Bingo: Denham Springs' first video bingo operation opens

DENHAM SPRINGS -- The city's first video bingo operation opened at noon Tuesday.

Charitable groups began holding regular bingo games in one room at Sportsman's Paradise on Range Avenue, while bingo players played against brightly lit electronic bingo machines in an adjacent room.

Under rules the City Council approved, 20 percent of the net win from the video bingo machines goes to the city in tax revenues, 35 percent goes to the bingo operator of the facility and 45 percent goes to the charitable organization involved.

Denham Springs Green rented the bingo hall for the first session. Six other groups, which have also received licenses from the city, will alternate sessions. The charities get to divide their 45 percent share of the proceeds among themselves, said Maurice Durbin, who represented Denham Springs Green at the opening.

Rules require a representative of the charity to be in the building during bingo operations, she said.

Each charity takes a four- to six-hour turn renting the building and may have up to 15 sessions a month, said Chad Tate of TLCJ Bingo, the owner of the bingo machines.

The bingo operation, located on Range Avenue just south of Interstate 12, has 35 bingo machines, Tate said. It will normally open at 10 a.m. and close at 2 p.m., Tate said.

TLCJ Bingo also has video bingo operations in Tangipahoa and East Baton Rouge parishes, he said.

Last year, the Denham Springs City Council voted to allow up to two video bingo sites to open in the city and set up rules for their operations.

The ordinance allows a bingo prize payout of between 80 percent and 94 percent of the total amount wagered.

Written by Bob Andreson