Bingo Comes To Baghdad

Bingo is now being played in Baghdad

Not what might be expected in the war-torn city but, following years of struggle and strife, Iraq's Baghdad is now the location for a bingo uprising, with its 85-year-old social club opening its doors once more to welcome young and old, all keen on playing the numbers game.

Each Saturday night the Alwiyah Club comes alive with the shouts of legs-eleven and two fat ladies, while the residents of the city compete with each other to be the first to call out a resounding 'bingo', the Associated Press reports.

The club - which was founded when the country was under British rule - had initially been a place for the "cultural, political and intellectual elite", although, as 45-year-old lawyer Rahman Hamza was quoted as saying, it later became "like a military club. No drinking. No parties".

Now, on a bingo night, the building is packed, with an outdoor screen displaying the game and a bingo representative yelling out the letters and numbers. Plans to expand the entertainment centre may be in the pipeline as well, with a gymnasium, a bowling alley and a cafe possibly going to appear.

US veterans are also playing more bingo, it would seem, as residents at the Jack C Montgomery VA Medical Centre in Muskogee, Oklahoma are soon to be offered the chance to play an electronic version of the game from their beds.

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