Bingo jackpot limits getting bigger, but will they help?

Harrisburg wants to give organizations that run bingo games a boost by allowing them to pay out up to $500 per game and $4,000 for jackpots.

There are virtually no bingo nights in our area that can afford to pay out prizes that big, but they are happy to have some tools to help bring back players who may have been lured away by casinos.

“When you’re playing for only $20 to $30 a game, there’s not a lot of interest. The higher amount we’re able to pay out, we’ll definitely get new people,” said Patti Sokolowski, who helps run the monthly bingo game at American Fire Co. No. 1 in Lansford the first Saturday of each month.

Bingo’s popularity is not as widespread as it once was, but there is a loyal group whose dabbing still raises a lot of money for local fire companies, churches and Lions clubs. Compared to casinos, a larger percentage of the money players put in stays in the local area.

“Whatever we actually make goes back to the community. We give 100 percent of our proceeds back to the community,” said Bob Silliman of the Palmerton Lions Club, which holds bingo annually.

The new law, which was signed in late December, doubles the limits on prizes for bingo games. A single game could now be worth $500; a jackpot game, $4,000; and in a day, organizations can now pay out up to $8,000.

The law also allows the organizations to actually list their prizes when they advertise. Up until now, they couldn’t mention the cash prizes in their promotions. It also gives them more freedom to use social media to advertise, and allows guest bingo callers.

Rep. Kate Klunk, R-Hanover, who introduced the bill, said she wants to help local organizations around Pennsylvania.

“These nonprofit organizations do a lot for the communities in which they serve,” Klunk said. “I am proud these changes to the law will allow them to further help communities and the people who live in them,” she said.

Just because the limits are raised doesn’t necessarily mean you will be able to take home $4,000 from a local bingo game. Local bingo nights don’t pay out anywhere close to that amount — they didn’t even approach the old limits.

The Palmerton Lions usually pay $40 per game at their annual game, and up to $100. American Fire Co.’s “High-stakes bingo” pays out $100 per game. Prizes are set based on the number of players that a game attracts.

But local organizations can sell food and other small games of chance like pull-tab tickets. The Tamaqua Rotary sells sponsorships for a book of advertisements, and one of the benefits for advertisers is that they give them out to bingo players.

The introduction of casino gambling in Pennsylvania took a lot of revenue away from local bingo games, Sokolowski said. She thinks the new legislation is a step in the right direction to help the local organizations that use bingo to fundraise. Plus, as she points out, bingo has much better odds than the casinos do.

“Instead of having a one in 10,000 shot at the jackpot, you have a one in 70 shot, so hopefully that will really draw some people in, and when they know they can draw in larger amounts,” she said.