BRIDGEPORT — This ain't the kind of bingo you'd find at church.
Roll into Bernice's Tavern at 9 p.m. on a Wednesday and Steve Badauskus will show you his quirked-out version of the South Side's most common gamble.
It's called "Stingo" — shorthand for Steve's Bingo, named after the tavern's bearded and baritone-voiced barkeep.
Badauskus has hosted the event at 3238 S. Halsted St. for the past seven years, peppering the place with sharp one-liners and and silly banter between drawings.
Players won't find baskets of bath towels or expensive flowers vases in the prize pool. Instead, they're playing to win any number of oddball items — like a plastic jug full of cheese balls, a can of spam or a mystery box that could hold a $10 drink credit or the four bucks in change Badauskus got from Walgreens earlier in the day.
In 2014, Stingo players showed up for a chance to win Lollapalooza tickets.
If Badauskus has a message for anyone interested in playing Stingo, it's this: Don't take it too seriously.
"It's about having fun," he said. "That's it."
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:
