Column: Beloved bingo under attack in Alabama

Monday, April 27, 2009  

"Confession time: I love bingo.

Not the kind that everyone's talking about these days -- i.e., the kind Gov. Bob Riley says involves slot machines masquerading as bingo.

I love the kind I used to play as a kid, with paper cards and a little plastic dispenser that shot out hollow black buttons stamped B-11 or G-48. I never wagered or won a dime on the game. I didn't need to. I got a thrill watching the blue dots line up and waiting for a winning connection to be made.

That's why it pains me to see bingo at the center of so much animosity and strife. My beloved game, or at least its name, is in the thick of controversies everywhere.

Just a few examples:

-- Even the Poarch Band of Creek Indians aren't above bingo battles. Philip Hogen, the chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission, is of the opinion that most of the gambling machines used at the tribe's new Wind Creek Casino in Atmore don't really qualify as bingo and aren't legally OK, according to the Press-Register of Mobile. But Hogen said he isn't taking action because the rules are too murky and should be cleared up by Congress."

Get the Story:
Robin DeMonia: Beloved bingo caught in middle of Alabama gambling wars (The Birmingham News 4/26)