Buckingham Heights Bingo

My bingo buds and I had a horrible desire to play some bingo last Sunday and checked out the Bingo Bugle for potential locations. KC was closed in Lancaster so we had to find another bingo. We called Buckingham Heights and were told the regular games start at 6pm. We flew down the hill to bingo and made it by 5:45. Unfortunately they had already started the regular games, so we were misinformed on the original call. Even so, we were still excited and bought our packs. Finding a seat for all three of us was a challenge but we found a good table in the little side room. The lady at the table next to us was wonderful! She helped us find our way and told us what we needed. I hope she has a fantastic time and good luck in Vegas for her kindess. The rest of the people in the place were unfriendly and just plain rude! The callers play like they’re speeding to the finish line and you barely have enough time to rip off your used papers before they have already started a new game and you’re behind! Better announcing, friendlier people, more pull tab sellers would go a long way in making this a better bingo! We had open minds and hearts full of adventure when we got there and excitement because we were playing bingo in a new location, but the attitudes and unfriendliness soon cooled that. We won a pull tab and for that we are grateful, but sadly, we would never go back to this bingo again.

I have always been a lover of bingo! I have played at a few places in the past. I never won so I started playing at a place a friend of the family play at every week. That place is Buckingham Heights Bingo on Slauson and Buckingham Pkwy!
Well in the past 2 months I have played every Sunday and I understand how the games are played now. I have won 2 times and come very close all the other times! It really does something to your heart just when you think you are gonna win and then bam a man wins. Yes there are men at bingo these days, I was kinda shocked.
There is a small cafeteria inside where you can get the best tamales, pies, cakes, and cookies. You can also get water, soda, etc.
There is an area outside if you smoke. They give you plenty of breaks in between games. If you like playing bingo this is the place for you. Nice atmosphere and everyone is nice. Happy Bingo!

Great place with a nice atmosphere. The people are great, the food is plentiful and the numbers keep on rollin. :)

Who knew bingo was this much fun?!
My cousin’s coworker invited her to check out bingo at Hollywood Park on Saturday evening. Well, turns out the game at HP was at 3 but thankfully the coworker knew of this place! So we jumped in the car and headed straight over there by the 6 o’clock start time.
They are open ALMOST EVERY DAY for bingo:
Tuesday, Thursday and Fridays, doors open at 4:30 and Early Bird is 7.
Saturdays doors open at 3:30 and Early Bird is at 6.
Sundays doors open at 2:30 and Early Bird is at 5.
We got there shortly after 6 and left early (!) just before 10 because we had plans to go out in Santa Monica. I think my cousin said she got out of there around 10:30.
You find this place by actually turning off of Slauson north onto Buckingham. The first driveway on your right will have a sign with the address and an arrow. There is a large parking lot and this place looks like it’s the bottom floor of an office building.
There are rows and rows of long tables and bingo is apparently a SILENT game. The room is hushed as everyone is focused on the next number called.
There is a window in the back where you buy your bingo cards. We admitted we had no idea what we were doing and were offered a card with Intermission games included for only $ 25. Each game has a different goal for bingo and has it’s own colored page, which has 6 bingo cards on it. We played about 30 games on our $ 25, and EACH GAME’S POT IS $ 250! My cousin got there a bit before us and got the «early bird» special so she got double the cards for only $ 35 total.
It can all be pretty confusing and because it’s so quiet in there, it can be hard to ask a ton of questions. Thankfully, we sat next to the nicest people, a father/​daughter bingo team who play throughout the county at least once a week. They were happy to explain to us each round and show us the ropes. Turns out the man was Chuck Munstein, who owned Munis Liquor on Pacific and Venice for many many years. He was so sweet. I was coughing so he shared his sugar free candies with me. His daughter went out of her way to show us what to do with each new round’s bingo rules.
There is a person at the front of the hall who officially calls the numbers, but there are screens set up throughout where you can spy the number «on deck.» One round my winning number was about to be next and someone beat me to it on the official call. I almost peed myself! It took me a few rounds to recover from the excitement of being so close to winning. My heart was pounding!
Each table has different colored blotters so each time you see a number called on your card, you blot it with the ink. There are also cards and plastic disks to cover up successful bingos on 2, 3, 4 and 6 card games. The bingo games include traditional «bingo» (vertical, horizontal, diagonal lines and corners) and also special games like jamboree, even/​odd day bonanza, corner kite, easyway/​hardway (using the free space vs non free space bingos), stamp, and the list goes on! There’s never a dull moment.
There is FREE coffee and black tea. You can bring your own food in (many people had food heated up from home) but there is a great little counter here with hot dogs, desserts, salads, and drinks. Simple but cool. FYI, they won’t heat up any outside food for you so be prepared if you’re bringing something from home.
There are also side games being played between rounds that have names like Cherry Bomb, Fat Cow and Horse Race. They looked like lottery tickets, can sell out and take just a few seconds. It was too advanced for our first bingo night but it looks like each ticket or game is $ 1 and you can buy multiple per game.
So yeah, we’re hooked! And think, if you just win 1 game out of the 30+ offered per 10 times you play, you win back that $ 25 per bingo night investment with the $ 250 pot.