Archive for February, 2009
Posted on February 19, 2009 - by admin
Bingo Lingo for You
An interesting bunching together of the obvious and the metaphorical, bingo terminology probably developed as the situation decreed.
For instance, you are ‘waiting’ if you are waiting for only one more number that completes your bingo pattern. Equally representative is ‘false alarm’ when someone calls ‘Bingo’, thinking they have completed the pattern. It is also grandiosely called ‘social error’, more colloquially ‘bongo’. In contrast to this obvious explanation is the alternative term for ‘waiting’ – ‘cased’. For reasons best known to the originator of the term, you are ‘cased’ for the same reason that you are ‘waiting’.
‘Breaking the Bubble’, meanwhile, is synonymous with a breakthrough. The simplest bingo pattern requires 5 numbers in a single row or column, so you have broken the bubble only when that happens. A very lucky bingo-er might get it in the first five numbers called. Then there are the enthusiasts who call out Bingo when they see the next number on the screen; remember it has to be ‘called out’ before you can yell “Bingo”. These guys are ‘jumping the gun’.
Bingo also has a ‘standard’; translate that to mean that all numbers with the same second digit as the first called number are considered called, including the single digit number in the matrix. ‘Wild numbers’ add a dash of the unknown and the picking of wild numbers is called ‘forwards /backwards’. If the first number picked is 59, then all numbers starting or ending with 5 are considered called numbers, also those ending with 9. There are no numbers that begin with 9, in bingo. The players get to daub out several numbers, in this instance!
Posted on February 2, 2009 - by admin
The Old Undying Art of Gambling
To gamble is a psychological urge present in humans since the dawn of civilization itself. It is found in all human beings in varying degrees. It can also be stated as an act to comply with the immediate gratification of a basic need that would otherwise result in a monotony of existence. It is an inherent quality, or rather disqualifying aspect, in man since the ancient days and has been viewed in bad light due to its often unsocial and self destructive character.
The term ‘gamble’ is more readily associated with the wagering of money. Here in the casinos, public places, saloons or bars, the very idea is to make a pot full of money through gambling of various types. Here, in practice, one person’s win is another person’s loss. A winner on one day may even turn out to be the biggest loser the next day. A few wise ones quit while they are ahead, and made the most of their winnings. Most types of gambling, for instance the lotteries, slot machines, bingo or poker and many others, are unpredictable and hence require no knowledge or any special skills. One might say that here luck, and only luck, counts. In the case of gambling, such as horse racing, grey hound racing, soccer betting and other sports betting, a degree of skill is required and hence is to some extent predictable. In fact, people tend to gamble even if there are rules or a total ban. It is but human nature to revolt.
