Bingo in Lansing is No Joke, Here’s What I Learned My First Time Going

Recently, my friend had her birthday, and to celebrate, she wanted to go to bingo.

Here's the thing, none of us have ever played bingo.

Read Related: Michigan Lottery—Revealing the Most Frequently Drawn Numbers

My only experience with bingo (besides the kids song that is on repeat in my house, at the moment) was working the concessions at my church's weekly bingo meet. And even though that experience was about 20 years ago now, here's what I remember:

• Typically, the people playing play all the time. There aren't usually a lot of newbies.
• Things move fast. You need to stay on top of your numbers, and AS SOON as you have a bingo, yell it. Loudly.
• Players take this very seriously. And rightly so, their money is on the line. So, keep that in mind... do not be disrespectful.

Keeping all of this in mind, our wet-behind-the-ears group of nine made our way to  Jackpots Hall in Lansing for our first bingo experience. While we were there, a very sweet group of women who were well versed in bingo took pity on us and helped show us the ropes.

Here's a little bit of what I learned:

• Bingo isn't the only game you can play. There are all kinds of side games that you can opt into.
• They have their own lexicon. If you've never play before, you'll probably hear a lot of terms you're unfamiliar with, things like progressive jackpot and milk money.
• DO NOT play speedball if this is the first time you've ever played. They don't call it speedball for nothing... they call those numbers FAST. You will not be ready, I promise.

I think the craziest part of all was the fact that you didn't have to play with the old school paper and dabbers. They have these little pads that literally keep track of everything for you. They keep track of number called, they mark off the numbers called, they keep track of how many spaces you need on how many cards until you hit bingo. Heck, it'll even tell you when to yell bingo!

Get our free mobile app

All in all, did I walk away a winner? No. But, I had an absolute blast and so did everyone else in our group.