National Bingo Night - Week 2 on ABC

This week, the contestants seemed to have more luck. I tuned in late, but in time to see Rebecca Johnson from Boulder, Colorado win $55,555 in the Five Fives game, a game she won so quickly that the judges said NO ONE in all of America had had a chance of getting a bingo!

Then Cyrus Deboo from Seattle, WA won $50,000 in a nail-biting game of 9-Ball, in which he had to determine if the ball drawn would be even or odd. Then, any numbers on the balls that matched numbers on the pool table at which the "Striking Viking", pool champion Ewa Mataya Laurance stood were removed from the table via one of her striking pool tricks. Cyrus started out hot, but then hit a cold streak in which 7 members of the audience joined the "One Away" club ... standing because they were only one number away from a bingo on their cards. If they got the bingo before Cyrus cleared the table, they won the audience pot of $5,000 and Cyrus got nothing. Even after he cleared all the numbers off the board, he had to wait while the Commissioner checked all the Bingo cards to see if anyone had a Bingo, in which case, their Bingo would have "trumped" his win at the pool table. But Cyrus prevailed.

We'll be right back, but first ... A Little History About Bingo

Bingo is believed to have been invented by the Italians in the 1770's. It came to America during the Depression and by 1934, it was estimated that there were 10,000 games of bingo played weekly. Today, North Americans alone drop a quick $90 million dollars a week playing or betting on bingo.

In 1986, the UK launched the "National Bingo Game' ... something like our lotteries, but with a bingo game instead of drawing balls or scratching cards. The games are played in clubs across England, twice a day, seven days a week, 364 days a year, offering large prizes daily.

And Now ... Back to the Show!

Meanwhile, back to National Bingo Night, American style. What do you think? Is it going to catch on? I don't know about you, but I can see millions of viewers huddling around their TVs on Friday night playing along. Sure, it's a long shot, but it's easy and it's fun and you don't even have to get in the car and burn any of that expensive gasoline!!