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Bingo Ripoff?


kingfoot
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Just got off the Star, and noticed something very disturbing about the Bingo games. It appears the payoffs are not based on a percentage of sales, but are instead fixed at an extremely low amount, independent of actual ticket sales revenue. My quick order of magnitude guess (based on attendance observations and estimates) for our 10 day cruise was that Princess sold about $50,000 worth of tickets, and gave away about $5,000 total in prizes. What's worse is that if they managed to sell $100,000 in tickets, they would still only payout $5,000! Every ticket sold after the first 200 or so is 100% profit for the cruiseline! I'm sure most people assume that the bingo offered is the traditional scheme where the more people play, the bigger the jackpot, but it does not appear to be the case. Even if the house kept 50 cents of every dollar I could still enjoy a game, but the fixed payout model is so outrageously unfair it almost seems borderline unethical to me... any other thoughts?

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We gave up cruise ship bingo several years ago. Too much money for too little chance to win. Never took the time to figure out the payout like you did, but it just felt like a rip off.

 

Nothing has kept me from the roulette wheel though:rolleyes: where I usually break even by the end of the cruise.

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Kingfoot how right you are, I just dont play anymore but my DW enjoys it, I hear now they are selling electronic boards at $70.00 a session all you do is just sit there? it gives you all kinds of chances but it is just another scam to increase the profits. Good Post.CUDDERicon12.gif

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Easy... Don't play

I just got off the Star this morning and saw that there was standing room only playing Bingo so I guess other people don't mind the payout..

 

Greetings fellow traveler. I must say overall it was actually a great cruise.

 

Fortunately, I have an advanced math degree and can easily smell a rip off by thinking about the basic gaming economics. Clearly, I won't be playing cruise line bingo any more. However, I feel sick to my stomach for other travelers many of which are seniors and may not understand exactly why the Princess bingo structure is such a rip off for them. Since cruise ship gaming is essentially unregulated, there are no state gaming commissions to enforce disclosure or reasonable protections for consumers. I can pretty much guarantee that such a gaming structure would not survive any reasonable fairness test.

 

Sure, there is a "high" to participating in a jackpot bingo game in a crowded cruise ship lounge, but for me that benefit does not mean I'm willing to give away money. On top of that is the sinking feeling that most of the room has no idea how badly their being taken. I can guarantee you that if the pot actually got bigger with ticket sales, the customer satisfaction with bingo would actually increase.

 

It would be one thing if the cruise ships take were merely an obscenely large percentage (like 90 percent), but its another thing entirely when the passenger's upside is completely limited. No matter how many tickets Princess sells, that first game is worth -- $100 dollars. (that's about a sofa or two worth of ticket sales). I even witnessed a $125 dollar pot split six ways! This means even the winners lost money!

 

Finally, it's fine to say -- its your choice, don't participate. But don't forget that there is a finite amount of space and time on any voyage. Every vista-lounge-hour spent swindling passengers out of bingo money, is another hour lost for things like cultural lectures, cooking demos, and other forms of non-revenue entertainment.

 

<begin rant>

More generally, I would almost rather pay a little more $$ for my cruise on a truly all inclusive cruise line than spend the entire cruise feeling that the cruise line is trying to maximize its revenue from me with bogus bingo games, art auctions, jewelry sales, shore excursions (aka more jewelry sales), internet charges, etc... I fear that cruising will eventually turn into the vacation equivalent of a 10 day "time share" sales pitch.

</ end rant>

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The only time I ever played bingo (at least for money; not counting when a kid) was on my first cruise, and that was because we were taking part in as many activities as possible. But since I'm not that lucky at bingo and gambling (and just don't find those things fun), I usually stay away from the bingo matches and the casino. But I do love participating in the trivia matches. To each his own.

 

If someone doesn't mind the odds, they have that choice.

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Maybe the "seniors" just enjoy playing - or the "youngins" for that matter. I don't think they are all "high" and don't understand the payouts. To each their own, its their money, their time, their vacation. BTW, we have been known to play Bingo a time or two and I never got high doing it.

 

Besides the Bingo, how was the rest of your cruise?

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I am sorry that you did not understand before your first cruise the difference between playing a game of bingo on a cruiseship and going to a bingo hall to enjoy an evening of bingo.

 

I don't find the prizes awarded for playing bingo on a cruise ship disturbing or a rip off. It is simply an activity where some passengers find a few minutes fun if they choose to participate. The prize to be awarded at each session is announced in the daily Patter so everyone knows before they attend what they might win should they choose to participate. Its pretty easy to see that the prizes are of a set nature and not associated with actual ticket sales. In most cases its a single game of chance and not anything similiar to an evening at a bingo hall. Of coarse it's a money maker for cruiselines as are all activities that have a price attached to them when on a cruise.

 

It sounds great to hear of an all inclusive cruise but in reality I don't think I'd be happy paying for so many activities that I'd never participate in so I guess I'm better off on a cruise where I can enjoy all that is inclusive and choose where I want to spend my extra money and keep my funds from being spent on activities that I neither enjoy nor want to do. ;)

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"its your choice, don't participate. But don't forget that there is a finite amount of space and time on any voyage. Every vista-lounge-hour spent swindling passengers out of bingo money, is another hour lost for things like cultural lectures, cooking demos, and other forms of non-revenue entertainment."

 

It's all about the On-Board Revenue. What a waste of time.

 

I would rather throw my money at the shore excursions, boutiques, spa, and scholarship@sea classes. ;)

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It's like many other things on a cruise these days. it goes towards keeping down cruise prices. If they dropped this and many other money making activities on the ship the cost of a cruise would double.

 

I am quiet happy for people to book the ship excursions, buy in the shops, purchase photos, play bingo. I don't want to do any of these things and it lowers what I have to pay to be on the ship.

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I agree with op, but I still enjoy playing bingo and will do so. RCCL has better odds. Last bingo game of the week on RCCL usually starts at 8,000.00 and up. And they had a free cruise bingo which we actually won for 10.00. But I love Princess so much I can't go with any other line and just play with there odds. Always take what you can afford to lose or don't play is my motto.

Dawn

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To the OP,

 

Lets say you are the CEO of a company that has a product that sells for x dollars and makes you a HUGE profit. Your customers are very happy. Laughing, clapping and carrying on as if they don't feel ripped off. They come back for more day after day. Your profits become even better!

 

You would throw those profits away because they were not "fair"?

 

Bless your little socialist heart!! :D

 

If I were a stockholder in this company of yours you would be sacked faster than you can yell "Bingo!" :mad: :mad: :mad:

 

Since when did profit become such a bad word? :confused:

 

I have never seen anyone FORCED to spend one cent for ANY extras on Princess. You can remove tips from your account. You need not do any ships tours, bingo or go to the casino. You wont die of hunger or thirst if you only have what is included. Far from it actually! Photos? When has someone put them under your nose and begged you to buy?

 

Other people losing money? Mind your own....... oh well, hope you enjoyed something.

 

Gary P

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It is truly a conspiracy perpetrated by those unethical people who also deal in the casinos, set the slot machines and hold ticket raffles.

 

They also make obscene profits from the sale of ships excursions, permitting Spa vendors to charge outrageous prices (and hardsell their products - for which they receive a tidy percentage) - and other nefarious deeds shoved on the hapless passengers. Oh my,what is one to do in the face of such corruption and highway robbery??!!

 

I've noticed that those knives they hold to your neck, forcing you to buy bingo cards, have gotten shorter however. Perhaps it's an effort to cut costs......thereby making even more profit.

 

Capitalist pigs!!!!!

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I think the point here is that enjoyment is not always figured mathematically. This reminds me of people who complain about the price of a bottle of wine in a restaurant or on a cruise ship, which is always higher than if you bought it in a liquor store. And,there are people who seldom go out to eat because they say " I could cook that for less at home." Of course, things are going to cost more if someone else shops for it, serves it, cooks it and cleans up after--- but that would mean that the pleasure of the evening had no value. Same thing for bingo. You get a better deal at your local Friday night bingo, but it's just not the same experience as on a cruise ship. I seldom play bingo anywhere, but a lot of people really enjoy it, and I'm betting they will still go even if they realize the payouts are a small percentage of the take.

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