Kylie Dew

Rhetoric Analysis

13 October 2021

Clair Wilden

Rhetorical Analysis of Bingo and Billiards

And bingo was his name- oh! Bingo is a game that has been around for decades and is not

going anywhere soon. You may have grown up playing it in a small-town community center or

even in today's age playing it at a local bingo night. Billiards, a game played with balls and cues

on a table, is the same way but with different forms. In result of technology advances you can

play it in person or digitally. There are many interesting things about each game that can

fascinate you. These two games use methods such as pathos and kairos to draw their intended

audience in and appeal to the consumers of the game.

What is Bingo?

Bingo is a game of luck, not much technique or strategy can be used in this game. There

is no way to be good at bingo. Being the game is all luck, it is considered one of the oldest forms

of gambling to date (Keaton). The standard bingo card you purchase is covered with random sets

of numbers and comes with a dabber to mark the spaces off. Bingo has a remarkably interesting

layout with 5 columns to spell bingo along with five horizontal rows, the card forms a square that

encases random numbers of varying degrees. A common feature of bingo cards is the space in

the middle of the card that reads ‘FREE SPACE.’ This is a freebie given by the card that knocks
off one less number that is needed to obtain a bingo. In the game, there are countless diverse

ways to achieve a win or a ‘bingo’ as there are different patterns and methods to play. Most

commonly, a person will be assigned to yell out numbers so everyone is aware of what number

has been called. When you have achieved the given pattern, you then yell out “bingo!” to humbly

announce that you have won. When you purchase your bingo card, a portion of your payment

will usually go into a pool of money that the winner is awarded with. Bingo is a game of chance

and lottery.

Bingo in the Beginning

In an article talking about the origins of bingo it is found that, historically, bingo is one of

the most well-known games and forms of gambling that is around today (Keaton). This same

article titled “How Did Bingo Originate? The History of Bingo Explained,” they explain that the

game of bingo originated in Italy, where “It is said the game began life as a lottery called “II

Gioco del Lotto d’italia, in 1530” (Keaton). The game is very historic and has progressed over

the past 500 years. Before gaining the infamous name that we know it by today it was named ‘Le

Lotto” because of its Italian origins. Since this Italian word translates directly to lottery, it is

logical to have the correspondence of the lottery to bingo. From the previously stated article they

talk about how a legend states that, “a toy manufacturer from Long Island, named Edwin S

Lowe, first played the game at a carnival in Georgia, where it had become known as ‘beano’ due

to beans being used to mark numbers” (Keaton). This goes to show that evolution has occurred

since that time period and people have innovative ideas and items to take place of the beans used

at the origins of this game. Small colorful disks or ink dabbers are now used to mark off

numbers. Bingo has a generous amount of history behind it and there are many things we can
look at a little deeper to understand the game. Certain techniques have been used within the

creation of bingo to draw consumers in.

Why is it Appealing to Consumers?

Bingo has many appeals to the consumers that align with pathos and Kairos. To begin,

when money is involved, people tend to be more competitive. This competition and yearn to win

comes from the gambling link that bingo has. The money that is at stake causes people show

many different intense emotions that expresses that pathos is a significant factor in the game of

bingo, and the success and relevance today. In addition, kairos is also prevalent in the game of

bingo. Bingo can be a common activity in school as a teacher can typically find a bingo card

template that corresponds to the current lesson that is being taught as an activity to create

creative engagement from their students. The fact that finding a bingo card that matches the

current topic at hand is a notable example of kairos as it pertains to time at a certain moment.

Bingo has many fascinating techniques to draw in its consumers, comparable to billiards which

catches its consumers in a contrasting way.

What is Billiards?

Billiards is a game that may not be as well-known across ages as bingo. Billiards or most

known as “pool” is a game that you can develop skill in and practice with. Unlike bingo, this is

one of the differences between the games. Many teenagers today may be familiar with it as it is

part of a popular text message game called “game pigeon” where you can play a game of 8-ball

with your finger. In the game of pool, you must take a long wooden stick called a ‘cue’ and hit it

towards a white ball named the que ball where you must then strike another ball with great force

to try to hit it into various small holes located around the edge of the pool table. Billiards is more
of a game of technique; you must know what you are doing to succeed. The game of billiards

appeals to logos because logical reasoning is needed to fully understand the game and how to

play it successfully.

Why it is Appealing to Physicists

Billiards has a lot to the game and is more than what it seems. Billiards, or commonly

known as pool, is a game that is based around physics. You must know certain laws of physics to

be successful in the game. In the article explaining the physics of billiards they state that in the

game of pool, when the que ball strikes there is an elastic collision that occurs (“Physics of

Billiards”). The effect of this collision creates movement, and a complex physics problem is born

to calculate the velocity and direction of the ball (“Physics of Billiards”). It is known that many

great physicists played pool and showed immense success while playing the game because of

their advanced knowledge in physics and its laws that can be implemented into the technique of

the game.

The Playing Grounds

The table that this game is played on is a standard table but displays various holes on the

table and is covered in a colored felt. This felt is not a basic color of white or black as it is in fact

green but can commonly be blue. The article “Why Are Pool Tables Green? (Or Blue in Some

Cases)” they dig deeper into the topic of the felt that surrounds the table. The green felt is used

to resemble grass since billiards was originally played outdoors long ago (Logan). The felt that

encases the bottom of the table that the game is played on helps form a strong logos appeal as it

is very logically for the coloring to be green to simulate the feeling of playing outside on the

grass.
Player demographic

A lot can be said about a person from playing the game of billiards, in an article

discussing the culture of French billiards, they go to say there may be a “differentiated

relationship to sport from the sociological viewpoint of players (age, sex, social origin,

profession, etc.)” (Fleuriel). This is an interesting point as they say that there is a deeper picture

or meaning that can be taken away from just playing the game of pool. The people who play pool

can be young or older, but you must understand the deeper meaning of the game to be successful.

Conclusion

The two games, bingo and billiards are exceptionally different in many aspects, such as

bingo is a game of luck and lottery where billiards is mostly technique and laws of physics.

Although these two games share their differences, they share the similarity of being a game that

both younger and older generations can enjoy, as well as being a game that you can bond and

enjoy with others. Bingo and billiards use methods such as pathos and kairos to draw their

intended audience in, creating an appeal to the consumers of the game.

“Physics of Billiards.” Real World Physics Problems, https://www.real-world-physics-

problems.com/physics-of-billiards.html.

Keaton, Brooke. “How Did Bingo Originate? the History of Bingo Explained.” Casino.org Blog,

1 Oct. 2021, https://www.casino.org/blog/how-did-bingo-originate-the-history-of-bingo-

explained/.

Fleuriel, Sebastien. “An Unusual Cultural Product: French Billiards--Scholarly Game and

Recreational Sport.” Culture, Sport, Society, vol. 5, no. 2, Summer 2002, p. 45.

EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/713999858.

Logan, Tony. “Why Are Pool Tables Green (or Blue in Some Cases)?” The Pool Academy, 21

Dec. 2020, https://thepoolacademy.com/why-are-pool-tables-green/.