Play Free BINGO

Introduction to Playing Free Online Tournament BINGO

Participation in Play Live BINGO is 100% Free.  There are no fees associated with playing or winning our free online BINGO tournament games.

Play Live Bingo’s free tournament BINGO games are part of a Network Tournament and are offered at a variety of different BINGO websites around the world.  This network concept allows you to be able to play BINGO games, compete, chat and have fun with a larger amount of people as well as to benefit from the chance to win free BINGO prizes on a DAILY basis.

How does the free BINGO tournament work?

Each day (7 days a week) at 12:00 AM EST, we provide 2500 Free Credits to each member.  For each game of BINGO you play, 100 credits will be deducted from the 2500 credits.  Your goal is to win BINGO for as many of the BINGO games as possible that day.  Each BINGO game has a Pot that consists of the amount of BINGO players who have joined that specific game multiplied by 100 points.  (Note: Not every BINGO player in the room during each BINGO game will have joined the BINGO game, thus the pot may not always match the amount of players shown in a room.)  If you successfully claim BINGO for that BINGO game, the pot total will be added to your score.  (In the case of multiple winners the pot will be split evenly among the multiple winners for that day.)  Each day's BINGO tournament ends when the final BINGO game underway at 11:45 PM EST is completed.  (Note: Blackout and Pattern games take a little longer to complete than a Traditional BINGO Game).

How can I win one of the free BINGO game cash prizes?

At 11:59:59 PM EST, the BINGO players with the highest scores for that day will be awarded the free BINGO game cash prizes and the BINGO tournament for the new day will begin.  Unused credits and scores from the previous day are not carried forward from one day to another, thus allowing each BINGO player the same exact chance to win the free BINGO game prizes each day.

You may play as many online BINGO games each day as your credits allow, and you may participate in as many daily BINGO tournaments as you like just by returning each day that you want to play.  There are no limitations on how many times or how much you can win in any aspect.

ELIGIBILITY: This promotion is offered only electronically via the Internet and is open to all natural persons age at least 18 years and older.  Players must be fluent in English to be eligible to play and win.  Void where prohibited.

All winners subjects to final approval.  Game is void where prohibited by law.  Any tampering with normal site operation will result in immediate termination and possible prosecution.

The BINGO numbers are called out visually and by voice.  Mark your numbers on your BINGO card as they are called.  Click BINGO when you have a winning BINGO card.

Enjoy the free BINGO tournaments!

A Quick Guide: How to Play Free BINGO
After you register a username and password, you can get started by getting cards. You can get six BINGO cards for each of the weekly games. You will notice that each BINGO game starts on a different day of the week. The games last four days and its ok to join a game in progress. Each day you check the cards to see if you can match any of the available patterns. It doesn't matter what time of the day you check your BINGO cards, as long as you do it before the 9 PM EST deadline. Points are then issued for all valid Bingos - and new numbers are posted by 9:30 PM for the next day's round of BINGO.

PLAY FREE BINGO-NEWS AND ARTICLES

ROME, Italy -- Play free BINGO online fever is sweeping Italy after the government finally legalized the play free BINGO game born there five centuries ago.

And the Rome government is hoping to win its own play free BINGO jackpot from the move -- in the shape of a tax bonanza.

The traditional numbers play free BINGO game may be a past fad in other countries, but high-tech play free BINGO salons, with their cash prizes and giant video screens flashing numbers at a rapid-fire pace, are suddenly "cool" in Italy.

The play free BINGO game is actually coming home. The land of sleek play free BINGO fashion and Roman antiquities is also the birthplace of "gioco del lotto," the world's first lottery played in 1530 which later evolved into play free BINGO across the world, including the United States.

But legal obstacles kept Italians waiting for their first legalized commercial play free BINGO hall until just two months ago.

Play free BINGO is similar to tombola, already popular with Italians during the holiday season with hand-made numbers play free BINGO play free BINGO online cards and dry beans.

"Tombola is part of the reason play free BINGO online is already popular among all ages," Claudio Leone, a 37-year-old policeman, told Reuters during a night on the town at "Rouge et Noir" play free BINGO hall in northern Rome. “But also because the saloons are new and trendy."

Decked out in rose-tinted sunglasses and fur-fringed coats, teens in the Italian capital are turning the local play free BINGO salon into one of the hottest night spots in town.

Seated next to senior citizens, students and veteran gamblers, they huddle over play free BINGO cards, crossing out squares anxiously as numbered balls are plucked from an aquarium-like tank and read aloud.

"We discovered we have two sets of clients," said Leonardo Triulzi, the manager of Rouge et Noir.

"Up to 10 p.m. we get the families, the older people, but after 10 p.m. there is an explosion of young people -- it's a totally different place," he said.

The government made play free BINGO a legal form of gambling in 2000 and the first licensed hall started operating in the northern town of Treviso in November last year. Another 45 or so have since opened, paving the way for a new source of tax revenue.

Some 800 play free BINGO centers are expected to open across Italy over the next three years, contributing 23.8 percent of sales to the government.

In 2002 alone, the Economy Ministry is play free BINGO betting on raking in up to $50 million a month from plays FREE BINGO ONLINE.

"Play free BINGO appeals to Italians love of gaming," said Canio Zarrilli, a director of lotteries at the Economy Ministry.

Illegal play free BINGO betting abounds in Italy and the state-run Lotto raises billions of dollars for government coffers every year.

Play free BINGO has appeared just in time to compensate for a drop in lottery revenues due in part to the growing popularity of video-poker, which has swept coffee bars.

And if the first weeks are any indication, the government has hit the play free BINGO jackpot. One recent Saturday night, teens waited up to two hours in sub-zero temperatures to get in the door of Rouge ET Noir.

"All you need is luck," said a broadly smiling Michele Zanetti, after winning three times in one night.

Play free BINGO Below the Radar

Almost below the radar, gaming and lotto play free BINGO play free BINGO sites have become among the most popular destinations on the Web.

Such play free BINGO play free BINGO sites let players play free BINGO ONLINE games with the chance to win millions of dollars in cash and prizes, and the companies that run them say their play free BINGO play free BINGO games are nothing more than harmless entertainment. However, experts say these increasingly popular Web play free BINGO play free BINGO sites could be leading some people into compulsive online gambling where real money is won and lost.

Among the 50 most popular play free BINGO sites on the Internet in December 2000, sweepstakes play free BINGO sites Grab.com and Iwon.com ranked 17th and 26th respectively, and gaming network Uproar ranked No. 20, according to Jupiter Media Metrics. That's substantial, considering that most of the other play free BINGO sites listed are either multibillion-dollar Internet properties such as America Online and Yahoo! or popular e-commerce play free BINGO sites such as Amazon.com. In fact, Grab, which promises $1 million play free BINGO jackpots, was ranked the top new Internet play free BINGO sites of 2000 by Jupiter Media Metrics, tallying up 13.5 million unique visitors for December.

It's difficult to gauge the exact size of the industry, since there are so many play free BINGO ONLINEsites operated around the globe and many of them are privately held. Play free BINGO.com, one of the few publicly traded sweepstakes play free BINGO sites, had $544,416 in revenue for the third quarter of 2000, and a net loss of $1.1 million.

But it's clearly a fast-growing business, as evidenced by Uproar's acquisition this month by Vivendi Universal Publishing's gaming unit Flipside for $140 million, creating the biggest online gaming play free BINGO sites in the world. The combined entities would have ranked as the ninth most popular Internet play free BINGO sites for December, with more than 16 million combined unique users, according to research firm PC Data.

Considering the large number of competitors in the space — which include Play free BINGO.com, Freelotto, Pogo.com and scores of others — these play free BINGO play free BINGO sites are big business, offering prize winnings that amount to billions of dollars.

That's not bad for online companies that don't require large warehouses of products or need to spend millions of dollars in offline advertising to get the word out. The business model is based on relatively low overhead: These play free BINGO sites attract users largely by word of mouth and traffic-sharing arrangements; their inventory is a room of servers calculating each move.

"I would agree, generally, that it's not that expensive to run our play free BINGO sites," says Scott Kaufman, executive vice president of product development at New York-based Uproar, which has about 100 employees.

Since visitors to Uproar and other gaming and sweepstakes play free BINGO online sites are playing for free, the revenue comes almost exclusively from advertising. But it's advertising like no other, says Kevin Aronin, chief executive of Freelotto. While users don't have to give $1 per entry like a typical offline lottery, they do provide extensive information about themselves, which Aronin says makes for attractive advertising demographics to prospective marketers. "We have over 16 million members and over 40 billion pieces of information on these members," he says.

When he saw there was $140 billion spent worldwide on lottery tickets, Aronin says, his choice of creating a business was a no-brainer. "The lottery [industry] tells you that you need 'a dollar and a dream,'" he says. "We tell you, 'Just bring the dream and keep the buck.'"

Freelotto is simpler than most other play free BINGO play free BINGO sites: It just asks people to register and pick six numbers, with the same odds as a typical lottery. Since it opened in June 1999, Freelotto has given away almost $30 million. That includes several $1 million payouts, one $10 million play free BINGO jackpot recently won by a man in India and 150 people riding around the world today in cars they won from Freelotto.

Aronin, who spent 27 years in the direct marketing business before starting Freelotto, says he's applying those simple polling techniques to Internet advertising. How accurate is it? Five days before the presidential election, Freelotto took a voter poll. Based on those results, Freelotto not only predicted George W. Bush as the winner of the Electoral College, but also that Al Gore would win the popular vote and that Florida would be a toss-up state.

Just Fun and Play free BINGO play free BINGO games?

The overriding posture of the gaming play free BINGO play free BINGO sites is: There's no harm done. These are free gaming play free BINGO plays free BINGO online sites, after all, and the only people giving anything away are the play free BINGO play free BINGO sites themselves.

But that is a dangerous assumption, experts on gambling addiction say. Such free lottery and gaming play free BINGO play free BINGO sites are just one step removed from hard-core gambling play free BINGO play free BINGO sites. "The basic definition of gambling is risking something of value to gain something of value when the outcome is unknown,” says Kevin O'Neill, deputy director at the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey.

While playing the play free BINGO play free BINGO games on the play free BINGO play free BINGO sites is technically free of charge, every user must register, giving away valuable personal information that can be used to directly market products and services to them. Those ad pitches vary, but the top advertisers for both Play free BINGO.com and Uproar are casino and gambling play free BINGO play free BINGO sites — many of which are based outside the U.S. to avoid the prohibition on online gambling — that are looking for users willing to shell out some cash for the privilege.

A major advertiser on Play free BINGO.com is The Gaming Club, an offshore casino that would not be able to operate legally in the U.S. One of Uproar's biggest advertisers is Casino on Net, a play free BINGO sites operated by Cassava Enterprises on the Caribbean island of Antigua, a location notorious for offshore gambling.

Representatives from each of these U.S. companies express no qualms with their marketing affiliates. Lisa Gephardt, an Uproar spokeswoman, says she sees no danger in marketing online casinos to Uproar's users. She says the question has "never been raised with us."

But O'Neill says the link between the free gaming play free BINGO play free BINGO sites and the pay gambling play free BINGO play free BINGO sites is precisely the issue. "Starting off with free play free BINGO play free BINGO sites, that's about getting a market, about getting people hooked," he says. "But there's no difference to me. Gambling is gambling. Everyone will choose their poison, their own recreation."

In particular, O'Neill says, play free BINGO as an offline play free BINGO game has been a dangerous addiction for people who enter the play free BINGO hall and spend more and more money playing, while spending less and less time interacting with those outside of it — especially their families. This lack of interaction is magnified when the only thing the gambler has to interact with now is a computer.

And don't think the online play free BINGO play free BINGO sitess don't charge to play because they don't want to, O'Neill says. To get a license to charge for playing play free BINGO is an arduous process that includes background checks, and the organizations applying for it must be not-for-profit ventures — which these online lottery and sweepstakes companies certainly are not.

There's also the issue of letting users gamble on credit. While most states don't allow play free BINGO players to use their credit play free BINGO play free BINGO cards in brick-and-mortar play free BINGO halls, the offshore Internet casinos do. O'Neill believes credit-play free BINGO card companies may begin cracking down on that use.

But the Net is a global audience, argues Beau Buck, executive producer at Play free BINGO.com. He says that while its illegal to operate online gambling businesses in the U.S., people of other nations have no problem.

"I literally could not tell you, and I don't know how I would know, which of the global audience goes to the [offshore casino] play free BINGO play free BINGO sitess which you're referring to," Buck says. "For the rest of the world, it's not illegal, and we [accept] the advertising."

While most of the play free BINGO play free BINGO sitess demand users be at least 18 years of age, it seems no one is in doubt who the real target for these play free BINGO play free BINGO sitess is: middle-aged women. Women aren't likely to be playing Quake online, says Sean Wargo, senior analyst at PC Data. "They're more likely to play poker or trivia play free BINGO play free BINGO games, and online gambling is very popular among the older female set," he says.

Shane Murphy, CEO of Play free BINGO.com, says the segment of the population his play free BINGO sites caters to isn't exactly a home run for advertisers. "It's a middle- to lower-class economic segment, and that's a challenge for the advertising community," he says.

But Murphy says that, while you won't see Lexus advertisements on his play free BINGO sites, the demographic of the people who play at Play free BINGO.com is underserved on the Internet, and he says they do purchase products.

The hope of gambling addiction activists such as O'Neill, however, is that the people playing Internet play free BINGO will steer clear of the online casinos that provide much of the advertising revenue for Play free BINGO.com and other gaming play free BINGO play free BINGO sitess.

Online Play free BINGO Playing 2005

The number of online gamblers still has potential to grow significantly, according to a new study commissioned by the casino company Aspinall.com and conducted by the market research firm Greenfield Online.

The study, which is based on the responses of 1,000 experienced Internet users, shows that 63% of the respondents had viplay free BINGO sitesd an online gambling-related play free BINGO sites - lottery, play free BINGO, sports play free BINGO betting or casino - but only 13% had wagered for real. Security issues are still a major concern, with 56% of those who had viplay free BINGO sitesd gambling play free BINGO play free BINGO sitess saying they were worried about the safety of using credit play free BINGO play free BINGO cards or receiving their winnings online.

The survey also revealed that online gambling is breaking down the gender divide - it seems that women feel more confident playing table play free BINGO play free BINGO games in an online environment. For example the female to male divide of those who play blackjack is 32% female to 68% male in traditional casinos but evenly split in online blackjack. Likewise, while 88% of the women who had viplay free BINGO sitesd offline casinos had used slot machines, just 24% of female online casino visitors had played the online equivalent of the machines.

Play free BINGO With Lingo - play free BINGO game puts spotlight on use of jargon

Save a personal copy of this article and quickly find it again with Furl.net. It's free! Save it.

As a reaction to the endless churning and spewing of new business buzzwords and acronyms, a play free BINGO game called BS Play free BINGO is becoming popular in conference rooms throughout the U.S. and the U.K., IF has noted.

Before meetings, players hand out BS Play free BINGO play free BINGO play free BINGO cards comprised of squares that contain bits of corporate jargon rather than numbers. (One player's play free BINGO card might include such terms as "gap analysis," "win-win" "strategic fit," "proactive," and "empower.") If terms are spoken in the meeting, players check them off their play free BINGO play free BINGO cards and the first to tick off five terms in a row shouts out "b--s--" to announce they've won. The play free BINGO game has become so popular in the U.K. that it's rumored to have spread to the House of Commons (where winners reportedly shout out "hear, hear" instead).

According to a survey by U.K. secretarial recruitment firm Office Angels, 65% of workers admit to using business buzzwords. Still, two-fifths of those surveyed said corporate jargon is annoying and distracting, and 10% consider those who speak with a corporate tongue to be pretentious and untrustworthy.

Buzzword Play free BINGO

Lisa Endlich's new book, "Optical Illusions: Lucent and the Crash of Telecom," describes countless details of the corporate cultural clashes inside telecom's youngest 100-year-old company (see page 48). One of the most amusing involves a play free BINGO game that Lucent salespeople played to get through overlong sales teleconferences. The play free BINGO game was called "buzzword play free BINGO." Before the weekly speakerphone meeting, salespeople would arrange grids of play free BINGO play free BINGO cards bearing the canned phrases they were used to hearing on previous calls, such as "step up," "pull through" and "stretch goals." Whenever a salesperson heard one of those phrases, he crossed off a play free BINGO card, hoping to cross off an entire row. When one did, he would sneak the word "play free BINGO" into the conversation, as in responding to a suggestion with, "Play free BINGO, that's a good idea." More than an entertaining anecdote, the story illustrates the mindset of Lucent employees, to whom sales goals and expectations late in the boom years had become so grossly unrealistic that the whole endeavor seemed like little more than a play free BINGO game. No one looked past the current quarter. Salespeople downplayed their progress to lower expectations, while managers privately asked for results even higher than the "official" goals. And the company ended up selling to customers who couldn't pay just to advance in the play free BINGO game. The book should be required reading for telecom employees, lest they repeat the same route and begin playing play free BINGO play free BINGO games in which everyone eventually loses.

Extreme Play free BINGO

Nothing sets British hearts racing like a good play free BINGO game of play free BINGO. In a study sponsored by the National Play free BINGO Play free BINGO game Association, sports physiologist Lee Ashworth and his team fitted 12 thrill-seeking young men with heart monitors, then had them fly from a catapult, go bungee jumping, watch scantily-clad women in a lap-dancing club, and play free BINGO. Their heart rates jumped from 60 beats per minute to 118 beats per minute before they were shot from the catapult, to 138 before the bungee jump, to a paltry 88 during the lap dancing, and up to, 141 when all but one number was completed on their play free BINGO play free BINGO play free BINGO cards--one man even reached 161. Psychologist David Lewis commented that the surge in stress levels from play free BINGO is comparable to that from extreme sports, but there's a greater "unknown" since one's fate in the play free BINGO game is determined purely by chance.

Meteor math play free BINGO

Comments: "Play free BINGO is a sure winner! The kids loved it, and it's a great way for small group or whole class reinforcement."

Is play free BINGO gambling; or just a play free BINGO game?

It's a Wednesday night, and a decent-size crowd has gathered in a smoky warehouse-like social club to play free BINGO. Some are playing traditional play free BINGO with their play free BINGO play free BINGO cards laid out in front of them. Others are playing Fast Action Play free BINGO on computers.

Some are holding charms; others have set up good-luck pieces around themselves as they play several play free BINGO play free BINGO play free BINGO cards or electronic video play free BINGO play free BINGO cards at once. They all seem to be enjoying themselves. Some of the patrons are senior citizens, others middle-age couples.

The winners of the play free BINGO play free BINGO online games yell "Play free BINGO!" and accumulate "credits." At the end of the evening, they trade in their credits for cash.

This recent scenario observed by a reporter may sound like something out of West Wend over, Nev., or Las Vegas. But in this case the money was being handed out in Salt Lake County.

Play free BINGO halls are nothing new in Utah. Some have been around for decades. But a new court case in West Valley City recently reopened the question of whether they are centers for harmless fun or hubs for illegal gambling.

"Anytime you risk something of value to win something of value, it's gambling," said Salt Lake District Attorney David Yocom. "In my view of the law, it is in fact gambling."

West Valley police served a search warrant at Annie's Dinner & Play free BINGO Club, 3572 S. 1950 West, on March 4 after conducting an undercover investigation for several months, posing as play free BINGO players. More than 20 gaming machines and other records were seized. Three people were charged with 28 counts each of gambling, gambling promotion and possessing a gambling device. All charges were either class A or B misdemeanors.

Attorney Greg Skordas, who represents Annie's, called the case "a joke."

"It's a ridiculous case. This is one of the silliest cases I've ever seen," he said.

The typical operation at a play free BINGO club works like this: patrons have the option of playing a single play free BINGO play free BINGO card for free, something that is not well-advertised. But to obtain additional play free BINGO play free BINGO play free BINGO cards, they have to purchase a dinner that costs about $25. Most patrons buy the dinner even if they are playing only a single play free BINGO card. Others buy three or four "dinners" and leave the food untouched.

Some prosecutors say the dinner is a scam.

"Obviously you're paying the extra money for the chance to win," Yocom said.

One play free BINGO hall offered a "very simple Mexican dinner on a Styrofoam plate" and told an undercover officer he could win up to $1,200 playing play free BINGO, according to charges filed in West Valley's 3rd District Court.

Lori Randall, who used to play play free BINGO regularly, said the meals were good when she first started going to a play free BINGO hall in Riverdale. "Then it got to the point where it was chicken strips that were not real great," she said.

Sometimes only popcorn and soda are offered for a lesser price. Sometimes the patron doesn't receive any food at all.

An undercover officer investigating Annie's paid $20 to play Fast Action Play free BINGO on at least two occasions, according to court documents. The officer's receipt indicated he paid for popcorn, although he was not offered any, court documents state. Once, the officer won $155 after paying his $20.

"The reality is you're playing this play free BINGO game of chance for the hope of winning money," said West Valley City prosecutor Ryan Robinson, who called Annie's a clear case of gambling.

But Frank Diana, who owns two play free BINGO clubs in Salt Lake County and Riverdale, said his businesses are legal. While chance and opportunity may be part of the play free BINGO game, Diana said the play free BINGO play free BINGO play free BINGO cards are free. "As long as the play free BINGO play free BINGO cards are free, we feel like we aren't doing anything wrong," he said.

Diana compared play free BINGO playing to contests at fast-food restaurants. Play free BINGO game pieces are free at the restaurants, but for a person to get more play free BINGO game pieces per visit, he needs to "super-size" his order.

Those who wish to play only their one play free BINGO play free BINGO card still have as much of an opportunity to win as the person who purchases five dinners, Diana said, because it only takes one play free BINGO card to win.

Skordas said the play free BINGO play free BINGO play free BINGO cards at Annie's were also free. He said he has 40 sworn statements from club patrons that the cost of dinner was separate from the play free BINGO. "You don't have to pay to play," he said.

Play free BINGO-hall crackdowns aren't exclusive to Utah. Several Wyoming counties closed a number of parlors this month.

In Platte County, Wyo., 21 Fast Action Play free BINGO video machines were seized.

"Based on the law as it is now, it's very clear that this is not play free BINGO. The reality is they're trying to make a slot machine look like play free BINGO and say, 'Oh, this is now legal because it's play free BINGO,' " Platte County Attorney Eric Alden told The Associated Press.

In Utah, the legality of play free BINGO first came to question in 1979. The Salt Lake County Attorney's Office and the Utah attorney general said Albertsons Inc. could not hand out play free BINGO play free BINGO play free BINGO cards to its customers as a promotion. The grocery-store chain challenged the decision, and the Utah Supreme Court ruled 3-2 for Albertsons, saying that as long as the play free BINGO play free BINGO play free BINGO cards were given away for free to customers, it wasn't gambling.

The same idea has applied to play free BINGO halls ever since.

Yocom said most of the play free BINGO operations believe if patrons receive something of value, such as a dinner, then it's not gambling. But, he said, something of comparable value needs to be given in exchange for a patron's purchase.

Diana said the meals at his clubs are priced according to market value. He argued that it's similar to choosing between La Caille vs. Sizzler. The meals are basically the same, one just costs a lot more, he said.

West Valley's case has caught the attention of other Utah cities. Robinson confirmed other police agencies and prosecutors have contacted him to find out more about his case.

There are at least three play free BINGO halls in operation in Utah: Southgate Social Center, 3725 S. 900 East; Play free BINGO jackpot Play free BINGO, 3485 S. State; and Riverdale Dinner and Play free BINGO, 4510 S. 900 West in Riverdale. The play free BINGO parlors are all private clubs but do not serve alcohol. Diana owns the Southgate and Riverdale clubs.

Last Friday, two Salt Lake County sheriff's deputies went to Southgate for an inspection. The deputies were reportedly looking specifically at the Fast Track Play free BINGO machines. The video play free BINGO machines have received the most attention since the bust at Annie's.

But if the play free BINGO clubs really are offering gambling, how can they go on for years in a state that has frowned on gambling since the days of the pioneers?

One problem is gathering evidence. Many police departments don't have the time or money to conduct an extensive undercover operation.

And even if they could, there is no guarantee there would be any evidence to collect. Salt Lake County Sheriff's Sgt. Rosie Rivera said so far there is no evidence of illegal gambling at Southgate.

"Just because it's play free BINGO, it's not illegal," she said.

And some officials acknowledge that busting a play free BINGO hall could be a public-relations nightmare because no one seems to mind them.

A new look at the probabilities in play free BINGO

College Mathematics Journal, The, Sep 2002 by Agard, David B, Shackleford, Michael

Save a personal copy of this article and quickly find it again with Furl.net. It's free! Save it.

Introduction

"Dad, can we play free BINGO tonight?" asked my six-year old daughter Becky one evening. I thought this sounded far more enjoyable than grading the stack of papers on my desk. So, gathering Becky's mom and big sister Hannah, we began to play. Unfortunately for the family, I soon became lost in thought pondering how long the play free BINGO game should take. More specifically, I wondered, what is the probability distribution for the number of calls, required for some player to achieve a Play free BINGO. Likewise, I wondered what would be the average number of calls required to complete the play free BINGO game for a given number of players. The analysis turns out to be straightforward, but obtaining the numerical results would be tedious without a computer.

1. J. Bay, R. Reys, K. Simms, and M. Taylor, Play free BINGO play free BINGO play free BINGO games, Mathematics Teacher 93 (2000) #3 200-206.

2. M. Henry, J. Smith, and G. Trapp, Computer analysis of nonstandard play free BINGO probabilities, Journal of Recreational Mathematics 19 (1987) #147-51.

3. P Hoel, S. Port, and C. Stone, Introduction to Probability Theory, Houghton Mifflin, 1971.

4. J. Mercer, Some surprising probabilities from Play free BINGO, Mathematics Teacher 86 (1993) #9 726-731.

David B. Agard (agard@nku.edu) received his doctorate in statistics at Virginia Tech in 1990. He is currently an Associate Professor of Statistics at Northern Kentucky University, and enjoys teaching all manner of courses in probability and statistics.

Michael Shackleford (wizard@thewizardofodds.com) has a bachelor's degree in mathematics and economics from the University of California at Santa Barbara and is an Associate of the Society of Actuaries. He is currently a self-employed gambling writer and consultant. His area of interest is probability and the analysis of casino play free BINGO play free BINGO games.

Charity play free BINGO play free BINGO game was allegedly play free BINGO jackpot for crooks

The play free BINGO case went to trial Monday before U.S. District Judge James Zagel. You probably haven't heard much about it.

It's hardly the hottest action in the Dirksen Federal Building this week with the trial of psycho hate monger Matt Hale winding down and jury selection gearing up in the case of insurance broker extraordinaire Michael Segal. I'll get to them another day.

But there's just something irresistible about the whole concept of a charity play free BINGO play free BINGO game run amok.

That's what federal prosecutors say happened in west suburban Northlake during the mid-1990s when a politically connected bunch of shady entrepreneurs hit upon the idea of using various posts of the Italian-American War Veterans to front a play free BINGO parlor from which they allegedly skimmed at least $2.9 million.

You wouldn't think there was that much money to be made from play free BINGO, but it can be a nice little business, especially if you know how to work the skim, and some of the original defendants in the federal case were caught on tape bragging about just how good they were at it.

The feds collected more than 1,000 hours of videotape from a camera hidden in the back room of the Grand Palace Play free BINGO Hall, and a state revenue agent made 66 undercover visits posing as a play free BINGO player to figure out how they were doing it.

But the feds never got around to charging anybody until two years ago, apparently never having come up with what they were primarily seeking: a provable link between the play free BINGO operation and reputed Chicago mobster Jimmy Cozzo, who at the time was running a luxury hotel-casino on the Caribbean island of Curacao.

They did indict Cozzo's son, Phillip, 46, who they say was a hidden owner in the business.

Passing the buck

A sharply dressed and well-tanned Phillip Cozzo listened with a bemused expression while slowly working over his chewing gum as Assistant U.S. Attorney John Scully and defense attorney Ray Smith laid out differing views of the case in their opening statements.

Scully portrayed the younger Cozzo as having a central role in a racketeering conspiracy, while Smith said he was nothing more than a part-time employee paid a small salary to serve primarily as the "host" at the play free BINGO parlor, valuable to the business because of his ties to the old Italian-American neighborhood on the Near West Side. Smith said Cozzo's mother, aunts and friends were play free BINGO enthusiasts who frequented the Grand Palace.

Cozzo was joined at the defense table by Fuat "Frank" Useni, an Albanian immigrant who ran the kitchen in the play free BINGO parlor before becoming an owner. The stress of being a criminal defendant in federal court was much more evident on Useni's tired visage.

Two other defendants died before the case came to trial, including one of the key figures, William Shlifka, a convicted ghost payroller who passed away last week. Shlifka, a onetime leader in the New Republican Organization of Chicago, suffered from cancer. A third alleged conspirator died before the charges were even brought.

That should make this trial a natural for the vaunted Dead Guy Defense, as in, the dead guy did it.

Three other defendants, however, have pleaded guilty and are expected to testify for the prosecution, which could complicate matters for Cozzo and Useni.

Hard to pin down

Despite the allegations, the state never has shut down the Grand Palace. The federal government's theory of the case is that the Italian-American War Veterans posts were the victims of the scheme because they should have been getting more of the money that was taken in by the Grand Palace operators. But the truth is that some of the leaders of the veterans' group were involved, and the others were willfully looking the other way because the play free BINGO provided them more revenue than they'd ever seen previously.

As I once mentioned, I spent a lot of time trying to figure out the Grand Palace scam myself during the period that the Shlifka- Cozzo bunch was running it, having been tipped by a guy trying to run a legitimate church play free BINGO play free BINGO game that couldn't compete with the fancier operation that didn't play by the rules.

I even played some play free BINGO myself there one night, but could barely keep up with the number-calling. If you don't mind the smoke, you should see serious play free BINGO players go at it some night. It's an experience.

Unfortunately, I could never prove enough about what they were doing to get a story into the paper, and the church had to fold its play free BINGO play free BINGO game, which has always made me feel a little guilty.

If you're thinking that might be why I was in Zagel's courtroom instead of sinking my hooks into Hale or Segal, I've got one word for you.

Play free BINGO!

Start surfing, grannies - play free BINGO's hit the big time - RainbowPlay free BINGO.com Inc. offers online play free BINGO play free BINGO play free BINGO games

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The image of blue-haired grannies chain-smoking in crowded play free BINGO halls with their lucky trolls perched over play free BINGO game play free BINGO play free BINGO cards is being replaced by a new scenario - the 25-to-45 age group logging onto the Internet for an online kick at the play free BINGO cat.

"The play free BINGO demographic has dramatically changed," says Darren Little, president of Vancouver-based Play free BINGO.com Inc., and himself an avid play free BINGO player. "It's now the baby boomers, or younger generations, that are playing play free BINGO. The baby boomers can afford to dish out the big bucks."

The play free BINGO game has turned mainstream and struck a chord with younger people, he says, partly because the huge gaming facilities which can pack as many as 2,500 to 4,500 people - are now offering entertainment before and midway through the play free BINGO play free BINGO games. And the concept not only got them in the door, but may have hooked them on the "age-old" play free BINGO game, he says, indicating there's enormous opportunity for play free BINGO gambling to heat up on the Internet like it has at the mammoth gambling halls.

As such, Play free BINGO.com is hoping to cash in on the play free BINGO bonanza and the increasing wave of popularity by offering "the world's first" play free BINGO-based e-mail/Web page community, says Little.

"Play free BINGO. corn will provide Internet users with a destination point or portal play free BINGO sites that will be easily recognized as an informative home page," he says. "The play free BINGO sites will offer extensive free downloads, free information and free hot links with a wide variety of exciting prizes and promotional partnerships, creating a communicative infrastructure of international chat, e-commerce, entertainment and excitement."

It will combine the features of TheGlobe.com, Geocities.com and Microsoft's Hotmail. "We'll be combining all of the best features of those three play free BINGO play free BINGO sites and it will be surrounded by these large play free BINGO jackpot play free BINGO play free BINGO play free BINGO games," he says, adding it will be the future home of the "million-dollar play free BINGO jackpots."

Bridget Leach, an industry analyst with the Cambridge, Mass.-based Giga Information Group, says Play free BINGO.com could hit the play free BINGO jackpot because it offers a vast amount of information as well as the play free BINGO play free BINGO game - a duality that makes it unique in the marketplace.

"They may be successful because they have everything there plus the play free BINGO. They are incorporating all of these sorts of must haves (e-mail, build your own Web page, news and information) that comprise the mainstream portals," Leach says. "And they're first to market in this particular domain. And usually companies that are first to market are more successful because they generate a larger user base."

Its Canadian roots also make it unique, she suggests. "Most portal play free BINGO play free BINGO sites are U.S.-based," she says, indicating that the most popular ones are Yahoo, AOL, MSN (Microsoft), Excite and Lycos.

Play free BINGO.com signed an agreement with Vancouver-based Stratford Internet Technologies and Vancouver-based Mind quake Software to develop the play free BINGO sites, which will cost an estimated US$1.3 million. Play free BINGO.com is slated for launch on April 30.

Is Play free BINGO Playing a Play free BINGO game?

Combinations of numbers and letters droned from the sound system at Treasure City Play free BINGO like the tolling of a bell tower.

"B-4 ... N-32 ... I-18 ... O-75."

Alice Newman listened to the monotone voice of the caller, scanning the 27 play free BINGO boards spread out before her by methodically passing her Play free BINGO Brite ink dabber over each square sheet.

"I-16 ... G-40 ... O-68."

For 15 years, Newman has taken the hour-long van ride from Washington to Annapolis to compete for prizes that range from less than a hundred dollars to play free BINGO jackpots worth $5,000. She's heard all the reasons why she probably shouldn't be coming.

"I know, I know," she said glumly, when someone across the expansive hall shoots up her hand and yells "Play free BINGO!"

"I probably could be rich if I had kept all the money I've spent here," she said. "But here I am anyway."

Newman, a 56-year-old retiree, is one of about 2,000 regulars who flock to commercial halls in Anne Arundel County each week to participate in one of the few legal gaming options in Maryland.

She plays play free BINGO for the reasons most players do. It's entertainment. It's exciting to hit a winner. And for years it's been a popular social outlet for seniors.

Only, these days, it's not so clear that the century-old tradition of legal, commercial play free BINGO will last. At Arundel's four licensed play free BINGO halls, there is mounting evidence that the fast-paced, high-tech play free BINGO play free BINGO games of gambling's future are taking their toll. Revenues are falling as buses shuttle promising play free BINGO recruits, such as Newman's daughter Michelle, off to Delaware and West Virginia to wager and win more money on the horses and slots.

And some industry insiders are convinced that new state lottery play free BINGO play free BINGO games and the potential for legal slot machines in Maryland could wind up silencing the languid rhythms of Anne Arundel's commercial play free BINGO halls for good.

Commercial play free BINGO -- which is different from the play free BINGO played legally in churches, Veterans of Foreign Wars posts and fire halls across the state -- started taking hold in Anne Arundel generations ago. As far back as the 1800s, when the county had as many seasonal residents as permanent ones, play free BINGO halls were erected to appeal to city dwellers who traveled to the county's meandering shoreline.

Local laws limited play free BINGO halls to beach towns and to seasonal operation until the early 1950s, when the county started to let a few local businessmen apply their play free BINGO licenses to halls located inland.

Edward O. Wayson said he was still a young boy when his father and Michael Wynn set up Wayson's Play free BINGO on a key interchange in southwestern Anne Arundel.

The hall was a hit with motorists who were on their way from Washington to points along the Chesapeake Bay. And it fast became an incubator for some of gambling's future titans. Some of the owners of Wayson's Play free BINGO went on to buy and then sell the Golden Nugget Casino, and one partner, Stephen A. Wynn, left Anne Arundel and rose to chairman of Mirage Resorts, where he developed the Bellagio hotel and casino in Las Vegas.

Play free BINGO halls were a popular business with political insiders, too. Jeanne Mandel, the wife of former governor Marvin Mandel, held a license to run one, as did Maurice Wyatt, Mandel's former patronage secretary, and Bruce Bereano, long the king of Annapolis lobbyists.

The halls were mainly clean of criminal influences, although in the early '90s federal agents raided Play free BINGO World, which operates out of a hall the size of a Zeppelin hangar in Brooklyn Park, just south of Baltimore. In 1992, several of those associated with the place had ties to the mob and were convicted in U.S. District Court of funneling profits from gambling, loan-sharking, robbery and other enterprises through the play free BINGO business. The hall now runs under different ownership.

Play free Bingo’s most recent battle came in 1999, when the late council member Cliff Roop ( R-Severna Park) proposed legislation that would phase out the parlors. But with Wayson's input, the proposal was redrafted so as not to extinguish the businesses outright. Instead, it limited the number of licenses to the four that were open at the time.

To the ladies of Treasure City, that was welcome news indeed.

Patricia Cybulski, 66, is a regular visitor to the sparsely decorated hall, which is located in a little-vi-play free BINGO sites section of Annapolis that is also home to a ready-mix concrete plant, an Eastern Petroleum truck yard and an armory for the Maryland National Guard.

Cybulski lives in senior housing along nearby Forest Drive, and she and her neighbor Jeri Dotson, 80, play several nights a week, always hoping for the surge of excitement that comes with matching those five key squares on the board to the numbers being called over the microphone. The cost varies with how many play free BINGO play free BINGO cards are being played -- anywhere from $13 to as much as $200 or more.

The play free BINGO game has its own lingo and culture. When Cybulski is one number away from winning, she alerts Dotson: "I'm set." The colorful felt-tipped ink pens that are used to highlight squares on a play free BINGO sheet are "dabbers." And occasional high-intensity play free BINGO play free BINGO games, during which caller Mike Stevenson calls out a rapid-fire list of numbers until the first player has an entire play free BINGO card filled, are called "fast quickies."

Cybulski has "play free BINGO friends" in addition to her regular friends. The bond between them is strong enough that they often agree to share their winnings if one of them hits a play free BINGO jackpot, but not so strong that she knows anything about their lives prior to retirement.

Like many of the players, she said her children think she's crazy for spending her limited income this way. But she feels so passionately about the right to gamble that she said she will vote against Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend (D) in the upcoming race for governor, even though she's a Democrat.

Politics is a hot topic in the play free BINGO hall this year, as the question of legalizing slot machines divides the two major candidates for governor of Maryland. The sentiment at Treasure City is predictable.

"Most of my friends feel the same way I do, which is, why should we have to get on a bus and drive out of state in order to gamble?" Cybulski said as she dabbed her play free BINGO card. "You're dealing with adults here."

Townsend, unlike her Republican opponent, has taken a stance against bringing slot machines to Maryland's racetracks, even if the money is being used to pay for education initiatives.

But several powerful lawmakers have promised to try and legalize slots during next year's General Assembly session, possibly as a constitutional amendment, which would be immune to a governor's veto. The concept has been generally popular with voters, according to polls, so long as the money generated from slots is spent on schools.

Although slot machines may be popular with gamblers, their increasing availability is proving to be tough competition for the owners of play free BINGO online halls.

Wayson, who is a lobbyist for the owners of all four parlors in Anne Arundel, including the one run by his family, said slots have put the halls in jeopardy.

"We've slowly seen deterioration of our audience to the slots in Delaware and West Virginia," he said. "It's a concern."

The evidence of that deterioration is clear on the balance sheets reported to the county's licensing office. In 1998, total receipts for the four halls were $8.2 million. In 2001, it was down to $6.6 million.

In addition to competition from out-of-state horse tracks, which are offering free bus rides, meals and other perks to lure locals away, Wayson believes competition from the State of Maryland is cutting into business.

The competition comes primarily, he said, from Keno, a numbers play free BINGO game run by the Maryland Lottery that is similar to play free BINGO but runs in six-minute intervals at local bars and pays much larger play free BINGO jackpots.

Sales for Keno have been on the rise in Maryland. In 2000, they stood at $311 million; this year, they are projected to reach $357 million.

The competition has been so stiff that Wayson's Play free BINGO shut its doors recently. The plan: to remodel the hall in hopes of keeping pace with the more glitzy offerings that have been tempting away players.

In addition, Wayson helped push through local legislation that will allow the four Arundel play free BINGO halls to increase payouts. Under a law passed by the County Council, which took effect last month, the halls will be able to have two $50,000 play free BINGO play free BINGO games each year.

The measure also allows play free BINGO parlors to increase the top prize at regular play free BINGO play free BINGO games from $10,000 to $15,000.

"We think that by revising the prize structure, that will allow us to be a little more aggressive in our marketing," Wayson said. "But if it doesn't work at Wayson's, we can't go and move it to a shopping center. I think the future is limited."

Barbara Knickelbein is one Anne Arundel County resident who is not morose about the potential end to commercial play free BINGO Online.