On a whim, my mom and I decided to check out the Darlington Braves Bingo in Pawtucket, RI. The Darlington Braves are a youth football and cheerleading organization who run a weekly bingo to support their program. In an evening, they generally conduct 31 games of bingo (24- $100 games, 5- $500 games, and 2 - $1000 games). These payouts aren't too shabby!
The doors open at 4:00pm with games starting at 6:15pm. We got there around 5:15pm, an hour early mind you... and had a great deal of difficulty finding parking, never mind a table to sit at inside! Their lot was entirely full so we searched for and found a spot on the street. Once inside, there are two floors of tables and chairs set up. The top floor is where you can buy your bingo cards (and daubers if you need them). $27 for a full package of regular and special game cards... or you can buy them individually, whichever works out to be cheaper for you. You can set up on either floor but I found myself in the basement, a.k.a. "the annex".
Looking for a table was like standing in the middle of the cafeteria in grade school, with no friends in sight and no where to go. Everyone (who must have been there since 4pm when it opened) had their cards spread waaaayyyyy out with daubers, bags, and purses saving sections of tables and chairs for people who had not yet (and at times never) arrived. We eventually found people who were willing to share their table, leaving us with the task of scrounging up some chairs to sit in. It is simply a hassle to be a newbie to this bingo. I'm sure once you go often enough, you make acquaintances that will save you a spot. As the new person though, most everyone averted their eyes and vaguely fielded my requests for table space and/or chairs.
This ambivalence not only applied to the guests but to the bingo workers as well. For example, when buying our cards, the worker huffed as she very quickly reviewed the prices of certain cards, offering little assistance in accommodating what it was we actually wanted to buy. In the end, we ended up paying more for the package "deal" than we would have had we purchased our cards individually. It's not fun feeling cheated before you even get started.
All in all, once we were settled in and past the initial annoyances of our visit, the bingo here was "a-ok" as my 3 stars indicates. Be prepared for a crowd that is a bit more rambunctious than what I have encountered at other venues. This isn't necessarily a bad thing... just different. It's not everyday you hear f-bombs casually thrown around, cell phones ringing off the hook, and people speaking so loudly that you can hear them from across the room when you're at a bingo event... all while you are trying to hear the numbers being called. In any case, I may or may not return... there are a number of other venues which I frequent as well. At least this one goes to a good cause! read more