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Bingo brawl

Brodie Thomas
Northern News Services
Published Thursday, November 20, 2008

INUVIK - An Inuvik woman may be taking the Inuvik Curling Club to court over a dispute involving Monday night TV bingo.

Shawna Kaglik said she bought bingo cards on the evening of Monday, Nov 10 at the New North Networks dome. That night she scored on a large picture frame game and was one of three people who called in to report winning. On the phone she was told she had a good bingo, but when she went to pick up her prize she was told that her card was no good.

NNSL Photo/Graphic

Shawna Kaglik said she scored on a large picture frame game during the Curling Club's Monday night bingo but the club's records show they didn't sell Kaglik that card. Kaglik is now threatening to sue for $8,000 in winnings. - Brodie Thomas/NNSL photo

"When I brought my card in to claim my winnings they told me they never sold this card to me," said Kaglik.

All bingo cards are sold in numbered batches of 3,000. There is also a second "series" number that enables the seller to identify which batch of 3,000 each card is from.

Every organization is required to keep track of the series numbers of the cards they sell. Those numbers are also kept on record by the town of Inuvik.

Kaglik's winning card is from a batch of 3,000 cards that the Inuvik Curling Club doesn't have in its records.

On Nov. 10 the Inuvik Curling Club sold 3,514 cards in total, meaning that only 514 cards were from a second batch. In an email to Kaglik, a representative from the Curling Club said their records show there is no way triplicate cards could have been sold. Only 514 duplicate cards were sold.

The representative from the Curling Club also checked the bingo card stock at New North Networks and found the batch of cards that Kaglik's winning card came from was not there.

The club has already paid out the winnings to two other players who had identical winning cards from the two batches sold on Nov. 10.

Inuvik SAO Sara Brown said the Town of Inuvik is standing behind the Curling Club's decision.

"We have reviewed the Curling Club's records and they are meticulous," said Brown.

Kaglik said she only plays bingo when the jackpot is large. She said she does have access to bingo cards at the dome because she volunteers with the Elder's Society but added she has to keep records like everyone else and said she was insulted that anyone might imply she had done something wrong.

Kaglik said the Curling Club must have made a mistake in selling from a third batch of cards because she can't see how else she ended up with a winning card.

"With a big bingo like that, it is easy to make a mistake," she said.