I made it to my second gay bingo event at S4 this weekend.
Gay bingo at Station 4 is a fabulous event. It is basically a Texas-sized version of Minneapolis bar bingo.
Gay bingo events in Minneapolis and Dallas both support local HIV/AIDS resource centers, but the experience is dramatically different. In Minneapolis, bingo is informal, occasionally violent, and very frequent – you can play up to 4 times per week.
However in Dallas, bingo is a once-per-month extravaganza.
The crowd at the March Gay Bingo / Resource Center Event at Station 4 in Dallas.
Bingo has a special place in my heart.
When I got dumped last year, I went to bingo at the Minneapolis Eagle and won the $1,000 coverall prize. It was shocking because I was hoping to feel sorry for myself, but the universe had other plans.
That unexpected win was also frightening because they gave me the $1,000 in small bills, so the entire bar knew that I was walking around with a massive wad of cash.
They should have also handed out a shirt that says “MUG ME!”
In Dallas, You have to plan to play bingo.
Gay bingo in Dallas has a reception, corporate sponsors, food vendors, etc.
Dallas bingo also has assigned seating and tickets that you have to buy in advance. This means that your friends can’t decide to join last minute. Some of our neighbors found this out the hard way.
The price point of the good seating ($40) also means that the crowd trends even older than typical for bingo.
Bingo Jail!
If you fail to do the call-and-response routines correctly or get caught on your phone, the hosts will throw you into the gay bingo “jail” on stage. You have to stay in the jail until your friends fork over enough cash to bail you out.
This can get really pricey for tables with drunk people near the front.
On the positive side, the advance planning and cost mean that your friends are less likely to bail on you last minute, so you never have to do gay bingo alone.
Gay Bingo for the February 2016 event at S4 – Oak Lawn.
We look forward to next month!
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