The other evening, I decided to recreate the social aspect of bingo that I used to know and love from Bingo’s live heyday in halls, arcades and clubs the length and breadth of the country from the 60’s onwards.

I recall my parents letting me come along with them to a small Bingo Tent just outside of a Holiday Camp in Bognor Regis, on the Sussex Coast. I was given a glass of lemonade, a packet of crisps (with the salt in a small blue sachet inside the bag), and told to keep quiet and still and behave myself! Within a few minutes my folks were chatting laughing and swapping stories with their neighbours at the trestle tables either side of theirs. Drinks were bought from the bar along with chicken wings in a basket, and shared out. Then the caller drew matters to order, a hush descended, and the games began. There were “comfort” breaks every 20 minutes and a chance to replenish drinks and continue conversations.

So I picked a date and time and texted a few friends, including Bill and Marjorie to suggest they come along and play online Bingo at my place. Two were able to bring their lap-tops with Wi-Fi and internet access, while two others were happy to use my two desk-top PCs, each with their own internet access. I was going to be the host. They arrived a good hour early and we decided to use Bingo Café UK, and agreed the games we would take part in. Connections were all checked and we arranged the seats and tables, so that we were all facing each other in a circle. Then I broke open the tuck hamper, and doled out good old fashioned cheese & cucumber, egg and ham sandwiches, mini pork pies, and a massive plate of chips (I hate the term “fries”!). Next came the drink- lashings of ginger beer for those who would be driving home later and bottles of beer or wine for those able to imbibe.

The final touch was the playing of a compilation CD of 60’s hit tunes I had created, all mixed in with the sound of the seaside (beach play, surf, funfair sounds etc.). Authenticity was the keyword here!

So how did it go? Well we played for well over two hours, and all got into the mood very quickly, whooping and yelling as the numbers were called, back slapping when one of us had a pretty good win. There were no connectivity problems, and it was a real blast having a mix of us there playing “live” online along with the other gamers playing online.

The only downside was that a bottle of stout ale was knocked over onto a keyboard. Thankfully it wasn’t one of the laptops! The remedy was that Bill had to use a small proportion of his winnings to buy a new keyboard.. £4.99, purchased online of course!