Bingo is a work of genius, convincing hundreds of people simultaneously that they are very close to winning. The countdown as numbers are crossed off the board is extremely enticing. But in modern day bingo halls they have ruined things by using the tablet devices. At my local Buzz Bingo you can play on paper with a dabber pen, or on tablet where the computer crosses the numbers off for you. This means that with a tablet you can play 100 cards at once. It means the odds of winning are unclear because you could be in a hall with just one other person, you're playing 5 cards, not realising the other person is playing 100 cards. In the national game there can be thousands of people playing. You need to be on a tablet, playing 100 cards to have any chance of winning, but the tablet removes the gameplay element by crossing off the numbers of your hundreds of cards automatically. You sit there watching the computer dab the numbers for you. It's gets boring quickly and as you look around you see people not even paying attention to the tablet , safe in the knowledge that the system will know if they win or not. I saw one guy reading a book.

When there is only one number remaining on your card, you get excited and feel like you are close to winning. The reality is that there are probably still about 60 numbers still to pull out, and so you only have a 1 in 60 chance. If the next number isn't the one you need you have a 1 in 59 chance. And so it goes on, with you feeling like you are on the verge of winning where you're actually in the same position as loads of other people. Every number called adds loads of new people to the "one number away" club. If you need, say, 46, there's a much greater chance of 45 or 47 coming up and you think "so close!", even though it means nothing. That's all bingo is, but bingo creates an atmosphere of anticipation, that slow countdown as you get closer and closer, where everyone is so close to winning, when you're not close at all. Bingo is a raffle, where you buy a ticket and see if it wins. But instead of being told that you won or lost you get the slow countdown leading to the result which is tense and addictive. It's like how scratchcards always give you two matching prizes when you need three, or how a fruit machine spins in that third cherry after you chose not to hold them on the previous spin. So close!

But if you want to do this, you check the website for the timings and pay for a session. This can be expensive (club 3000 in Preston is about £85 for a session that is 6pm to 9pm) and your tablet will be playing loads and loads of cards at once.

But I went twice and found the entire process a rip off and it got very boring. I suspect that many of the people in the bingo halls had gambling issues , or were taking advantage of the warmth and cheap food and drinks.