning the occasional jackpot, and the fun of watching the bingo card slowly fill up. When it came to higher stakes, however, bingo was not the first game that sprang to mind. Unlike slot machines and blackjack, a still felt that bingo was a game of low cost and low stakes.My friend Janice had been after me for quite some time to come along with her on her next trip to Bingo World, a high stakes bingo parlor outside of Baltimore, Maryland. While my tastes in gambling ran more to the slot machines and table games in Atlantic City, I finally relented and on a cold October morning we departed for my first high stakes bingo game.The bus left the parking lot promptly at 7:00 a.m. before most of the passengers, including myself, had fully awoken. After some hot coffee and donuts on the bus, however, we all began to look forward to our adventure, perhaps dreaming of how to spend the vast fortunes we were about to win.We arrived at Bingo World fully awake and ready to go, paid for our cards and got down to business. I don’t really recall how much the buy in was at the time, but it was certainly higher than the quarter a card I had been used to paying at the local carnival. Of course the local carnival never offered prizes like these either, and that seemed to justify the higher initial cost.There were big cash jackpots for special games, and I recall there was even a car up for grabs, either as a sweepstakes prize or as a prize for a special game to be played later in the month. And of course there were incentives for regular players to return, including free games, food coupons and other such incentives. These incentives for players to return often are similar to the players club cards used by casinos, and they certainly do work at building loyalty. Many of my fellow bus passengers were regular customers, and a few even made weekly trips to the bingo parlor.While I did not win the big jackpot, my first high stakes bingo experience was definitely a positive one, and I have since accompanied my friend on many subsequent trips. While it is nice to win the occasional jackpot, and I have brought home my share of cash, it is the fun and excitement of the game that is the big draw. Whether playing for quarters at the county fair, or for thousands of dollars in Baltimore, the game of bingo certainly provides its fair share of excitement and challenge.

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