Bingo business closes night before awarding $5,000 drawing prize

WASILLA — Customers are crying foul instead of shouting “Bingo!” following the sudden closing of Wasilla Bingo. The Valley’s newest bingo parlor opened in January and abruptly went out of business Friday, announcing its closure the day before a promised $5,000 giveaway.

The announcement, which came during the last game of Friday’s final session, was a complete surprise to loyal customers who played regularly on the pretext of having a chance to win the drawing, said Sara Edwards, who played at Wasilla Bingo several times a week.

Edwards was among the players there on Friday and said she feels cheated, alleging the closure was to get out of giving away the cash prize.

“Only the people who were there Friday night heard that announcement during the last game of the session,” she said. “(The manager) said, ‘We’re shutting our doors.’ But if that was true, why did they keep announcing the drawing every other night up until Friday? I think every one of us feels cheated.”

Wasilla Bingo had no intentions of cheating anyone and allowed all the Valley customers to be included in a similar drawing at Southside Bingo on Sunday in Anchorage, said John Perry, a co-owner of both locations. In fact, the winner of the $5,000 prize was a regular at Wasilla Bingo.

The bottom line is Wasilla Bingo was hemorrhaging money and couldn’t afford to stay in business, Perry said, adding the decision to close was made “just recently. We were bleeding money.”

Perry also said one of the main reasons Wasilla Bingo couldn’t make it is because its competition, Bingo Mania, was allegedly engaging in unfair business practices.

“We couldn’t afford to stay open because, the bottom line is, the state wasn’t doing its job,” Perry said. “When the other bingo (parlor is) doing every illegal activity, it’s hard to compete.”

If Bingo Mania is engaging in any illegal gaming activities, it hasn’t been brought to the attention of state regulators, said Scott Stair, lead investigator for the state Department of Revenue’s Anchorage office.

“I’m not aware of any reports to myself or my investigators regarding Bingo Mania,” he said. “That would be my responsibility.”

When asked if there were any investigations at the state level into Wasilla Bingo, Stair responded, “I can’t comment on that.”

There were also issues with the management at North Bowl, which rented space to Wasilla Bingo, Perry said.

“Basically, the bowling alley forced us out,” Perry said. “They agreed to certain things and kind-of backed out on it. Rather than going further in debt, we backed out. ... But, the bottom line wasn’t so much the bowling alley. The bottom line is we didn’t have a level playing field. We paid out twice as much money as (Bingo Mania), had a better facility — cleaner, nicer. ... It was a combination of factors. To a large extent, we didn’t get enough community support.”

North Bowl didn’t force Wasilla Bingo out of the space, said Dale Merkt, owner of the bowling alley.

“They forced themselves out, in a sense,” Merkt said. “If you don’t take care of your obligations, you force yourself out.”

Merkt said he also encouraged Wasilla Bingo’s management to stay open one more day and hold the drawing, but “they chose not to do that.”

That Perry would make such claims about the competition is low and underhanded, said Trudy Visker, owner of Bingo Mania. Visker said she’s an honest businesswoman and runs an honest bingo parlor.

“The whole reason why (Wasilla Bingo failed) is my customers had faith in me,” she said. “They begged me to stick it out. No. 1, if I were doing anything illegal, the gaming commission would come down on me like you wouldn’t believe. My bingo players know I’m an honest person. I have great integrity and they stuck with me.”

That the promised drawing never happened at Wasilla Bingo is unfortunate, but not illegal, Stair said, adding the circumstances of making a sudden announcement that its doors were closing seems “odd.”

But Wasilla Bingo has “every right to open and close their doors,” Stair said. “It’s a business just like any other business. We happen to be the regulating agency. (What happened) definitely strikes me as odd, but as far as any specific violation, I’m not aware of any.”

While Wasilla Bingo may not have committed any legal violations, its customers feel violated all the same, Edwards said. It was her favorite place to play and, until Friday, she enjoyed the atmosphere and environment there.

“I think it was a favorite spot for a lot of people,” she said. “The prices were right and it was more fun for me. Now, I think every one of us feels cheated. We were all there by the first game (to get drawing tickets) each night. Yes, technically, they didn’t sell us those drawing tickets, but you had to buy that first game each night to get them. If you were not there for the first game, you didn’t get a ticket. We were holding onto that promise that, ‘Hey, you can win $5,000.’”

It was that promise that kept Midge Howard coming back, playing four days a week since Wasilla Bingo opened. Along with her son, Howard said they would spend as much as $400 a night.

“The incentive was this $5,000 drawing,” Howard said, adding she played nearly every day and there was never any indication the business was close to closing.

“None at all,” she said. “On Thursday, the manager’s saying be sure to get here early on Saturday to get your seats for the drawing. He was giving us that kind of spiel. I am not a happy camper.”

Wasilla Bingo put about $140,000 into the business since January and wasn’t seeing the returns, Perry said. On nights when the business needed about 120 to 130 players to break into the black, only about 80 to 90 were filling the seats.

“Appearances are deceiving,” he said. “We weren’t getting enough players relative to the number of people there.”

Add charging less and giving more in payouts than the competition, and closing was the logical choice, Perry said.

“It’s a strange deal and we chalk it up to a learning experience,” he said. “People in the Valley made their choice, and because of (that) we weren’t able to stay in operation. That’s the bottom line.”

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.