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 bar and grills’ bingo night. Billiards, a game played with

balls and cues on a table, is the same way but with different forms. In result of the advance in

technology you can play it in person or digitally. There are many interesting things about each

game that when you dig deep into it can really fascinate you. The games of bingo and billiards

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 unless you cheat your way to the top by sneaking the number caller a

$20. 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 thing to mark the spaces off. Bingo has a remarkably interesting layout that makes

you question, “why is it formatted like that?” with the 5 columns to spell bingo along with the
horizontal 5 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 be called 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 specially

assigned to yell out numbers so everyone is aware of what 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 towards the prize

that the winner is awarded with. Bingo is a game of chance and lottery.

Bingo in the Beginning

Historically, bingo is one of the most well-known games and forms of gambling that is

around today (Keaton). 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 and changed over the past 500 years. This game dates to a long time ago and

proves to have kept its fame. Before gaining the infamous name, 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. 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 why the
game is the way it is. 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. Because of the money that is at stake, people show

many different intense emotions and that expresses that pathos are a significant factor in the

game of bingo, and its 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 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 be good at 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 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 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 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 helped form logos 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 having the laws of physics on

your side. 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 multiple people. 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.
Work Cited

“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/.