AREA ORGANIZATIONS REALIZE BINGO BONANZA

Cape Girardeau County doesn't have a riverboat. But it has plenty of gambling in the form of bingo games.

Nine Cape Girardeau and Jackson civic organizations offer bingo on a weekly or regular basis.

Last year, those groups held more than 9,200 bingo games and took in more than $1.25 million in net receipts, according to financial records filed with the Missouri Gaming Commission's Bingo Division.

The financial total includes money generated from the sale of pull tabs, instant lottery tickets that are sold at bingo games.

The Cape Girardeau Kiwanis Club leads the way in bingo revenue.

Its Monday night games at the Arena Building in Cape Girardeau regularly draw over 400 people.

In 1997, the club's bingo games generated more than $800,000 in gross receipts.

The Kiwanis Club ranks among the state's leaders in bingo revenue.

For the third quarter of 1997, the club ranked second in the state in gross receipts with $252,033. A St. Louis club was the top revenue producer.

The Kiwanis Club ranked sixth in gross receipts in the second quarter of 1997.

Ron Pleus, supervisor of the state's bingo division, said his office has yet to compile the Top-10 list for the fourth quarter of 1997.

Missouri currently has 720 bingo groups licensed to offer weekly bingo games. Another 525 organizations have special licenses that allow them to host bingo from one to seven days in a year.

Statewide, bingo games and pull tabs generate about $180 million.

That is down from a few years ago when they generated about $240 million, Pleus said.

Bingo was legalized in Missouri in 1981 when voters amended the state constitution to allow religious, fraternal, charitable and veterans groups to hold bingo games to raise money.

Revenue from the games continued to grow.

"It grew up until 1995, and then the riverboats came in," said Pleus.

Since riverboat gambling took hold, the number of organizations holding bingo games on a regular basis decreased by about 200, he said.

The competition from riverboat gambling has been felt largely in St. Louis and Kansas City.

In Southeast Missouri, only Caruthersville has riverboat gambling.

Pleus said Southeast Missouri remains a hotbed for bingo.

Nearly 100 organizations offer weekly bingo games in Southeast Missouri, state records show.

In addition to the Cape Girardeau Kiwanis Club, bingo organizations in Sikeston and Dexter have made the Top 10 list for quarterly gross receipts in the past year.

A Sikeston fraternal group ranked second statewide in gross receipts in the first quarter of 1997.

Bingo organizations used to be taxed on their receipts, but since 1995, the state has levied the tax solely on the four companies that sell bingo cards and equipment to the organizations.

Those companies, in turn, pass that cost on to the organizations in the price of their products.

The tax generates about $4.6 million a year for the state.

License fees charged bingo suppliers and organizations raises another $100,000. Penalties for violations of bingo regulations bring in another $5,000, Pleus said.

The annual bingo license is $50 for an organization that wants to hold games weekly. For others, the cost is $25 per event. The companies that supply bingo materials have to pay annual fees of $1,000.

While bingo brings in a lot of money, much of it is paid back out in prizes.

Last year, the Cape Girardeau Kiwanis Club paid more than $500,000 in prizes.

In all, more than $2.6 million was paid out in prizes by Cape Girardeau County's nine bingo organizations in 1997.

"They don't come because they like us. They come because they want our money," said Bill Dockins, who chairs the Kiwanis Club's bingo committee.

"We have always given away the maximum prize allowed, which is $3,600 per night," he said.

In addition, the club holds a progressive game, in which all the bingo spots have to be covered.

The jackpot goes up every week that the prize isn't won after so many numbers have been called out.

Even without a jackpot winner, prizes of about $3,000 a night are typically given out for that game. The prizes for that single game have been as high as $6,500.

Dockins said the average player will spend $22 a night on bingo. That doesn't include buying pull tabs at a cost of 10 cents to $1.

In terms of bingo players, women outnumber men probably two to one at the Kiwanis Club games, he said.

Even with all the pay outs, bingo is profitable for those groups running them. "It is good money," said Dockins.

The Kiwanis Club showed net receipts of $338,028 last year on its financial report to the state.

But that is before expenses for such things as bingo suppliers and rental of the Arena Building were taken into account.

"All of the money we earn at bingo is given away to charitable or non-profit type organizations," he said.

Dockins said the club typically donates $100,000 to $125,000 a year to various charitable groups and projects.

Cape Girardeau's Knights of Columbus donated almost $50,000 in bingo proceeds to the city's Catholic schools last year, including $30,000 toward construction of a new high school.

Notre Dame High School, in particular, benefits from bingo.

The Notre Dame High School Athletics Booster Club and the Notre Dame High School Home and School Association both run bingo games.

After expenses, the two groups combined donated more than $120,000 to the school last year.

BINGO LOCATIONS

Nine organizations in Cape Girardeau County run weekly bingo games.

KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS

318 S. Spanish, Cape Girardeau

Sundays at 5:30 p.m.

KIWANIS CLUB OF CAPE GIRARDEAU

Arena Building

Mondays at 6:30 p.m.

CAPE ELKS LODGE 639

2751 Thomas Dr.

Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m.

KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS

305 N. High, Jackson

Sundays at 1:30 p.m.

FRATERNAL ORDER OF EAGLES

321 N. Sprigg

Fridays at 1:30 p.m.

AMERICAN LEGION POST 158

Highway 61 North in Jackson

Second and fourth Thursdays at 7 p.m.

JACKSON ELKS LODGE 2652

542 Highway D

Fridays at 7 p.m.

NOTRE DAME HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETICS BOOSTER CLUB

Plaza Way Community Center

Saturdays at 6:30 p.m.

NOTRE DAME HIGH SCHOOL HOME AND SCHOOL ASSOCIATION

Plaza Way Community Center

Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m.