Big, Bad and All About Bingo!
Posts tagged California
Thieves destroy Blue Devils Bingo building
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The Blue Devils Bingo building was robbed of the ATM which had $5,000 in it. It was robbed around 2:50am on August 10th, 2011. The robbery, which was caught on video, was perpetrated by two males. The following is the press release from the Concord Police Department:
CONCORD (August 10, 2011) – At approximately 3:00AM this morning, two suspects drove a pick up truck through the front glass windows of the Blue Devils Bingo Hall, 4065 Nelson Avenue. The businesses alarm was activated and an on duty security guard called the police department reporting a possible break-in.
Once inside the business the suspects quickly loaded an ATM machine into the back of the pick up truck and fled the scene prior to officers arriving.
At approximately 6:00 AM, officers from the California Highway Patrol located the pick up truck abandoned in a remote area of Alhambra Valley Road. The ATM machine was in the back of the truck and was empty. The pick up truck had been reported stolen locally back in June.
No further information is being released at this time to protect the integrity of the investigation.
Anyone with information about this case is asked to call Financial Crimes Unit Detective Greg Mahan at (925) 603-5814. Anyone wishing to remain anonymous can call the Concord Police Department Tip-line at (925) 603-5836.
You can check out Blue Devils bingo at BDbingo.com
San Clemente OKs TV-linked bingo, bigger jackpots
1By FRED SWEGLES
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER Original article can be found here.
- In remote-caller bingo, the calls are broadcast via TV monitors to multiple locations, increasing the number of players per game and thus the possible winnings. COURTESY OF BINGO INNOVATIONS OF CALIFORNIA
Big-money bingo soon may be coming to Orange County, with at least two cities – San Clemente and Placentia – already processing proposals from charity organizations wanting to take advantage of a new state law.
On a 5-0 vote Tuesday night, the San Clemente City Council introduced an ordinance to revise the city’s bingo law and allow bigger jackpots authorized by state Senate Bill 290, the Remote Caller Bingo Act.If the council adopts the ordinance in two weeks, it would take effect 30 days later. The San Clemente Elks Lodge says it could have video-linked bingo games up and running a month after that.
Bingo Innovations of California, a company producing the games, would install TV monitors to view the broadcasts in the Elks Lodge at 1505 N. El Camino Real, along with point-of-sale payment equipment used to calculate the pari-mutuel jackpots.
The company, based in Ontario, says it already has games running in Ontario, Desert Hot Springs and Dixon. The company says it’s currently possible to win $300 to $900 in a linked bingo game, depending on the number of people playing.
The game would be the same now being played at churches and American Legion halls except that it’s called via a video monitor to multiple locations, said Craig Van Sant, director of sales and marketing for Bingo Innovations. “The more locations there are, and the more people playing, the higher the prize money,” he said. “This is life-changing money. If we have 10 locations with 100 people playing, you’ll see jackpots in excess of $5,000 a game – $5,000 to $10,000.”
Traditional bingo games in California can’t pay more than $500, Van Sant said. That’s why cities must revise their ordinances to allow higher jackpots under the new state law.
Since the company began offering games March 1, “we have had individuals who have won in excess of $10,000,” Van Sant said. In Dixon, the American Legion is making $20,000 to $25,000 a month from bingo, sales of food and beverages and other activities, he said.
“For an outfit like that, in these economic times, it’s a real saving grace,” Van Sant said. “They’re turning around and donating that money to school booster programs and all kinds of things.”
In San Clemente, Elena Nauman from the Elks Lodge told the City Council that the lodge has supported local causes such as the Boys & Girls Club, scholarships, San Clemente High School Grad Nite, Family Assistance Ministries, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts and provided meeting space for groups such as the Marine Corps League, Scouts and Veterans of Foreign Wars.
Nauman said the bingo opportunity is vital to the Elks, since they lost their major source of support to maintain their lodge facility when the Marine Corps closed the San Clemente Trap & Skeet Range at the south end of town by barring shot or targets from landing on Camp Pendleton property. The Elks lease the shooting range from the city.
“We’re really, really hurting,” Nauman said.
Kumi Elston, San Clemente’s central services officer, said the Remote Caller Bingo Act was enacted in September. All games are open to the public.
Under terms of the state law, Elston said, 43 percent of the proceeds can go to the Elks for charitable purposes, up to 37 percent can go to prize money and 20 percent goes to the game overhead.
Ken Domer, assistant city administrator in Placentia, said the American Legion has asked the city to consider revising its ordinance to allow remote-caller bingo and that the city is reviewing it. It could go to the City Council in four to six weeks, he said.
To learn more about remote-caller bingo and see a video, visit linkedbingo.com.
Steaming pile of poop equals colossal cash for winner
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Dominic Balistreri with Stacey the cow (pictured front, center) during a Petaluma Fair competition last year where he won junior champion
By JOELLE BURNETTE
ROHNERT PARK CORRESPONDENT
How long does it take for a cow to drop a meadow muffin? A bad joke, yes, but the answer could be worth 1,000 bucks—not the kind produced by the cow’s horse pal at the farm.
Next month at Rancho Cotate High School’s annual carnival, this year’s event features a student fundraiser whereby a lucky ticket-holder will walk away with up to $1,000 during a game of “Cow Plop Bingo.”
The student leadership class is hosting the carnival and invites the community to purchase $10 bingo cards that will be spread out on the ground at the high school during the event. Then, Stacey, a cow who lives in Penngrove, will take a stroll on the cards while randomly choosing her target. The owner of the card on which Stacey decides to drop her steaming cow pie wins the prize money.
“I think it’s going to be a huge success,” predicted Shelli Yerion. She graduated from RCHS in 1985 and later organized a similar cow plop bingo to raise funds for the first Project Graduation in Rohnert Park to get the annual event off the ground; back then, they raised $10,000 from the idea. Shelli suggested the idea to her daughter, Amanda, who is a senior at the school and in the leadership class. Amanda has been working on the fundraiser ever since.
A few texts and Facebook postings later and Amanda had secured Stacey from her long-time friend Dominic Balistreri, a senior at Petaluma High School.
“It was worth a try to see it happen,” Amanda said about setting up the bingo fundraiser. The students hope to raise at least $12,000 from the bingo game.
Balistreri used to attend schools in Rohnert Park before moving south, but he still competes through the Rohnert Park 4-H club. Stacey is a 1,200-pound, 61-inch tall, registered Holstein dairy cow and one of Balistreri’s eight show cows. “For her age, she’s actually pretty big,” he described Stacey who is not yet 2 years old.
So, how does one get a cow to drop some dung? There really isn’t a sure fire method to induce a sampling of feces, but Balistreri said he can help control what type of dropping is produced to reduce any splatter factor resulting in potential bingo disputes. Moreover, while a standing cow generally produces a poop about once per hour, he said he’ll likely feed Stacey a little more on carnival day to, uh, move things along, so to speak, in case the celebrity bovine gets a case of the jitters from having such a huge audience of instant fans.
The $10 bingo cards for the carnival can be purchased at several locations locally:
- Anytime Fitness, 939 Golf Course Drive
- Larsen’s Feed, 7400 Gravenstein Highway, Cotati
- Sift Cupcake and Dessert Bar, 7582 Commerce Boulevard, Cotati
- Cin City Burgers, in University Square at Southwest Blvd. and Snyder Lane across from Rancho
The carnival will be held at the high school, 5450 Snyder Lane, on Friday, May 13, from 3 to 8 p.m. The $15 general admission includes unlimited rides and benefits future school events. Tickets are on sale at the school. Call the office at 792-4750 for more information.
How many bingo cards are you going to buy?
You may read the original article here.
Morongo Casino, Resort & Spa introduces new bingo hall
0CABAZON, Calif. – The Morongo Casino Resort & Spa will now be filled with calls of “Bingo” with the relocation of the Casino Morongo Bingo Hall to the main casino floor. Now located inside the AAA Four Diamond resort, the new bingo hall seats up to 300 players and offers Early Bird Games and VIP Member Promotions.
“Relocating the bingo hall to the main casino floor allows us to better serve our players,” said David Brents, general manager of Morongo Casino, Resort & Spa. “By placing the bingo hall under the same roof as our world-class amenities, we provide our players with the added convenience of staying, playing and dining without having to leave the building.”
The new hall features state of the art 19-inch electronic bingo screens with picture-in-picture technology that allows players to watch TV as they play. “We are offering the newest and most innovative technology to keep our bingo players in a fun and entertaining venue.”
The move comes nearly 30 years after Morongo opened as a bingo gaming hall in 1983. In 2004, Morongo Casino, Resort & Spa, as we know it today, opened with a new casino, hotel, spa, restaurants, conference center and pool complex, but the bingo hall remained a separate facility located next to Morongo’s Canyon Lanes Bowling Alley. Now guests can find the hall next to Mystique Lounge inside the casino.
Open seven days a week, the Bingo Hall will provide pack sales beginning at 2:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday with the first “Early Bird” game at 6 p.m. On Sunday, pack sales open at 11 a.m. with the first “Early Bird” game at 6 p.m. Early Bird Games pay $250 with regular session games ranging from $500 to $1,000. The new hall will also feature VIP Member Promotions including “Holiday Cash & Free Play Nights,” “Friday Night Birthday Celebrations,” and “Sunday Afternoon Free Play Giveaways.”
“This January, Morongo bingo players will be introduced to a matinee program on Tuesdays and Thursdays that will offer them a Bingo & Potrero Canyon Buffet Lunch package,” said Barry Connolly, director of Morongo Bingo Operations. “Players that have played with us throughout the years since the 1980s will truly appreciate their new gaming experience. Not only are they able to play bingo, but they now have all of the amenities in one place that offers an experience like no other casino offers.”
For information on bingo promotions, call (800) 252-4499 or visit the website.
Berkeley bingo hall may be shut down
0This article originally appeared here and is written by Doug Oakley.
Owners of a large concrete building on San Pablo Avenue at Gilman Street in Berkeley likely will lose their permit to run charity bingo games at a site described by one official as “an illicit gambling operation.”
The council will vote on a resolution at its Nov. 16 meeting to revoke the permit of the George F. McDermott and the McDermott Family Limited Partnership to use their 10,000 square-foot-building at 1284 San Pablo Avenue for bingo.
In July, the city shut down a charity bingo operation running out of the San Pablo building that officials estimate brought in at least $10 million in revenue from July 2009 to July 2010.
Officials have no evidence that the bingo game, working under the charity Youth Actors Company, ever donated any of the profits from the estimated $10 million to a charity.
“Twelve eighty four San Pablo Avenue wasn’t a bingo hall, it was an illicit gambling operation,” said Berkeley Code Enforcement Supervisor Gregory Daniel.
City and state laws require bingo halls to contribute any profits to charities. In Berkeley, those charities are required to have offices and do their work out of the same location as the bingo games.
Neither the owners of the building nor any neighbors showed up to a public hearing Nov. 9 to talk about the permit revocation.
The owner of the building was not available for comment Wednesday.
But during a Sept. 23 hearing before the Berkeley Zoning Adjustments Board a representative of the owner, Frank Ennix, said the owner was aware of “transgressions” at the bingo hall, but that the landlord could make sure “that those who are operating it see to it that the funds go to the Berkeley community.”
Ennix declined to comment on the possible closure Wednesday.
The board was unmoved and recommended the City Council take away the permit.
For the last 24 years, charity bingo has been the business inside the building, but according to a city report, it’s not likely any money went to any charity organizations or benefitted in any way from the crowds who came from as far away as Reno to play there.
Since 1986, 35 non profit organizations have run bingo out of the San Pablo hall.
The city report said “we have found no record that any of the above nonprofit bingo operators maintained offices at the bingo facility nor has staff found any record that they used the bingo facility to perform the duties for which the non profit was created.”
When the City Council votes on the resolution to revoke the permit of the building owners Nov. 16, future bingo parlors will be better regulated, Daniel said.
“We have a new ordinance in Berkeley that says any non profit that wants to operate bingo will have to show it is a qualified non profit that has been operating in Berkeley for at least 12 months,” Daniel said.
“Your records will show a tenant history in Berkeley, some sort of activity there and we may very well do a site visit to prove it.”
In addition to not donating to charity or housing charity offices in the bingo hall, the building’s owners had a variety of other violations including charging too much rent, allowing bingo operators to award prizes of over $250 and not keeping a list of winners, the report stated.
In the September hearing before the city Zoning Adjustments Board, owners of a restaurant across the street testified that they had observed “rampant drug dealing” and “near riots” in the parking lot off and on for at least the last 10 years.
In the report, Berkeley police confirmed their “descriptions of the problems with drugs and late night noise at the facility.”
Schwarzenegger Bans Welfare Cards at Bingo Halls and on Cruise Ships.
0This post originally appeared here.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, the governor of California recently used his powers to limit spending of his struggling welfare state. Welfare recipients used to be able to buy marijuana, get psychic readings, enjoy so called massages in massage parlors, get bail bonds, play bingo, shop for guns, gamble on the race track or go on cruise ships or spend their time in smoking shops or get the latest tattoos.
All these nice past times are no longer. Based on a report in the Los Angeles Times, the Schwarzenegger administration informed county welfare directors on Monday with a letter, announcing that ATMs and point-of-sale card readers in such establishments will no longer be on the list of approved destinations for California’s Electronic Benefits Transfer cards.
The welfare cards are intended to pay for life’s necessities and are not considered consistent with the welfare program was said in the explaining letter.
Earlier this Year casinos and poker room had already been removed from the network, after the LA Times reported about out of state usage of welfare cards. Based on these reports, $69 million of California welfare money was spend elsewhere. $12 million of said money was spend in Las Vegas. Florida was also a hip location to get rid of the welfare funds. The tally counted in Florida was about $1.5 million. There was also welfare money spend on cruise ships which were sailing from Miami.
Bingo at Del Mar Fairgrounds closer to reality
0This article can be found in its entirety here.
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2010 AT 9:04 P.M.
DEL MAR — Bingo may soon be coming to the Del Mar Fairgrounds.
The Del Mar City Council took a significant step toward that Monday by introducing an ordinance to allow nonprofit organizations to host bingo games within city limits. State law allows bingo as a fundraiser for charities. The fairgrounds has formed a nonprofit to host the games, which would be held daily.
The 22nd District Agricultural Association, the state-agency that runs the fairgrounds, has been asking the city for permission to host bingo as a way to increase attendance to its struggling Surfside Race Place satellite wagering facility.
Revenues from satellite wagering at Del Mar have plummeted during the past 20 years. In 1990, the fairgrounds averaged 2,453 attendees, with a handle of $550,020 each day. As of July this year, Surfside Race Place was averaging 657 per day with a handle of $223,000, largely due to the ease of phone and Internet betting. The district can only keep 2 percent of the overall handle, which it must also divvy up between several local entities including Del Mar and Solana Beach.
The fairgrounds expects 250 participants per session. Proceeds would go to capital projects on the property, be donated to charities and also to the fairground’s Don Diego Scholarship Fund. The district expects to generate at least $200,000 per year from bingo.
The ordinance will likely be scheduled for a second reading in October, which is usually a formality. It could be approved and become effective by the end of the year. Fairgrounds CEO Tim Fennell said the first bingo games could be held in January.
Davis Odd Fellows Bingo – Davis, CA
01 year ago
Davis Odd Fellows Bingo can be found at the Davis, California Odd Fellows Lodge. They are located at 415 Second Street, Davis, CA 95616. They play bingo on the second Sunday of every month. Their playing schedule can be found here. The total payouts for the session (doors open at 12pm, session starts at 1pm) is $1,000. Their pricing and bingo rules can be found here.
The one drawback or opportunity some people might see, is that it is only open to the first 100 people through the door. So you had better get there early. The Odd Fellows organization helps support community programs by pairing up with another charitable community organization. All money (after prizes) goes directly to the pair organization.
So, if you are in the Davis, CA area, think about playing bingo at Odd Fellows! Their next session of bingo is Sunday, September 12, 2010. If you have played here before and would like to share your thoughts, stories and pictures, please post them in the comments or email them to bigbad@bigbadbingoblog.com. If you would like more information about Davis Odd Fellows Bingo, you can either check out their website or email them at davisbingo@sbcglobal.net. Good Luck!
San Manuel $1,000,000 Bingo Weekend
01 year ago
by Big Bad
in For the Player
There is still time for you to get your tickets for this weekend’s Million Dollar Bingo extravaganza at the San Manuel Indian Bingo & Casino.
Two days of bingo with over a total of $1,000,000 in cash and prizes to be given away.
Buy in for Saturday is $100 and Sunday is $300.
If any of you are planning on attending, let me know and then let me know how you did and what you thought of the special! I wish I had known about it earlier, I might have gone down and played. Good luck to everyone!
Remote Caller Bingo
61 year ago
Do you live in California? Are you wanting larger jackpots at your local bingo hall? Remote Caller Bingo may be your answer! By looking at the Bingo Innovations website, they are trying to provide California charities the opportunity to link up with other bingo halls around the state and play three sessions daily for large money prizes.
A description on their website about what remote caller bingo: “A remote caller bingo game is a game of bingo in which the numbers or symbols on randomly drawn plastic balls are announced by a natural person present at the site at which the live game is conducted, and the organization conducting the bingo game uses audio and video technology to link any of its facilities for the purpose of transmitting the remote calling of a live bingo game from a single location to multiple locations owned, leased or rented by that organization.”
Instead of a single linked game like Satellite Bingo, Remote Caller Bingo would be a whole eight game session. It would take about one hour to play the session from start to finish and would cost $25 to play. Of that $25, $11 would go to prizes, $9 would go directly to the charity and the other $5 would go to Bingo Innovations for the management of the game.
How big would prizes be? Well if the average attendance was 100 players per hall and there were 10 halls playing, the prize pool would be $11,000. Eight games are played so the prize per game would be $1,375. The more halls that play, the higher the prizes.
It looks like that only the same kind of charities can play against each other. For example, only VFW halls could play against other VFW halls. The days of which they would play would have to be decided upon before the start of the game.
I like this concept. I think this could work and could help out the bingo industry. What do you think? Would you want to play at this type of session? Let us know in the comments!