The luck of the draw

B-2 is not just a bomber. With the right card and the right numbers, B-2 could mean cash for bingo players.

"Bingo doesn't take a lot of skill," said Elsworth Statler of Cape Girardeau. "It's just all in the luck of the draw -- getting the right cards."

There's a lot of money tied up in the game: In Missouri, 660 business licenses were issued in 2001, along with six manufacturers and five firms providing bingo supplies. Last year, bingo provided more than $3.5 million in taxes, said gaming commission spokesman Harold Bailey.

Bingo World, which opened in September at 823 N. Clark in Cape Girardeau, supplies the game six nights of the week. It can seat more than 1,000 players and is among the largest of 150 bingo parlors in the state.

"As the pot grows, so does the attendance. We've had as many as 700 people here," said Karyn Michel, a co-manager of the parlor. "We average from 250 to 300 players any night. A lot depends on what jackpots are available."

Progressive cover-all jackpots -- cover-all meaning when players cover every space on the bingo card -- can run from $2,000 to $6,000.

But bingo isn't all about money.

The Statlers and Bob and Sylvia Hatwood of Naylor, Mo., were talking and playing a friendly game of cards before the 6:30 p.m. start for bingo at the parlor Thursday.

"We meet a lot of friends here," Elsworth Statler said. "And, hey, I've won a few times."

So has Bob Hatwood. He was recently a $1,199 cover-all winner.

Ryan Mann, of Grand Chain, Ill., said, "We'll come over early sometime and do some shopping before coming out to the bingo hall. People that play the game are nice."

On some days bingo players are here by 2 p.m., said Michel. "They'll talk among themselves, and some play cards."

Funds civic groups

The Thursday night session was hosted by St. Mary's Homes and School Association, one of six groups currently sponsoring games to raise money for their organizations. This is the first time St. Mary's has sponsored a bingo game.

Bingo World was constructed by Clark Street Development Inc., a non-profit group that rents out the hall to sponsoring groups and sells food during the games.

The hall features padded chairs, six boards to flash the numbers and 17 television monitors to show the balls as they are called. A glass partition separates smoking and non-smoking sections.

"The chairs are comfortable here," Mann said. "That means a lot when you're sitting here three hours."

The Missouri Gaming Commission, founded in 1993 to oversee riverboat gambling, assumed responsibility for regulating charitable bingo games in 1994.

"But the money goes further at a bingo parlor," said Margie Ryan of Grand Chain, who is much closer to Harrah's Riverboat Casino in Metropolis, Ill., than to Bingo World in Cape Girardeau. "You can invest in bingo cards for $10 to $15 and play about three hours. It won't last that long at the slots."

rowen@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 133