Information AboutBingo (uk) |
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Housie is a gambling game played in New Zealand , Australia and the UK , where it is called Bingo. Players mark off numbers on a ticket as they are randomly called out, in order to achieve a winning combination. It is not to be confused with the similar American game Bingo , as the tickets and the calling are slightly different. DESCRIPTION OF THE GAME A typical housie/ Bingo Ticket is shown to the right. It contains fifteen numbers, arranged in nine columns by three rows. Each row contains five numbers and four blank spaces. Each column contains either one, two, or very rarely three, numbers:
The game is presided over by a caller, whose job it is to call out the numbers and validate winning tickets. He will announce the prize or prizes for each game before starting.The caller will then usually say "Eyes down" to indicate that he is about to start. He then begins to call numbers as they are randomly selected, either by an electronic Random Number Generator (RNG), by drawing counters from a bag or by using balls in a mechanical draw machine. Calling takes the format of simple repetition in the framework, "Both the fives, fifty five", or "Two and three, twenty three." The different winning combinations are:
When players first come to the venue (often a church hall, rugby club or other place with sufficient tables and chairs, including in the UK many specifically designed ''bingo clubs'') they can buy a book of tickets. Players generally play between one and six books. In New Zealand a book usually contains fifty tickets which are played over the course of the night. In UK bingo clubs, playing is divided into sessions with different books, each with a designated number of pages. Players in the UK usually prefer to buy books of 6 tickets containing all possible numbers in different combinations. As each number is called, players check to see if that number appears on their tickets. If it does, they will mark it with a special marker called a "dabber" or a "dauber", shown here. When all the numbers required to win a prize have been marked off, the player calls out "Line" or "House" depending on the prize, and an official or member of staff will come and check the claim:
There will often be an interval halfway through the game. In Australia and New Zealand Super Housie tickets are played and raffles (if there are any) are drawn. In UK bingo halls it is most common for Mechanised Cash Bingo to be played (see below). BUSINESS ASPECT In New Zealand and Australia , housie is often used a fundraiser by churches, sports teams, and other groups, and raffles are sold before the game. Bingo, as housie is known as in the UK (not to be confused with the similar US game Bingo ), is an expanding and highly profitable business, with many companies competing for the customers' money. The two largest companies with bingo halls in the UK are:
As well as offering the familiar Housie/Bingo played by marking numbered books, most large clubs have their tables modified for the playing of Cash Housie or Mechanised Cash Bingo (using coin slots or, increasingly in the 21st century, an electronic credit system). This is highly profitable for the operator, with a typical "take" of fifty percent of the stake. CALLING NICKNAMES (UK BINGO) In New Zealand, calling nicknames are not used as much as in the UK, but here are some of the more common ones. When calling, the caller will usually say both digits on their own first, and then the number itself, for example, "Three and two, thirty-two". Some callers will use many of these slang terms, others just a few. However, "Kelly's Eye", "Legs Eleven" and "Top of the Shop" are often used, even if none of the others are. See section below for usage. There is at least one nickname for each bingo number called. See sources for more. Sources USAGE OF BINGO NICKNAMES IN THE UK Since the introduction of the electronic Random Number Generator (RNG) in Bingo Halls in the UK, the usage of the nicknames above in mainstream Bingo has dramatically decreased. Bingo with an electronic RNG is much less time consuming and it has been discovered that replacing the nicknames with a simple repetition (in the pattern "All the fives, fifty five" or "Two and four, twenty four"), has allowed bingo halls to focus on the more lucrative business of Mechanised Cash Bingo (MCB), known in Gala Bingo Clubs as Party Bingo, and Mecca Bingo Clubs as Cashline. It is perhaps nostalgic to note that the usage of these nicknames tends to be greater where the focus of playing bingo is upon fun rather than big business; this includes British holiday resort chains such as Haven , British Holidays and Pontins , and also church halls, social clubs etc. TRIVIA
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