Dear Aunt Bingo,
Recently, I got kicked out of a Bingo Hall for winning too often.
This Bingo Hall I played at is a paper-only hall, (no electronic machines). For a 15-second timer, I can play 10 six-on paper packets, while most others play between two and four paper packets.
Here is what caused me to be banned from the hall…
During the daytime session, I Bingoed six times, twice by myself and four split games. At the conclusion of the evening session, a few angry Bingo players went to the manager to complain about my winning. Comments made included: “I didn’t come here to see the same person win every game!” and “I can only keep up with three packets. That guy shouldn’t be allowed to play 10 packets!”
When I returned the following day, the manager called me into her office to inform me that I was no longer welcome at her hall. She told me: “I have some long-time loyal customers who told me that they will no longer come if I continue to allow you to play here. I can’t afford to lose eight customers.”
I went to the state gambling commission. They told me that as long as they have a sign posted that reads “We Reserve the Right to Refuse Service to Anyone,” they are justified in kicking me out.
Two questions for you to address in your column:
1. Should Bingo halls have the right to kick someone out for “winning too often” if other players threaten to no longer come?
2. For Bingo halls that have no electronic machines, should there be a limit on the number of paper packets one gets to play at once?
—Frustrated in Washington
Dear Frustrated,
In all my years of writing this column, I have never heard a story like this one. People have written in complaining about players who seem to win a lot and that they suspect that some sort of cheating is going on. But this is the first time I have ever heard from a winning player who got the boot from a manager for winning too much.
To begin with, I am impressed that you can play 10 six-on Bingo sheets. (That’s 60 individual cards!) There is no way I could keep up with that many cards, even with balls being called at 15-second intervals. Well, maybe for a while—but certainly not for an entire session.
As far as the manager’s position, it would make sense that she is worried about eight loyal players walking out on her. And the fact that she used the term “loyal” may mean they are more than just players; these are people she has likely known for years, and some may even be friends. I often harp in this column on managers who do not pay attention to players’ comments, so I do respect her decision to listen to her players and her desire to do what’s best for the majority.
With that said, however…
I cannot believe she would actually ban a winning player from the games. After all, you were not causing trouble, you were not loud or obnoxious…you were simply having a fantastic run of luck. Why punish someone who has paid for his paper and therefore has earned the right to play alongside the three-pack slowpokes?
I am curious to know just how often you have gotten multiple wins from this same hall. Was this series of wins a unique event, or do you walk away with multiple pots regularly? If that is the case, I might deduce that this is a simple little hall where most people play a few packs, and the idea of someone coming in and playing three or four times as many packs as anyone else and regularly walking out with most of the prize money would upset everyone.
If this is not the case, and you simply had a great day of Bingo, then I think this manager overreacted and knuckled under to a group of jealous players.
Now to your questions:
1. It is not a matter of whether a hall should or should not have the right to ban a player. According to your conversation with the commission in Washington State, a hall does have the legal right to do so, and the manager chose to exercise that right. If the gaming regulations are behind her, then yes, she did have the right to do what she did, regardless of the reasoning behind her decision.
2. For your second question, I’m not quite sure what this has to do with your situation. You did not say that the manager said anything about limiting the number of packets someone can buy. Although it does bring up a good point: Why would this hall allow you to buy 10 packs and then ban you for winning, which happened in part because you had all those packs. That makes no sense at all, and I certainly would have challenged the manager on that issue during the course of your discussion. When you look at it that way, she’s being hypocritical.
You have opened up a whole host of interesting issues I’m sure readers have strong feelings about. I hope many readers—Bingo players, workers, and managers alike—will take a moment to write or e-mail me and share their thoughts. If my guess is right, we should be talking about this topic for the next several issues!
Write to Aunt Bingo c/o the Bingo Bugle, P.O. Box
527, Vashon, Washington 98070, or e-mail her at
STENGL456@aol.com.
