Under the B: bonus! Kinsmen offering $100-K bingo jackpot

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This article was published 19/12/2023 (671 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BINGO players may want to restock their dabbers before Feb. 24.

To celebrate its centennial, Kinsmen Jackpot Bingo is giving away at least $100,000, the club’s Winnipeg president Christian Tardi said Monday.

“We wanted it to be a substantial prize,” Tardi said. “It’s life-changing money, at the end of the day.”

The guaranteed prize, awarded with a blackout card in 50 or fewer numbers, will grow from $10,000 — the usual starting amount — to $100,000 leading up to the Saturday-evening program on CTV Winnipeg.

One dollar from each card sold for the draw is reserved for the pot. If the jackpot is less than $100,000 before Feb. 24, the club will make up the difference.

“(Players) have the opportunity to win some money, but they also have the chance to win big by knowing they’re supporting worthy causes,” Tardi said.

The broadcast draws thousands of players each week, with between four and 12 winners claiming prizes, Tardi said.

Kinsmen Winnipeg, an arm of Kin Canada, raises funds for various charitable causes. Last year, the club donated $2 million to organizations in the city.

The pandemic boosted fundraising for the non-profit as provincial public health restrictions left many Manitobans looking for ways to pass the time and the club sold as many as 120,000 bingo cards each week, Tardi said.

In 2021 the jackpot skyrocketed to $3 million.

“We were receiving so much support. We want to help celebrate that,” the president said.

In early 2020, a $600,000 jackpot stirred up a frenzy throughout Winnipeg, prompting Kinsmen Jackpot Bingo to post a message on its Facebook page saying it would no longer list stores that receive card deliveries in Winnipeg.

“We have hordes of people driving dangerously, following our courier, driving like paparazzi and putting him in danger,” the social media post read.

While the bingo-mania has since subsided, the televised game still draws between 15,000 and 20,000 players every week and remains the largest revenue generator for the Winnipeg non-profit service club, Tardi said.

“It takes a community to make a community,” he said.

Along with the $100,000 bingo game, the club plans to mark its 100th birthday with a celebration later in 2024.

Bingo cards for Kinsmen games up to Feb. 24 are available online or in stores across the province.

nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca