This story is part of an occasional KCUR series called The Regulars, about Kansas City’s neighborhood hangouts and the customers who bring them to life.
There are 200 people in the room, but it’s almost completely silent. They sit, eyes glued to the tables in front of them. Any whispers are met with a side eye.
It’s bingo night at the American Legion.
Every Thursday evening, players file into Post 153 in Olathe, Kansas. Most of them aren’t, in fact, veterans – just bingo lovers.
Siblings Peggy Hendricks, Pam Miles, and Earl McKinley sit near the front, at the same table they’ve occupied at every week for 40 years.
Their mom Virginia started taking them. “Oh, she liked her bingo,” Hendricks said. “She always looked forward to that night.”
Even though Virginia passed away 10 years ago, the siblings kept up the tradition. Their brother Richard would come to play, as well, until his death last year. They keep a chair open for him.
“It’s good to see each other and talk,” Miles said.
The Game
Post 153 splits bingo night into two parts, with the early games starting at 6 p.m. Attendees play and chat, walk around and get concessions, and the buzz of laughter sometimes muffles the call of numbers.
Stationed around the room are American Legion members, who can be identified by their blue aprons with the post's emblem, selling bingo cards and answering questions about gameplay.
Before the late games begin at 7 p.m., everyone stands and recites the Pledge of Allegiance. And then, it gets serious.
There are 12 rounds in the late games. Only the first is played like traditional bingo, in which the player is trying to mark off five numbers, vertically, horizontally, or diagonally.
Each round then gets a new configuration to win: a box, a V, an equal sign. For most of the games, the winner gets $75, but the prizes can go up to $250 or $500.
$12 will buy you a bingo book with 12 sheets, one for each round, and each sheet has nine cards. That means each player potentially has nine opportunities to score bingo every game. There’s no limit to how many books a player can buy, but most stick with one.
The room is large, with a short stage at the front for the ball caller, an American Legion member, and rows of white plastic tables. A concession stand sells different food each week — sometimes pork tenderloins, hot dogs, taco salad — and a dessert table with donated, homemade treats.
And while the room is set up for bingo, there’s no forgetting that it’s in an American Legion. American flags, patriotic art, and military memorabilia hang on the walls, and the space also hosts dinners, military ceremonies, and special events like line dancing.
Running bingo night is no easy feat, but American Legion member Montochristie Cauthron is up for the challenge. He served in the Army from 1981 to 1985, and joined the American Legion about two years ago.
“This is an excellent opportunity for veterans to get together and give back to the community,” he said.
Cauthron said he’s able to connect with people who went through similar experiences.
“It’s just camaraderie,” he said. “We miss that closeness. ‘Cause we never get that again.”
A lot of the players take the game very seriously, so Cauthron doesn’t take his role lightly.
“I mean, this is their thing. This is their night,” Cauthron said. “They’re tickled to be here and I’m trying to make sure they stay that way.”
The Players
Post 153's most seasoned player is 97-year-old Frankie Stealey.
“I’m the oldest one in the building,” Stealey declared.
Stealey was already a bingo player before a friend invited her to this event about 15 years ago. Like a lot of the other regulars, she sits at the same table every week, even though her company has changed over the years.
“The first three or four people I rode with died,” Stealey said. “So Gary brings me. He lives in our apartment.”
For Stealey, bingo nights are more about getting out and spending time with her friends. She said she doesn’t win much anymore.
“These are the ones to beat,” she said, gesturing to two women sitting a few seats away. “They’re the ones that win. Connie does.”
Connie Loudon overheard the comment and humbly shook her head. But it’s true: Loudon once won the black-out $500 game, meaning she filled every single square.
The 77-year-old started attending in 1990, and with her husband ran the Post 153 bingo nights for a 10-year stretch. They also like to go up to a casino in Minnesota with daily bingo.
Loudon may be a frequent winner, but she says there’s no secret to it.
“It’s all luck,” she said.
That was the consensus among the players, but still, players find ways of increasing their luck.
And Tracy Wright likes to up her odds.
Wright has attended Thursday night bingo since 2012. She comes by herself and sits at her reserved table in the very back of the room.
She needs the space. Wright plays four books, which means each round, she’s playing three dozen games at once. When a number gets called, she scans all 36 cards to find a match.
Wright is laser focused, ignoring the whispers from the volunteers who watch her.
“I kind of amaze people, I guess,” she said.
Wright attributes her skills to decades of practice.
“ I've been playing bingo since I was a kid,” she said. “My grandmother used to drag me into bingo hall, so I've always just loved the game.”
Wright once won both the $250 game and $500 game in a single night.
“They said that no one's ever done that,” Wright declares. “I was the very first person who'd ever done that.”
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