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ALSO |
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Meet
the players
Three
bingo fans talk about their no.1 hobby.
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| BINGO
BANTER |
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The
bingo calls were probably invented to fill the time it took
for the slow machines selecting the balls, as well as helping
to make the calls heard over the noise the machine made.
With
the new technology, the calls are not really needed, but the
tradition of the bingo calls mean they're still used in some
places.
Calls
are getting a make-over - with modern popular culture as the
influence. Call-outs such as "Gareth Gates, number 8"
and "J.Lo's bum, 71" are sprucing up the repertoire.
A
professor from University College Northampton was asked to
devise a modern day bingo banter that would reflect British
society and culture today.
The
classic calls such as "legs 11" and "dirty
Gertie, 30" will remain, whereas some older ones are
being replaced by fresher references.
"Chicken
Vindaloo" will replace "Danny La Rue" for 52,
and "Buckle my shoe" will become "Jimmy Choo"
for 32.
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The
newest bingo hall in Carlisle, Gala Bingo in Carlisle offers a Vegas-style
night out with the opportunity to win £20,000.
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| Mark
Simm, Carlisle Club Manager |
Club
manager Mark Simm, 36, came to Carlisle three years ago after being
in the bingo business for fifteen years.
He
is a busy man, what with trying to keep the old bingo hall open
and his customers happy, and opening a new hall from scratch.
The
new venue on Botchergate opened on 1 April 2004.
Pensioners
only?
There
are three million regular bingo players in the UK today, but who
are they?
The
public perception of bingo is all wrong despite an on-going change,
says Mark.
Even though the age group is changing, there will still be the wrong
perception of bingo only attracting little old ladies.
"There
is still a perception, don't get me wrong, but it's been there since
the year dot so changing it is going to take time. In ten years'
time I think that this image of old dears with broken Woodbines
and blue rinse will have lost it and it's clearly a younger market
without a shadow of a doubt," Mark says.
Big
bingo bonanza
Over
the years the attraction of bingo has changed, and it has become
a game of big prizes and large winnings. Recently the £1million
game was played, and Mark Simm believes that is the route that bingo
will go.
"Games,
prizes and attractions will range from anywhere from new beginner
sessions to where you will be coming in and playing for £1000
houses which are fairly aspiration prizes and therefore will attract
a certain type of a high-roller kind of bingo player."
Meet
the real-life high-rollers in our player profiles »
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