Hobartville’s Cindy O’Loughlin has been 'living bingo' for over twenty years

The 56-year-old ‘dabs’ numerous times a week at clubs around the Hawkesbury, meeting-up with various like-minded residents also playing the local bingo circuit.

A keen player for over twenty years, Cindy actually started-out on the other side of the fence, calling back the numbers.

“Back in the day”, she used to help her uncle - an entertainer. “He used to call the numbers and I’d call them back,” Cindy told the Gazette.

“My uncle used to do a lot of the club scenes with his comedy act. His real name is Roland Hastings, and his comedy duo was named Thomas & Moore - Moore being his stage name. They won at least three Mo Awards over the thirty years they were together,” she said.

“After that, he got into calling bingo at various clubs.”

Cindy’s first bingo gig with her uncle was at a club in the northern Sydney suburb of Dundas.

“His wife was diagnosed with cancer and he asked me to fill in for her,” she said.

“My job was to set out the prizes, and sell the books, and when a person won I’d go to the table, get their book and call it back.

“They would come up and select a prize and I’d bring it back to the table for them.”

In those days, bingo callers used a contraption with air in it that would blow around numbered balls, and they’d pop out one by one and each number would be called.

“These days, it’s all done by computer and put up on a screen so everyone can see what number it is, how many calls there are,” Cindy said.

“There’s no way you can cheat, now … but back in the old days, I’d say you could cheat!” she laughed.

“I’ve heard of people who called back the numbers - because they couldn’t check - as long as they had the last number and called that out they’d give that person the prize! I’ve heard that story several times from other players.

“There was no way I could do that because the way I was taught, you just read from the book, and that was that.”

She became quite experienced over time: “I got the way that I could call back three books at a time - so if there were three winners, I could call back three books at once.”

Cindy - now retired from calling back numbers - has lived in the Hawkesbury for near-on forty years.

She plays bingo every week without fail, and over the years has been a regular player at Panthers North Richmond, Richmond Club and Windsor RSL.

Cindy is currently recovering from a knee replacement, and her elderly mother recently fractured a rib, so Cindy isn’t able to get out to bingo as much as she would like.

But up until the end of last year, she’d play multiple times per week, and even called back the numbers at North Richmond Panthers - until her knee operation meant it became difficult to get up and down.

“I used to do Monday night at North Richmond, Tuesday and Wednesday at Richmond, and Thursday night at Richmond for Housie [Bingo], and then Friday was left for me to do the running around and the shopping,” she said.

“I knew everyone and they knew me, and I’d always be the last of the party there telling jokes!”

What is it about the game that makes her go back for more?

“The friends you make there, and just getting out of the house,” she said. “It’s fun, too - especially the excitement when you win.”

Clubs around the Hawkesbury offer a variety of prizes, including meal and drink coupons and vouchers for supermarket chains. But there’s nothing like a cash win to make the game a little more interesting.

“At Richmond Club playing Housie I won $1,200 once,” Cindy recalled.

She said it’s definitely a game of luck - despite some players believing they’re in with a better chance of winning if they play a certain way.

“It’s the luck of the cards. You can go one week and one player can win about three to four times, and then the next week they win nothing. It all depends on what cards are sold at the time and what you’ve been given.”

Does she have any rituals or good-luck charms to help her along?

“No, they don’t work!” she laughed. “I remember one lady, a few years back, she used to get all these little fairy figurines and put them around her book, but it still didn’t help her!”

Where to sit while playing, however, is a different matter: “We always sit at the same table. The regulars have their tables where they sit, and if somebody gets there before you and sits at your table, everyone comes up to you and says ‘oh my god, your table!’ and they make fun at you!”

Though alcohol can be purchased at each of the clubs, most of the players (including Cindy) opt for coffee or water during a game.  

Cindy has made numerous friends through the bingo circuit, and enjoys catching up with them week after week: “I see the regulars at all the locations. We all go to have a good time.”

Kimberley Talbot, Group CEO of Richmond Club, said bingo is just one of the ways clubs like Richmond provide social inclusion opportunities for their members.

“As a club we have a responsibility to strengthen community ties and provide an accessible meeting place for our members. Social inclusion is a major focus of our organisation,” Ms Talbot said.

“Regular daily activities such as bingo reduce the risk of our members feeling isolated and disconnected from the community. They have a place where they can come to every day and all our staff and patrons know their name.”