With fingers crossed
a winner might come up
£ m a retired citizen,”
III says Evelyn Lester
"I can’t see sitting at
home twiddling my
thumbs when I could be doing
something ”
"The main reason they play
bingo,” says Marilyn Paxton,
manager of ARC bingo in
downtown Eugene, "is that
they 're gamblers Second, it can
be a reasonably inexpensive
entertainment for an evening
We’ve got a lot of elderly people
on fixed incomes that can come
in for three or four or five dollars
a night.”
"They meet a lot of new
people,” Paxton says
"Travellers staying in a local
motel check the phone book for
bingo. They have something to
do instead of sitting around in
the motel They come out and
meet the locals We have people
in from Albany and Florence
We've had them from as far
away as Holland and Australia
"Some of the players are lined
up outside at five o'clock to get
inside early to pick out their
cards They have all these gim
micks and trinkets that are good
luck charms they bring along
with them Some of them will
only use one particular color
dauber because they think it’s
lucky They sit in the same seat
every night ”
“I’m going to my horoscope
for my number,” says one
woman as she selects her
cards "You have certain lucky
numbers, depending on the
day, the year, and the time you
were born." Born May 5,1925 at
5 00 p.m , her lucky numbers
this month are one, 10and 19 I
don’t know whether it’s going to
work It won’t hurt anything to
find out I haven’t done any
winning here yet."
Open four nights a week since
last Aug 1, ARC Bingo is across
Top right photo: A man crosses his fingers in anticipation of a winning number. Above: This
woman won $40 on one of her three cards, the first time she's won this month Bottom left: Filling
in the right blanks is the way to win, which is what this woman, bottom center, has done. Bottom
right: A woman calls out the bingo numbers
W. 10th from the Atrium As in all
efficiently run gambling opera
tions, the house makes a con
siderable profit. Oregon law al
lows only charitable
organizations to set up shop in
the bingo business The
proceeds from this game
provide 15-20% of the budget of
the Association of Retarded Ci
tizens of Oregon
"We have some people who
spend $75-80 dollars consis
tently, three or four nights a
week," Paxton says "I don’t
think there’s anybody who’s
ahead over the long run ”
"I win once in a while,” says
one retired man who didn't want
his name used He and his wife
play at least twice a week. “The
biggest thing bingo does is help
the charities We play as a social
activity. There’s always the an
ticipation of winning too The
odds are fantastic against you
It's still a kick in the pants when
you win It's a kick to see differ
ent kinds of people winning
Some of them nearly have a
nervous breakdown ”
The players range in age from
18 to 85 years-old The majority
are over 60 Many of them take
their vacations in Reno and Las
Vegas A number volunteer to
work the bingo game on nights
when they're not playing A
recent Saturday night's crowd
included about 160 players
The standard "payout'' to a
game winner is $40, but the
rewards of victory vary accord
ing to the winner's investment,
the number of victors, and the
type of game being played The
largest payout is $1,000 if you
"blackout'' a $1 50
"throwaway card in 49
numbers or less, a 400,000-1
possibility
The playing room, built
originally as a Dodge dealership
and first converted into an ice
skating rink, is cavernous,
brightly lit, and heavy with
cigarette smoke
Above the quiet conversa
tions and the murmurs of the
players, the caller's voice issues
in fifteen-second intervals from
two speakers that hang from the
rafters
"1-26 That's I, two-six."
"0-73. O, seven-three "
Kris Anderson, 21, is among
the younger patrons of ARC
Bingo. "I play in hopes of win
ning, and to use up some
time,"she says. "I haven't got a
job or anything. There's nothing
else to do. The first night I
played I won $87 on the early
bird Since I won the very first
game I played I got hooked I've
turned on about ten people to
playing bingo."
"Bingo has been called on
B-14," says the caller.
A volunteer reads off the row
of numbers This confirms the
victory.
"Does anybody else have
bingo?" the voice says. “Okay,
this portion of the game is
closed Pay the winner $25. Go
on to the blackout ”
A night's play, between 6:15
and 10:00, consists of 20
games
A bingo circuit exists in
Eugene The county fair
grounds, Marist High School,
the Elk's, Moose Lodge, Eagle's
and Veteran's clubs have
games As a low cost form of
entertainment, bingo has
widespread appeal all over the
world The chance of one player
winning decreases as the
number of participants in
creases
"The majority are regulars'
that are here early and never
miss a night," says Marilyn Pax
ton “Some haven't missed a
night since we opened One fel
la who's 84 years old got out of
the hospital on a Thursday af
ternoon and took a cab directly
here,"
Story by Randy Malat
Photos by Bob Baker