Bingo is huge in Texas. (Actually, it's huge throughout the world, but this article is only about bingo in Texas.) 21.5 million people played bingo in Texas in the year 2004, and they won over $443 million in prizes. And best of all, since ALL bingo played in Texas is charitable bingo, over $29.8 million was donated to different charities in 2004.

But before 1980, there wasn't legal bingo in Texas. 1980 was the year that Texas passed the constitutional amendment allowing charitable bingo halls to operate in Texas. The amendment requires that funds earned from bingo operations in the state must be allocated toward charity, so any bingo game you play in the state of Texas is money toward a good cause.

Even though the amendment was passed in 1980, it wasn't until 1982 that bingo halls actually started operating. 1982 was the year that the Comptroller of Public Accounts first began issuing licenses for bingo operators. The Comptroller of Public Accounts continued to administer Texas bingo until 1990.

In 1990, the Texas Alcholic Beverage Commission became responsible for administering Texas charitable bingo, and they played that role until bingo was moved under the supervision of the Texas Lottery Commission, which seemed like a logical choice to oversee what is essentially a lottery type game, even if the profits do go to charity.

The rest, as they say, is history. The Texas Lottery Commission continues to oversee Texas charitable bingo. The bingo division hopes to hit $1 billion in total charitable donations sooner rather than later, and since 1982, they've generated $792 million. So they're pretty close.

Anyone who wants to support charity, have some fun, and maybe win some money should consider supporting Texas charitable bingo.

The author runs a directory of Texas bingo halls, and he and his family try to support Texas bingo by playing regularly.