The Bingo Gaming Device

[cmarrero1014]

DW and I cruised on the Norwegian Spirit back in March and decided to try the first day of Bingo since they were giving out free play cards. Why not go and maybe win some stuff right?

 

This was our first encounter with the Giant-Red-Brick-Shaped-Bingo-Gaming-Device. Granted you can have 40 cards on one play but it seems the Bingo mystique has been lost in the transition. I mean half the fun is searching through the different color cards, tearing the tabs, all while under strict time constrant before the Bingo MC calls out the next bingo ball.

 

In conclusion we played but alas we not victorious. Most people who did win were handling a bingo supercomputer. They waited, stairing at their little digital screen, for the device to say "You Won! Say Bingo!" Which they were happy to do but not with much enthusiasm. Like playing electronic blackjack instead of actually handling, it all just felt a little off.

[martinimadam]

The one and only time I was on an NCL cruise they had the boxes. They still also had the cards, too. Being a Bingo "purist" I stuck with the cards, just didn't seem right to let the box do all the work! The other thing that happened, though, was that the bingo MC started calling the numbers out faster, as the "boxers" didn't have to think. I had to ask them to slow down a couple of times (to a very rude and snide remark from the MC) as I couldn't keep up with my three cards. The poor dear next to me just finally gave up!

[larjul]

does NCL charge for the use of the bingo box or just the cost of the number of cards you are playing with it?

[cmarrero1014]

You only pay for the "cards." It's just an easier way to play the games instead of having a portfolio of papers for each round. What I don't know is if you really interact at all with the device or if you just watch it do its thing.

[lukes]

In our area they call these machines TED's (The Electronic Dabber). The advantage is you can play many more cards than is physically possible. Like NCL you are not charged for the use of the machine but I believe the minimum on NCL is 20 cards, with lots being 20, 40 60 etc.

 

Of course since you are playing so many cards it is usually one of these TEd players who win as apposed to someone playing 1 or 2 paper cards. Again in our area people puchase their TED plus however many paper cards they want. They dab the paper cards as usual and the TED play's it's cards. However there are people who simply play the TED and the person reads or they might play cards, sometimes by themselves or with other TED purchasers. Wild.

 

I don't play bingo but we help out at a hall for a chartiable organization I am involved with.

[DanJ]

Geez, this is the first I heard of this. I liked it on Princess last winter where you actually had a dabber, they didn't use the tab cards anymore.

 

I supposed the next evolution will be an electronic caller, and the computer will know what order the numbers are going to be called, and therefore will know which device will win, so it will just pop up at the start and say who won. Think how many games they can get in with that system LOL.

 

What do 20 cards cost with the NCL system?

[Krazy Kruizers]

This is the first I have heard of these.

 

So far HAL doesn't have them.