Everyone likes to feel a bit special don’t they, and does it get more special than being a world record holder?
Granted, you can get a world record for doing just about anything these days – most forks stuck in a beard, for example; oh well done Brian, what an achievement – but a bingo world record would be a pretty cool talking point at parties, wouldn’t it?
Well there are plenty of them, and the good news is that anyone can try and beat them too, so feel free to have a go if you fancy it.
In this article, I have gathered together some of the most impressive, most interesting, and most bizarre bingo world records in existence, so
I have already written about the biggest bingo halls and the biggest bingo wins, so I won’t include them again here, but they are records worth knowing about so I have linked to them if you are interested.
With that said, in no particular order, you will find the top 10 bingo world records and a little bit about each of them below.
Enjoy!
10 – Biggest Bingo Card
Even those with poor eyesight would have no problem seeing their numbers on this bingo card.
Created by Gila River Hotels & Casinos at their Lone Butte casino venue in Arizona, USA, the biggest bingo card (or bingo ticket) measured 37.16 m² (400 ft²), and broke the record on 25 April 2019.
To put that into perspective, an average car parking space in the UK is around 11.5 m², so this bingo card was bigger than 3 car parking spaces.
You would need a pretty big dabber to mark the numbers on that thing!
9 – Biggest Bingo Drum
The biggest bingo drum (or bingo machine) ever built was in an area of Tokyo called Minato, in December of 2017. In fact, the record was set on Christmas day.
It was all part of a promotional event called MONST BINGO, an offshoot of a popular mobile game in Japan called Monster Strike, and was used on New Years Eve.
The drum itself measured 3.05 m (10 ft 0.1 in) in diameter and 3.037 m (9 ft 11.5 in) in width, which is just under 23 times bigger than a normal sized bingo drum.
8 – Longest Time to Balance a Basket of Bingo Balls
This one has nothing to do with the game itself, but since bingo balls were used I have included it in the ‘bizarre’ category.
I said you could get a world record for pretty much anything these days, and this one proves it.
Doug McManaman, a Canadian gentleman who is a serial record setter and also quite possibly not all there in the head, decided to balance a basket of 150 bingo balls on a platform stuck to a metal pole… on his chin.
He managed it for 1 minute 19.4 seconds, creating a brand new record, and the world would never be the same again.
7 – World’s Highest Bingo Game
What’s better than setting a new world record? Setting a new world record for charity of course!
That is exactly what 24 Gala Coral employees did in 2011, back when that’s what the company was called, when they climbed Mount Everest to raise money for Sue Ryder Care in November of 2009.
Perhaps it was also the coldest bingo game ever played judging by the location and time of year, but then, a few of the bingo halls I have been in might be in the running for that one too.
The Gala Coral employees set the record for the highest game of bingo that has ever been documented, taking place at 17,500 feet above sea level at Mount Everest Base Camp, and raising £100k for their charity.
6 – Biggest Set of Bingo Balls
It pains me to cover this record, because it is held by The Sun newspaper, but nevertheless, in 2017 they set a new record for playing a game with the biggest set of bingo balls ever.
The previous holder was Gala, but The Sun smashed their record with 75 bingo balls all measuring 73cm (2ft 4in). Interestingly, they also took the record for biggest bingo card at the time, but as we know from above, this record was later lost.
The record attempt was a stunt for their own bingo brand, and it took place outside the Blackpool Tower, where a huge crowd of people were invited to join in and play a few games of bingo using the giant balls.
5 – Tallest Bingo Marker Tower
We are back with Doug McManaman for this one (I told you he was a serial record breaker), and it’s just as bonkers as his previous effort.
This time, it was building a tower out of bingo markers that was his big idea, and he managed it, creating a tower that was 82 markers high. To avoid confusion, I’m talking about the plastic markers used not cover numbers on bingo cards here, not dabbers.
Yes it was pointless, yes he built the tower on his computer desk at home, but nevertheless, Doug is officially the best bingo marker stacker in the world, and no one can take that away from him.
Unless they build a bigger one of course.
4 – Fastest Bingo Jackpot
In 2010, a 24 year old British man named Darryl Howe set the record for the fastest ever bingo jackpot win… just 40 minutes after opening an online account with William Hill.
He could barely be any more of a newbie, but he got a full house of 15 numbers in just 23 calls, setting a new world record without even trying – or knowing at the time.
The odds of this happening were more than 93 billion to 1.
A representative of William Hill broke the news to him, but Mr. Howe was likely more interested in the £18,000 he won – although the record was no doubt a very welcome extra.
3 – Oldest Known Bingo Player
How old is the oldest player at your local bingo club? If they are older than 109, then give the Guinness Book of World Records a call.
That is the age of Josie Amorosi, who played every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday with the folks at the Florida bingo club known as Bingo at Four Corners, which she called her second family.
The guys at the club were on hand to celebrate her big 109th birthday with a huge cake, and it wasn’t the first time, since she has celebrated several of her latest birthdays at the club she loves. Awww.
2 – Longest Bingo Game
Another record set for charity here, as Southwind Healthcare and Rehabilitation in Crowley, Louisiana, hosted an attempt at the longest ever game of bingo.
They meant longest ‘session’ of course, because there’s no way a single game could last the 24 hours+ they played for, and all to raise money for the Alzheimer’s Society too.
Each hour of the game had a different theme, and a different caller too – and probably different players since surely no one could play bingo for 24 hours without missing a few numbers..?
The residents of six different Elder Outreach communities came together to make the record attempt work, and they raised more than $13,000 for their charity in the process.
1 – Oldest Bingo Caller
Most people look forward to retirement. They work until they can afford to stop, which is usually somewhere between 60 and 70 years old for the majority of us – not so for Rose Robinson.
In 2012, at the ripe old age of 99, Rose was recognised as the oldest bingo caller in the world. She only started doing the job when she was 89, so it was a late start by anyone’s standards, and she said she would go on calling the numbers as long as she was able.
Rose is no longer with us of course, but I would like to think the day centre in Wotton under Edge in Gloucestershire where Rose called the bingo, is continuing to play in her honour.