Are you 'on?'

AMY MENEREY /Frontiersman reporter

Seated at a gray-flecked balcony table, 25-year-old Geno Driscoll held a plastic tube of orange ink poised over three thin sheets of paper, each filled with rows and rows of numbers ranging from 1 to 75.

A number was projected on a wall below him and he began sweeping his arm up and down the numbered rows on the paper before him, inking each corresponding number with that on the wall.

Driscoll then leaned back in his chair, took a drag from a cigarette and waited for the next number.

"I-26," the man seated below the number on the wall said into a microphone.

Another number appeared and Driscoll reached for the orange ink dabber and began scanning again, as did dozens of other players on the floor below him. It was Sunday night and Driscoll was playing out a weekly routine at the Mat-Su Valley Bingo & Pulltabs hall in Wasilla.

Driscoll may not be what most people think of as the average bingo player; after all, most people associate the game with "older" folks.

He admits he learned to play with his grandmother years ago, but it was his sister who interested Driscoll in coming to the bingo hall in Wasilla several months ago.

He's been hooked ever since, he said, and can usually be found at the center chair of the hall's balcony every Friday, Saturday and Sunday night, sometimes with friends or family, but often alone, as he was last Sunday evening.

"I'm not into the bar scene," Driscoll said, "and at least here I can win some money instead of lose it all."

Driscoll is one of a growing number of Generation Xers dabbing in at the local bingo hall, according to Mat-Su Valley Bingo operator Tom Mohr.

"[The players] are a lot younger than what the perception is," Mohr said, adding that many 19- and 20-year-olds that are not yet old enough to frequent bars will come and play bingo instead.

Scanning the crowd on a recent Saturday night, more than half the players appeared to be in their 40s or 50s, with the other half split between those over and under the median age, and women outranked the men by slightly more than 2 to 1.

Mohr, 26, runs the business with his father, Tom Worden - known to regular players as Big Tom and Little Tom. Worden previously worked at an Anchorage bingo hall and enjoyed it so much he decided to go into business himself, he said. Their regular customers in general are a younger crowd than those people Worden was accustomed to seeing at the Anchorage halls, he said.

"We have the whole scale of players," Mohr said, with 19-year-old regulars on one end of the scale, and several in their 70s and 80s, one of whom recently celebrated her 84th birthday. The draw to play is not just the chance of winning money, both Toms agreed, but the opportunity to socialize - for people of all ages.

Seated near the snack bar in the nonsmoking section of the hall, Sarah Burns and her friend, Rita Delgado, prepared their bingo cards during an intermission in play and chatted about family and the latest news reports.

Calling themselves the "Bingo Bandits," Burns said they used to drive into Anchorage to play before the Mat-Su Valley Bingo hall opened its doors in November 2003.

"I come to get away from my husband," Burns said, laughing as she shuffled a dozen bingo sheets before her, pressing the ink dabber over exempt numbers in preparation for the next game. The pair usually play at the hall once or twice a week, she said.

"If it was up to [my husband], I'd only come once a month," she said, talking about the money she spends. "But I make my money back. I never really get ahead, but it's nice to come - for relaxation."

Delgado agreed.

"We love to play bingo," she said. "We don't win a whole lot, but we love to play."

A number flashed on the wall and chatter in the room ceased.

Delgado and Burns turned their attention once again to their cards, dabbers poised, as did everyone in the room. Twenty minutes of play later, a woman at the back of the hall called out, "Bingo!" and the silence was again broken as players talked about how close they were to winning and papers shuffled in preparation for the next game.

Socializing is not only a draw for players, but also the key to a successful bingo hall, according to Worden. Bingo is a charitable gaming event and falls under strict state and local regulations. Under these guidelines, a percentage of the money earned from the hall is distributed to nonprofit organizations, an aspect of the business that drew Worden to it, he said.

"I was tired of doing construction work, and I actually enjoy [this]," Worden said. "And, the reality is, I can give to the community."

By the end of year, Worden said, approximately $140,000 will go to Valley organizations from Mat-Su Valley Bingo. Little League, AMVETS, Lions Club, high school booster clubs and the Mat-Su Miners are among those organizations that benefited in the last year, he said.

Giving the money locally, and being able to see the results, he said, is an added benefit to what he does.

Worden and Mohr said they're not yet making a profit off the bingo hall, but being new in business, they don't expect to until after their third year.

As the two wandered about the floor, bringing cards to players, disposing of spent bingo cards and chatting with the customers - each with a near-constant smile on his face - it was clear they were having a good time.

At his regular spot in the balcony, Driscoll leaned back in his chair after preparing his cards for the next game.

When he tells his friends he's going to play bingo, "they just laugh," he said, with a crooked grin. "I figure eventually I'll win - in the meantime, I'm

not bored."