Weekly Bingo Game Raises Thousands for Burke Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department

The calling won’t begin until 7 p.m. but the regulars at the Burke Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department’s Wednesday night bingo game begin arriving well before the doors open at 5:30 p.m.

The same faces, sitting in the same seats, carrying out the same rituals, week after week, all hoping to win a jackpot or two, or more. It’s fun as well, with friendships formed over years of taping paper cards together and daubing “B-5” or “O-64.”

And for the Burke volunteers, it’s a great way to help pay for equipment, repairs or similar expenses.  

Bingo at the fire hall dates back to 2001, when the volunteers needed money for a new fire station to replace the one that was significantly damaged in a fire, said bingo co-manager and volunteer firefighter Tony Moritz.

The fire department earns between $1,000 and $1,500 a week after expenses. Most recently, the money was used to pay for an $82,000 brush truck that is used to respond to brush fires and doubles as a snow plow, Moritz said.

Between 80 and 100 people typically play, but that number often rises in the spring and summer, when the weather is nice and school is out (you have to be at least 14 to play.) Many of the players tend to be older, with younger players more likely to show up in spring and summer. Bingo is played every Wednesday except Christmas and New Year’s.

Moritz said bingo is popular because it’s another form of gambling and players don’t have to go far, although some players come from Maryland.

“We have a good time at it,” he said.

The regulars start filling the hall as soon as the doors open. They carry a specially designed bag filled with different color “daubers,” which they use to mark the squares - chips are considered “old school" these days. They also bring tape or glue to affix the pages together to make it easy to keep up with multiple games. They fill the time before the game begins by organizing their sheets, daubing their center squares, catching up with friends and eating.

There’s a schedule that tells players the order of the games, how many bingos are needed to win and the patterns. Regulars know when someone is about to call a bingo. They get to know the patterns after a while and don’t have to refer to the “cheat sheet.” There are a couple of breaks, when everyone rushes to the bathroom or outside for a cigarette.

The minimum to play is $7 for early bird bingo, which runs from 7 p.m. to 7:45 p.m., but pretty much everyone plays both early bird and regular bingo. And then there are the “pull tabs.” They are like lottery tickets. There are instant winners and progressive jackpots. They are sold in packages of 10 for $10 and they go fast. Hundreds are sold each night. The regulars say that’s where the money is.

The cash manager for bingo says the average player spends $37 a night, but plenty spend more.

Cindy Poinelli of Springfield, 54, has been playing bingo for 30 years, the last four at Burke, because she likes the atmosphere there. Poinelli spends $62 a night and her biggest win in Burke was a $5,000 jackpot. Her seat is right next to the caller. She says it takes “a lot of willpower and luck” to win (and some talking to the balls) and that she plays the game because she loves to gamble.  

A regular at Poinelli’s table is Judy Walker, who recently bought $80 in pull tabs and won nearly $5,000. “This is my stress reliever,” she said.

Three regulars near the table where the sheets are sold met at bingo and have been friends ever since, even socializing outside of bingo. One of them still comes every week even though she lives in Leesburg now.

“I see my bingo friends, hang out and laugh a lot,” says Kristi Sevachko of Burke, who has been playing at the fire hall since 2001. “We just have a good time.”