My job, specifically, was to call the Miracle game - a special session in which players can spend a little extra to participate. The room was just as smoky as I remembered it, although, unlike the old facilities, this hall was fully enclosed in glass so the non-smoking sections didn't get a waft of the smoke-filled air. Shortly before my session began, the manager led me onto the stage, facing some 600 sharply focused players.

So, for the 30 minutes preceding my shift, as I sat in the control room with the bingo manager, I started to get nervous. Players take bingo very seriously, of course, and I was warned in advance that if I messed up a number or got too chatty on stage, I might hear some heckling from the regulars. You can also rent little computers, if you're not into the daubing or paying attention thing. The weekday matinee shift that I worked, for example, begins at $10 and goes up from there. To get started, you can buy in at different levels. But, while I haven't played bingo in about 15 years, I still have a soft spot for it - and I was pretty excited when Potawatomi offered me the chance to be a guest bingo caller for our Shift Switch series.Ĭalling bingo - or playing bingo, for that matter - isn't rocket science, but both require concentration.

Now when I head to Potawatomi, it's usually for dinner at Dream Dance Steak or, if I feel the urge to lose money, to hit the blackjack tables.

But bingo was cheap and easy, and a way to kill a few hours until our next half-baked plan came to fruition. The facility was much different in the mid '90s, much less ornate and much more smoky. In between nights guzzling java at the Coffee Trader and spending Wednesday nights at Club Marilyn, we'd occasionally mix things up with a little late-night bingo at Potawatomi Bingo Casino. Way back in the day, when I was underage and overly bored, my friends and I had limited options when it came to nightlife.

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