Bingo Fest

More than 1,500 people marched to the Alabama Statehouse to protest the loss of jobs when the state shutdown electronic bingo operations in Greene and Macon County.

MONTGOMERY — Light rain during the John Anderson Band concert didn't dampen the spirits of Saturday's voter registration and pro-bingo rally in Montgomery.

Avid bingo player Ruby Nace has been on a winning streak for years, but Valley bingo hall operators aren’t doing as well.

Rep. John Rogers said anti-bingo politicians need to watch out during the November election.

Bed bug cases are on the rise, keeping pest control companies and one local dog very busy. Bingo is a bed bug sniffing dog, trained to find the blood sucking pests anywhere they may be hiding.

A rally, featuring musicians John Anderson and The Commodores, is being held Saturday at the State House and Capitol in an effort to get those who favor electronic bingo in the state to vote in the November elections.

Bingo supporters are planning a Saturday rally and voter registration drive to dramatize the loss of jobs at bingo casinos that closed after raids by Gov. Bob Riley’s gambling task force.

Bingo supporters plan a Saturday rally and voter registration drive to dramatize the loss of jobs at bingo casinos that closed due to action by Gov. Bob Riley’s gambling task force.

Think of bingo and what's the first image that pops into your head? A deathly-quiet hall rammed full of people scribbling away on their bingo cards? Well, it's time to think again.

THE SON who contested the £101,000 bingo win of his mother's friend in court will have to sell his house after the case was dismissed. (26/08/2010 13:16:54)

The Lingo Round

The main game play is nearly identical to the original version’s, except that the object is to score the most points instead of being first to get a Lingo. The team in the left (yellow) podium begins the game. A correct guess scores 25 points. The team has five guesses at the word, though if the team does not guess correctly, the opposing team is given control of the word and granted a bonus letter. Control of the word is also given to the opposing team if any of the following situations occurs: the team runs out of time, does not spell a legitimate word, does not give a word acceptable in the English language, does not guess a five-letter word, guesses a word that has already been tried, does not start their guess with the established first letter, or guesses a word that can only be a proper noun (though proper nouns that are also ordinary words are acceptable.) A bonus letter will not be given if four of the five letters have been identified, as this would reveal the entire word. If both teams miss a word at the point where it only has one missing letter left, the word is thrown out and a new one is played (which only happened once).

The all-time record for most points in the first round is 300, set by contestants Danny and Katherine in an episode airing May 23, 2007.

Lingo board

Play is again similar to the original version, except that ten numbers instead of seven are marked off for each team at the start of the game. (The 10 pre-marked numbers are chosen in such a way that no more than three spaces are marked off on any row, column or diagonal.) When a team forms a Lingo on their board, they score 50 points and immediately receive a new Lingo card (with 10 numbers marked off) and a new hopper of balls. The other team then gets control of the next mystery word. Like the original version, red balls (now called “Stoppers” by Woolery; presumably an allusion to a similar gameplay device used in his old show Scrabble) cause the team to immediately stop drawing and lose control. Unlike the original version, there are no prize balls.

Round Two

Lingo cards carry over from the first round. The team with the lower score starts the round. If the teams are tied, the team that did not begin the first round starts round two. Point values are doubled, meaning a correct word guess is worth 50 points and a Lingo is worth 100 points. Also, three “question mark” balls are added to each hopper; they can represent any number of the team’s choice. After the second round is over, the team with the most points wins the game and advances to Bonus Lingo.

The all-time record for most points scored in the second round is 600, set by contestants Dawn and Stephanie in an episode airing August 24, 2005.

The all-time record for most points overall is 675, set by the team of Dan and Joe in the fifth season premiere episode.

On two occasions, a team lost the game without scoring any points.

The all-time record for lowest winning score was 150, occurring in the third season.

“Seven Letters” tiebreaker

If there is a tie at the end of the second round, a tiebreaker called Seven Letters is played. A mystery seven-letter word is shown and the first and last letters are displayed. To advance to the Bonus Lingo round, teams must ring in and say the correct word. An incorrect guess locks out the team and gives a free letter to the opposing team. If that team does not know it, their opponents are unlocked and anybody can guess. If nobody knows what the word is, another letter is revealed; this continues until a team correctly guesses the word.

The main game rarely ends in a tie, however. This only happened three times in the series.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.

As former Tuskegee mayor, former state representative for District 82 and the original sponsor of the bingo bill, I would like to say to the citizens of Macon County, and to all of the employees at VictoryLand, that the fight for jobs and justice will continue.

MONTGOMERY (AP) A march is planned Saturday in Montgomery to show support for the electronic bingo casinos that have been forced to shut down and to try to energize voters about the election Nov. 2.The chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus, Democratic Rep. John Rogers of Birmingham, says the march will focus on electing [...]

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