Think this through with me ...

My gut reaction is that you're correct -- it has no memory. I don't see anything in it that could be used as a memory.

You're right -- the "correct" way to implement a bingo counter would require a microprocessor and some memory.

It's actually a British Rail "Train Arival Time Display". The stationmaster pushes the button and a time comes up. When the train does not arrive, he announces a delay and "a new time will be posted". He pushes the button again and a new time is displayed.

This can go on for days before the passengers give up and go home, or by some strange chance, a train actually arrives.

:-)

Geoff.

A similar game is played here during the intervals in the main bingo. Each 'main' session is divided into sub-sessions, where up to 7 games of the six-ticket (aka "cards") bingo is played in silence, apart from the caller's voice. There is some big money at stake in these games, hence the quiet and concentration. Each number takes about 2 seconds to call with about a half to one second gap between numbers. All 'in club' games have the numbers 'single-called' as in "Two and three - twenty three". Big 'network' games (aka "link" games) played between many clubs, and the National Game (which I once won a big share of !) have the numbers double called as in " Twenty three. Two and three - twenty three". The overall call time remains the same however, as the gap between calls now shrinks to almost nothing. It's a pleasure to listen to and play with a good caller, who gets a real sing-songy rhythm going. A poor caller is actually difficult to play along with. The game is stopped by calling anything you like. "YES !!" is quite common, but "BINGO" is also sometimes used. "LINE !" or "HOUSE !" sometimes, also. One guy in the club that I used to go to regularly, used to stop the game by calling "TOP BANANA !". Another always used to bellow "HERE you are then !!"

Between these main sessions, a different type of bingo known as cash bingo or party bingo or prize bingo is played. This makes use of a fully electronic touch board with fixed numbers, set in each table top. The numbers are again in columns, but this time, each column has a colour, the equivalent I guess of each of your columns each having a letter assigned to them. There are 16 numbers in total and most games are played to win by four across, four down, four on either diagonal, or four corners. Some in-house games are played as a full house where you need to light all sixteen numbers, and all network or linked-up games between clubs are full house. It's called very quickly with no gaps at all between the calls. Caller tends to sound a bit like an auctioneer. I can't for the life of me remember the colour allocations, but it is called like "Red five yellow forty red fourteen blue thirty six" and so on like a machine gun firing. Total time for a four winning number game is typically 20 seconds. Games are paid for by inserting coins at the table.

With it being fully electronic, all wins are just automatically flagged at the caller's station, but you still have to stop the game by waving your hand over the 'win' lozenge on the board. Some callers will pause a short time when they see on their board that there is a winner, but most just carry right on, and if you miss it, that's just your fault. Prizes are paid in cash and brought to your table by a runner. The electronic touch boards are quite new. It used to be done with a board with mechanical shutters over the numbers. The board that you were playing was identified to the system by the coin mech that you had put your money in. You used to have to be careful that the board number matched the coin mech number, and that no one had moved the boards between tables ... ! The tabletop bingo is played with a lot of noise in the club, being between sub sessions. People are up and on the move getting food, drinks, playing slots etc (oh, and going outside to the smoking area, since it has been banned inside any public place in the UK now ).

All of which has absolutely nothing to do with electronics, but as you say, it is interesting to highlight the differences between our cultures, which many people perceive as being broadly the same.

I've never really managed to get my head around Keno when I've been in Vegas, but that's another story ... :-)

Arfa

The lack of subjective randomness is not necessarily a problem, as the players cannot choose their own cards.

And the repetition of numbers probably doesn't matter, as long as they all eventually come up.

First point agreed. See my reply to Baron. As to the other point, it does matter as, if there is no comparison to check if a number has been generated already and thus needs another to be generated if it has, there could be no average game length, which is very important in a commercial club where they have to be ready at very specific times to jump online for linked games. Games are surprisingly consistent at 5 minutes apiece, including the win checks.

Arfa