I was told I could play one to nine bingo cards at a time (or 25 cents to $2.25 worth of credits per push). I chose just to play one card at a time, so I could make my $5 last as long as possible and watch the others.

When I pushed "play," 25 numbered balls dropped and my electronic bingo card kept track of what numbers I hit. The computer showed that I could win up to 599 credits (or $599) if I hit the right shapes with the 25 numbers dropped. But I lost that first game — and the next several games, too.

My concentration was interrupted when a man by me cussed suddenly, apparently because he lost all he had bet, and went up to buy more food/credits. I could not see how much he spent. But I saw some $20 bills taken from his wallet. In another 20 minutes, he cussed again and bought more credits, flashing more $20s.

A lady to the side of me sometimes played five cards at a time on her screen, sometimes only one and sometimes all nine (or $2.25 a push, or more than some casino slot machine players can spend). Sometimes she would get tired of that computer terminal and switch to other terminals to see if they offered better luck.

I finally hit a small bingo, giving me 25 "redeemable credits." I hit a few others, too, and when I had gone through my original $5 as slow as I could in about 20 minutes, I had 175 "redeemable credits." The cashier asked if I wanted to "roll them over" and use them to play more games. I said yes.

From then on, she told me simply to raise my hand and she would automatically hit buttons to roll over credits. The other players, who all knew the cashier by name, would simply call out often, "Roll me, Nina."

At one point when I was about to run out of credits, I hit a bingo that paid 400 credits (or $4). I decided to cash out. Nina paid me the $4. But she also took my receipts. I wanted a receipt to show I had been there. So I said I wanted to play $3 more in bingo. (Again, I forgot to ask for $3 more in "food.")

This time, my receipt said I bought $3 worth of "Internet." I had not asked to buy any Internet time. I played for about another 20 minutes before all my credits expired.

My wife jokingly asked me later if we can deduct the whopping $4 I lost as "gambling losses" from our taxes. I said I'm pretty sure we could on our federal return. I bet money. I lost money. I don't think I just bought a $4 Sprite.

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E-mail: lee@desnews.com