Clasping good luck charms as varied as stuffed animals and pop bottles, they come by the hundreds, sometimes investing just a dollar, sometimes $20, plus hours of their time for a payoff that could go as high as $500 and companionship that is immeasurable.
Many arrive an hour or so early, drinking coffee, reading newspapers, spreading their bingo cards — sometimes as many as 40 — and catching up on the gossip.
This is Bingo City, 6800 N. Western Ave., opened about four years ago by the City of Hope, a non-profit national medical center outside Los Angeles, Calif., that specializes in the treatment of catastrophic diseases.
The building, a former 16-lane bowling alley, is rented to a dozen charity groups for the bingo games. Evening sessions are held seven days a week; day sessions four days a week, with about a dozen games played each time. Each player must buy at least one $1 card. By law, the winnings in any one game can not exceed $500 and no more than $2,250 can be given out per session.
Although the younger generation is well-represented, over three-quarters of the players are of retirement age.
”It`s like a `Cheers` for older people,” said manager Richard Triffler, referring to the popular television comedy series set in a friendly neighborhood bar. ”Say you`re 70 years old. You come alone every day, but you know everyone, so it`s not an aloneness anymore. You develop a relationship with the people around you.”
