Most people when they think of bingo envision a smoky bingo hall filled with little old ladies intently marking the many bingo cards in front of them. While this may hold true for many bingo halls, bingo has attracted many younger players and quite a few male players of varying ages. The addition of younger and male players has made a visit to the local bingo hall anything but boring.

In Australia they take their bingo very seriously and resent any distractions or interruptions as the following incident will show. In Brisbane Australia, a young man in his 30’s entered the Musgrave Hill Bowls Club at Southport about 9.20pm and began ‘casing’ the bar according to a manager at the club. In the words of the club’s manager, “When one staff member left to do a payout from a gambling machine and other staff were predisposed, he jumped over the bar and grabbed a bundle of cash.” One staff member (a man in his 50s) then got him in a bear hug and he released the money.”

The offender then broke away and fled through the bingo hall interrupting the game. Resentful bingo players then cornered the would be thief at a locked door. The suspect then produced a screwdriver and threatened the crowd. The duty manager then instructed the crowd to let him go. The offender fled but a young male patron threw a chair, and the suspect jumped a gate and fled into the night empty handed. After a break of only a few minutes the bingo game resumed. An arrest is expected and the whole incident was captured by security cameras.

One would expect a serious disruption of the evening’s bingo games but ‘down under’ they take their bingo seriously. In the UK it would appear that games are more easily disrupted. In Wales two sisters had could be called a serious disagreement over a $37,717 bingo jackpot. Sharon Wolsey won a £23,000 jackpot bingo prize whilst playing at the Castle Bingo Club in Morriston, Swansea. The argument escalated when Ms. Wolsey announced she was going to spend the entire amount on her ‘dream wedding.’ after her sister Lisa Thomas heard about this news the pair started having a fist fight in the Castle Bingo Club and the police had to be called to the scene to break up the fight and calm things down.

Evidently fighting over bingo jackpots is somewhat of a family tradition. Earlier in the year the two sisters involved in the fight took their other sister to court after she refused to share her big national bingo jackpot win with her sisters. The court sided with the two sisters but so far neither has seen a farthing of the prize.

Both of these incidents illustrate the fact that life in a bingo hall is anything but boring. Of course no one wants to witness incidents like the ones described on a regular basis and most of the drama that takes place in a bingo hall is usually associated with a big win. Bingo is one of the world’s most popular games both online and in traditional bingo halls. No longer confined to smoky church basements, bingo has attracted a diverse crowd of people of all ages and for good reason-it’s fun, and you can win a lot of money!