Beach bingo could get regulated after decades of operating without rules

RALEIGH -- North Carolina’s for-profit beach bingo parlors have gone largely unregulated for years, but legislation approved by the state Senate this week could sharply cut the parlors’ operating hours and cash prizes.

The popularity of bingo started decades ago at the coast – that’s why it’s called beach bingo – but long ago spread inland. And while the state regulates 246 bingo operations that serve as fundraisers for Elks clubs, churches and other nonprofits, those rules currently don’t apply to for-profit parlors.

“It’s been impossible to regulate this,” said Rep. Pat Hurley, an Asheboro Republican and the bill’s sponsor. “We don’t even know where they are.”

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