Game is Tim’s calling
Tim Morris’s connection with bingo goes back to his teens when he would make coffee and sandwiches while the game was being played at a local club.
Now 34 years old, he is the Bingo Manager at Norths Leagues and Services Club at Kallangur and his entertaining style draws players from far and wide.
“My Nan and Pop used to work in bingo. I followed them and stuck with it. I kind of fell into it,” he says.
“If not for them, it was probably not something I would have considered.
“I was doing it when I was 18 years old and was one of the youngest callers and it developed over time.”
Tim says the secret is making the game as entertaining as possible.
“I call the session live. Everything is live, entertaining and unique. If you stuff up, everyone knows about it,” he says.
His favourite calls are ‘top of the house 90 and all the ones, legs 11’.
The club’s Marketing Co-ordinator James Bennett says Tim is the point of difference and he runs the most successful bingo on the northside.
“People come from all parts of Brisbane because of what he does,” James says.
“His passion comes through. It’s a lost art.”
And he’s sharing it with the next generation, with people of all ages playing – not just older members.
The club recently hosted a 19th birthday party at bingo.
Variety is the key
They have a couple of special sessions including the ‘Power Hour’ on Sundays which Tim describes as the 20/20 of bingo. The sessions are shorter and the prizes are bigger. There are also ‘Treble’ sessions on Tuesday nights that run for an hour and a half.
He and his team run nine sessions a week with each attracting from 100 to as many as 650 people (pre-COVID).
Tim says everyone knows each other and there is a family feel about it.
“It’s more of a social event. It’s its own little community,” he says.
“I think that’s what gets the people back.”
There is usually a collective celebration when someone wins.
“There’s no, ‘I wish it was me’. There are so many chances to win and they’re happy to see a winner,” he says.
There are special sessions planned for the upcoming long weekend across four days starting on Thursday, October 28.
To find out more, visit northsleagues.com.au or search Norths Leagues and Services Club on Facebook.