I have been to Kings bingo a handful of times. The best thing about the place is definitely the snack bar. I have been at off peak times and recently went to their customer appreciation Saturday. They had a least 40 door prizes, they also had a $15k raffle for $75. Sounds great right!
It was the longest boring day. I spent $175 for the day, and I could have spent a lot more. I did not win, but that is to be expected. Bingo odds are terrible, especially when you have a house full of people. I was there for the $15k raffle. They had 8 prizes for the raffle from $500 to $15k. You had to get there at 2:30 when the doors open, to get a seat. The lines were endless just to get started. I finally played my first bingo game at 5:30. I left at 11:30 because they saved the 15k raffle and 16 of the door prizes for the very end. I really don't blame them for holding them to the end. However, they made the day an endless boring, frustrating, headache producing day.
Here was my problem with how they handled the day. The unbelievable number of pull tab games they had was why the day was so long and boring. I don't like the pull tabs, but I know some people do. I wish I had counted the pull tab games. I think a low estimate would be about 50 games. So the place is fairly quite during the approx 12 bingo games. During the pull tabs the announcer talks constantly then the approx half of the people who don't play, try to talk over the announcer. So it's loud and all the while you are saying when will the next bingo game be. Do I have time to go to the bathroom, get a snack, I don't know because they don't post a schedule for the pull tabs. They could easily sat that they are going to play 5 pull tabs before the next bingo game. Then when they finally play a bingo game they wait an endless time in between number calls. On top of this they had all of these prizes to give away.
I don't understand why they had such a large number of pull tabs. I have been there other times and it was not an issue. They had pull tab games before but not that many. I also think that they should have better descriptions on their website. For instance the raffle description just said it was a 15k raffle. It did not say that they would have more drawings for other amounts. It also didn't say how much the tickets cost. They said that if you went to play on previous days you would get $25 off bingo. I had to physically go there to get a description of the raffle.
The bigger question is what is the law in Texas about bingo. What is their motivation for having so many pull tab games. Or even the motivation for the raffle. They talk about charities, if I was a charity, I would definitely pair up with a bingo hall. The amount of money that flowed into the bingo halls hands was a huge amount. Do bingo halls have to post their balance sheet?
I am definitely a gambler. The opportunities to gamble in Texas are slim. This is why I even look to bingo. The odds are terrible. The more people, the more computers, all lead to terrible odds. I have seen many complaints that the computers win more often. It is just the number of cards on the computer. The more cards you play the more you win. 1 paper sheet has 12 cards, the small computer has 66 cards. So the computer will always win more. So I am realistic when I go there, and don't win. I just thought that $75 was a good reason to have a chance at 15k. Also I think that the door prizes are a good way to show appreciation. In the few times I have been I see that they have people that go every day. They deserve to have a chance at some prizes. I am sure that they give them a ton of money.
Sorry for the long rant. I will probably go back to the hall. However, I will never go again on the customer appreciation day, regardless of the prizes. read more