Bingo Nights at Mystic Lake

Mystic Lake is a casino/hotel in Minnesota, where the NALS conference was held. I arrived at this fascintating place the day before the conference. I thought that I was prepared for the freezing weather with my thick, quilted down jacket. Winter has always been my favorite season, mainly because of fashion. The snow was pretty and reminded me of fun times I'd had in Boston. But, I was much more excited about wearing my jacket again. It was the first time I'd worn the purple masterpiece by Laundry, in four years. I thought it was all I needed, but when I stepped outside in the below freezing weather, I knew I was going to regret walking to the store for the shampoo and conditioner that I didn't pack because I was sure the casino would be right in the middle of everything. I was wrong and all ten of my fingers suffered the consequence as they stayed jammed in my pockets, but still felt numb from the cold.

I hadn't realized we were on a reservation and could see my breath forming puffs of white fog as I cursed at the wind for the casino being so far away from everything. The nearest store was a two mile trek. As soon as I reached the convenience store, I let out a sigh of relief and immediately started searching for gloves. There weren't any. Who could have known it would still be snowing at the end of March? I stocked up on snacks for the next three days, like I was about to go into hibernation. I had three bags to carry back with me, and no gloves. I made it back quickly though with no signs of hypothermia. As I headed through the lobby toward the hallway with the elevators, which led to my room, I noticed a long hallway and a sign for bingo.

The last time I played bingo was at my 8th birthday party. My mom had given us bingo cards and had different prizes ready for the winners. My friend won a barbie and I had been pretty jealous until I opened my presents and found Disney barbie, Disney Ken, and their Disney twins. Since that time though, I'd always thought of bingo as a social outlet for the older crowd. Something my mom and her friends might go to. I glanced at the bingo sign and was about to turn away until I noticed in another sign underneath the bright bingo letters that the jackpot was $150,000. "One hundred. And. Fifty Thousand Dollars???" I quickly went up to my room, put the bags down, and went back down to the bingo counter to find out more.

The cards were $10 for twelve rounds. You could also purchase specials, for the extra rounds in between the regular rounds. "Have you ever played bingo before," the lady behind the counter asked. "Yes," I quickly answered, nodding. Ofcourse I had played bingo before, everyone has. It was just bingo. "Okay, well it starts at 8 o'clock sharp," she said as she handed me the cards. I went back up to my room, set the alarm on my cell phone, and fell asleep. I was still completely jet-lagged from the extra long plane ride from Hawaii to Minnesota. I woke up at 7:30pm, grabbed my bingo cards and headed down to the bingo rooms. As soon as I stepped inside, I realized that bingo was kind of a big deal.

The front room alone held about three hundred people. I made my way to the non-smoking room in the back, which also held about three hundred people. I found a seat near two girls who looked my age and started asking them questions. They seemed so excited to tell me the rules of the game. Then an older woman and her friend came and sat across from me. She announced that she was a bingo regular and she would help me through the game. She realized I didn't have a dobber, which is a small, ink-filled bottle, that you use to mark off the numbers called. She pointed to the vending machines surrounding the large room, which all had dobbers in them. I went to one of the vending machines and put my two dollars in the slot. I was going to press the first button, when I noticed that all of the dobbers were different. They were all in different colors, some had caps that were diamond shaped and metallic, and some were themed with different holidays. I chose a metallic purple with a diamond cap, hoping the diamond was a symbol of fortune, and would help me win that jackpot.

When I went back to my seat, Linda, the bingo regular, explained how in each round, we were looking for something different. "It's never just a straight line. It can't be that easy," she said with a small laugh. "We like to make things difficult. It will show on the board what pattern you need to get for bingo. Sometimes they do a seven, sometimes they want a smiley face, sometimes they want two corners, and so on. Also, there are free fountain drinks and coffee and snacks at the back over there," she pointed behind me to a long counter where there were soda machines, chips, cookies, popcorn, and a small crowd ready to devour everything. Bingo started and we played round after round, Linda kept asking me questions in between about where I was from, why in the world I would go to Minnesota from Hawaii, and what kind of conference I was attending. At the end of twelve rounds, I hadn't won anything, but I had almost won several times. Linda told me every night there is a theme. That night had been karaoke, which is why all of the winners were able to choose to sing for an extra $100. "Tomorrow night is cosmic night. They will have glow-in-the-dark lights and music during the game," Linda said. "Wow," I had no words.

The next night, I hadn't planned on going back, but as I sat at the table during the conference dinner, I found myself constantly glancing at my cell phone for the time. Fifteen minutes before eight, I couldn't take it. I snuck out, and rushed down the hallway to buy bingo cards. This time, after entering the bingo rooms, I sat next to another bingo regular and a young couple. Everyone was wearing glow-in-the dark jewelry and there were lights flashing. Just like Linda, the new bingo regular I was sitting near asked questions in between rounds about Hawaii and what in the world I was doing in Minnesota.

All of us sitting at this particular table continued to be one away from winning, every single round. By the eighth round, I was hoping anybody from our table would win, even if it wasn't me, I just wanted someone to win. Then they called the fortieth number, which increased our jackpot to $40,000. As soon as they called that number, an older, Asian woman, at the table in front of ours, held up her hand. She ended up winning Forty Thousand Dollars, which was paid in cash to her right there. The young couple next to me told me they were bingo regulars too and that the woman who'd just won had won two nights ago also. "She's so lucky," they kept saying. "The other night she won $10,000." My mouth hung open in shock at this unbelievable bingo world. "That's $50,000," I finally managed to get out. "Yeah, I know," they all replied. "Wow." And that was the only way to sum up what goes on at the Mystic Lake casino every night at eight pm, just "wow."