Baby Boomer Bingo : Younger Players Gravitate Toward Methodical Game to Ease Stress and Perhaps Win Pocket Money

They arrive at the cavernous bingo halls in packs of three and four, talking in low tones about inside frames, outside corners and the ultimate--a blackout. But these aren’t the studious grandmothers of the past who sat for hours playing the game in linoleum-floored social halls.

In increasing numbers, the folks who roar “BINGO!” are under 40--sometimes not young enough to remember when the church game was played with pinto beans.

“To win the money. That’s why I go,” said Debbie Machanic, a manicurist who began playing last year with co-workers at the Nail Shop in Northridge. “It’s just like going to Vegas.”

Machanic, 32, said bingo provides a break from going to bars or “just sitting in a movie--and it’s not that expensive. I come out ahead--most of the time.

“Everyone thinks only old people play,” said Tammy Phelps, 31, who works with Machanic and began playing when her mother invited her to a game two years ago. “It’s exciting--it’s the anticipation, when you get down to just one number.”

Most bingo hall managers said between 15% and 40% of their crowds, which are limited to 350 for each session by a law that goes into effect Aug. 1, consist of players under 40. Youthful players have increased in number over the past five years, and most are blue-collar workers who try to boost their incomes, the managers said.

Alternative to Bars

Many younger players said the game provides a less hectic alternative to singles bars and parties, although most concentrate too much on the game to actively look for dates. Others like the game’s gambling aspect, and some became regulars after Mom invited them along one Sunday afternoon.

“You can go and play bingo and spend what you spend in a bar or theater,” said Steve Montgomery, co-owner and editor of Bingo Bugle, begun six years ago in Sun Valley as a newspaper for enthusiasts. The paper lists games and runs columns such as “Dear Aunt Bingo” and “Bingo by the Stars.”

“A lot of younger people stop off on their way home from work. When the freeways are packed, they’ll stop and play a game until the traffic dies down,” Montgomery said.

“They take it very seriously,” said Sam Potter, manager of Lankershim Bingo in North Hollywood, managed by Big Brothers of Greater Los Angeles and CRI-HELP, a North Hollywood treatment center for drug abusers. Potter said he noticed more younger players at the games as recently as three years ago. “Maybe a third of the crowd is under 40, but we get people of all ages, starting at 18 years.”

There are about 40 bingo halls in the San Fernando Valley, where players are given colored sheets of paper containing from one to six bingo faces or squares. To win, each square must be blocked out in winning patterns such as diagonal rows, four corners, crosses or Xs.

Younger players say the methodical, nearly Zen-like feel of the game, produced as players fiercely concentrate on cards while bingo numbers resound through hushed halls, is what keeps them coming back.

‘Stressed Out’

“I play to calm my nerves,” said Mary Rocco, 28, who lives in North Hollywood and began playing with her parents a decade ago. “When I’m stressed out, I play bingo. I just concentrate on the numbers and winning. It sort of clears my mind. But I haven’t won in two years--a long time.”

Rocco, who works as a bartender, said she finds little time to socialize at the halls. “Your mind is just on the numbers and trying to win. It’s pretty much an individual game.”

Joe Amaral began playing three years ago when a female friend invited him to a game. “When I heard you could win $250, that just put dollar signs in my eyes,” he said.

Amaral, 34, who works as a shipping and receiving supervisor, said he wins about $500 a month from sessions played twice each week. “So far this year, I figure I’m ahead by about $343. I’ve met a lot of friends through bingo. I’ve met girls at games, but I haven’t gotten personally involved--not yet.

“I don’t do anything else. Without bingo, I’m not having fun,” he said.

Single Women

Leonard Cassady, 34, has met “several very nice young women at bingo.” Cassady, who works as a printer, began playing two years ago when his mother introduced him to Lankershim Bingo. “Some of the women are married or have steady boyfriends, but there are a lot of single women there. We make arrangements to meet at the hall and then go out to eat afterward down the block.”

To either side of Cassady, fellow players sat at long rows of Formica tables, hunched over cards they scanned with fluorescent markers. Several younger men, who wore ties and cowboy boots, were scattered among pastel leisure suits worn by older players. Some munched on ham sandwiches and chips sold at the “Bingo Buffet” and read snatches from popular novels between games. Others caught glimpses of sports on portable TVs or listened to the action through radio earphones.

Arranged in front of many players were talismans in the form of miniature plastic statues of Garfield, Buddha and a few California Raisins. Older players favored teddy bears, horseshoes--even a Bible opened to the book of Revelation. Some fingered rosary beads while others meditated or said quick prayers while fingering holy cards of St. Jude.

Four older women huddled over a trough of macaroni and cheese at the “Bingo Buffet” near the rear of the Lankershim Bingo hall, chatting about “lousy cards,” “long dry spells,” and “I needed a ‘G-57’ in the last game, not this one.”

Some younger players kept to themselves and sat in groups discussing favorite talismans, such as squares of plastic used to magnify desired numbers on cards.

Bingo was legalized in 1976 by an amendment to the state Constitution and in 1977, United Cerebral Palsy opened the state’s first bingo hall in Van Nuys. Church games doling out $25 to $50 in prize money were illegal before 1977, although the games were widespread and common. State law now limits prize money to $250 per game with a limit of 40 games per session. Proceeds from bingo must be donated to charity, and most halls charge from $10 to $25 for sessions consisting of from 15 to 40 games.

Indian bingo, played on Indian reservations throughout the country, has also become increasingly popular among younger players. The game doles out larger prize amounts, usually from $1,000 to $2,000 per game, since reservations are exempt from state regulations that apply to other bingo halls.

Energy in the Air

“There’s more energy in the air,” said Mark Sammon, general manager of San Manuel Indian Bingo, played on the San Manuel Indian Reservation in San Bernardino, the nearest Indian bingo hall to the Valley. “Maybe it has to do with the amount of money on the wall.”

Sammon said his games award about $500,000 per week and attract 2,500 people per game, most of whom are shuttled in free by Indian bingo halls from outlying areas, including all communities in the Valley. Sammon estimates 30% of his players are under 40.

Perhaps the biggest draw for younger players of the Indian bingo circuit is “Megabingo,” played via satellite in 14 bingo halls across the country for $5 a game. The first person to fill up the “B” row on their cards in each hall wins $1,000. The game then progresses until a player blacks out his entire card, netting $500,000 should he complete the task before 50 numbers are called.

“This is attracting people who have never played before,” said Jack Salinger, general manager of Morongo Bingo, which features Megabingo during most sessions played on the Morongo Indian Reservation in Cabazon. “Husbands can now go play bingo and win more than they would playing poker. That’s helping draw new crowds at local games too.”

Carol Sunshine began playing Indian bingo eight months ago when some friends invited her to a game. She has since won about $2,200.

“Once people hear of a game that pays out $100,000, I think there’s an element of excitement,” said Sunshine, 36, who lives in Woodland Hills and works as an administrator for a computer firm. “It’s a new adventure for people who have never played before. You go one time and you get hooked.”

Many say the chance aspect of the game keeps them returning to bingo halls week after week. “To me, it’s addicting, it’s like gambling,” Lynn Messine, 26, said as she ripped off a sheet of bingo games and poised her marker for a new game at Lankershim Bingo. “I go three or four times a week and I win constantly .” Messine, who cares for her three children full time in Sunland, said she wins about $500 per month.

“I haven’t won in two years,” said her mother, Carol Krueger, 50, a Sun Valley waitress who introduced her two daughters to the game seven years ago.

For some older patrons, the game has been a lifelong pursuit. “Right now it’s the only recreation I have,” said Nora Nolter, 75, a former secretary who has been playing for 50 years and now lives in Panorama City. “If they ever stop bingo, I’d be very unhappy.

“I’ve noticed more younger people coming in. They’re a lot more lucky. And more men too, but they should stay home and watch the kids--leave bingo to the women.”

Other players claim that the game provides a form of exercise, a sort of “aerobic bingo,” according to Cassady. “I personally think bingo is good for your circulatory system,” he said. “When you get close to winning, you get excited and your heart rate increases. It’s a real adrenaline rush.”