The game of Bingo has acquired immense popularity in all the nations of the world. Bingo is ranked among some of the top games in the world. This is a game of chance that is played and enjoyed by people of all ages. However, there is one state where this game has achieved unthinkable fame and is literally huge. This state is in the United State of America and is Texas. The popularity of Bingo is quite huge in Texas. According to a statistic a total of 21.5 million people have reportedly played the addictively thrilling game of bingo in Texas in the year 2004, and they have won over $443 million in prize money. The best part is that since all bingo played in Texas is charitable bingo over $29.8 million was donated to different charities in the year 2004 alone.
However before the year 1980, there wasn’t any legal Bingo in the state of Texas. The year 1980 can be called the perfect year for the Bingo lovers of Texas. This was the year that the state passed the constitutional amendment thus allowing charitable bingo halls to operate in Texas. This amendment requires that the funds earned from all these bingo operations in and around the state must be allocated completely towards the charity. Therefore any sort of Bingo game played in Texas is pointed towards a good cause like helping the needy.
The amendment allowing the full functioning of the Bingo games was passed in the year1980. However it wasn’t until the year 1982 that the bingo halls were actually started fully operating and allowed the common public to taste the thrill of this game. Comptroller of Public Accounts first began issuing licenses for bingo operators for the first time in the year 1982. The Comptroller of Public Accounts continued to administer Texas bingo for the next 8 years that is till the year 1990 A.D.
The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission was the next authority to take care of the bingos operating within the state. Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission became responsible for administering the Texas charitable bingo in the year1992 right after the term of Comptroller of Public Accounts was completed in the year 1990. Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission continued was in charge of the control of the game until bingo was moved under the supervision of the Texas Lottery Commission and that absolutely seemed like a logical choice to oversee what is essentially a lottery type game, even if the profits do go to charity.
The Texas Lottery Commission since then has been the sole authority that takes care of the functioning of this game. Texas Lottery Commission continues to oversee the Texas charitable bingo. This bingo division hopes to reach $1 billion in total charitable donations sooner rather than later, and since 1982, they’ve generated a total of $792 million. It thus can be safely said that the commission is not too far away from its target.
By Max Turner
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