Nightly News   |  June 29, 2013

Bingo! Old game revamped for new generation

Enhanced with trivia-style play and even rap music, a younger crowd is flocking to bingo halls across the country, drawing hundreds of players per session. NBC’s Jenna Wolfe reports.

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>>> finally tonight, more evidence that everything old becomes new again. so why not bingo ? and now it's been revamped for a whole new generation. no longer your grandmother's bingo . jenna wolfe has the story.

>> reporter: remember bingo ?

>> i-26.

>> reporter: five letter, 25 numbers, randomly arranged. get any five across, down, diagonal, and --

>> bingo !

>> reporter: around this room, it's who is playing bingo that is becoming the game changer.

>> bingo !

>> got to get here really early, the place fills up real fast.

>> reporter: thursday is bingo night at houston's lodge 88. the weekly event draws nearly 700 players, most of whom who are under the age of 40.

>> we try to come every week. we've been coming here so long, they save us seats.

>> reporter: tina and her following justin are regulars.

>> like going to your local grocery store, recognition, unlike any other place.

>> reporter: i-24.

>> why the sudden resurgence? bingo is getting a face lift. thanks to advertising and social media , players have gotten increasingly younger over the last several years.

>> reporter: a cheap thursday night.

>> every monday at this atlanta bar, dozens gather to play a modern version of the old-school game.

>> reporter: i-27.

>> traditional bingo and we changed it, evolved it for a younger generation.

>> substituting in this case, pop culture for random numbers and letters.

>> reporter: number two, theme songs.

>> show of hands , who five years ago thought they would come into a bar, drink a little, and play bingo .

>> reporter: i had a good 30 years before that.

>> it seems to be working. when was the last time you played bingo ?

>> reporter: monday.

>> why the trivia style version caught on in atlanta , back in houston, it's the traditional game that keeps the younger set coming back, week in, week out.

>> reporter: i guess the place to be on thursday night.

>> a good old fashioned game that withstood the test of time.

>> reporter: g-48.

>> jenna wolfe , nbc news, atlanta .

>> reporter: