Some churches are against gambling because they think it is dangerous. Not only is it an irresponsible and risky way to use your money, they say, but it also attracts the criminal element. There is some truth to all of that, but I don’t think a Pennsylvania church expected it to be exemplified at their own bingo night.

Sacred Heart Church, located in Braddock Hills, Pennsylvania, holds charity bingo nights. Money made from bingo is used to fund the school. Tuesday night, however, the church parishioners and other community bingo players were surprised when the criminal element showed up to crash the party.

A masked man stormed into the church, brandishing a gun, and robbed the church. He stole approximately $300 from the cash drawer, money that was to fund the school, and then fled the scene. When Reverend Thomas Burke saw what was happening, he chased after the robber, who eventually disappeared into the nearby woods. Burke admits that chasing an armed robber isn’t a great idea, attributing the decision to the adrenaline of the moment.

Sacred Heart Church is a Catholic church located near Pittsburgh. The robbery occurred at approximately 6:30 PM.

Robberies at casinos, like at this church, are not actually very common. Like any bank robbery, though, they make a lot of headlines when they happen because of the sensationalism. In truth, anywhere that has money can be a target for robbers. Casinos, like banks, actually make poor targets because although they have a lot of money, they also have tight security. For that reason, sometimes robbers will go after a smaller amount of money if it is at a place with less security, such as a church.

“Gambling is a dangerous and potentially destructive activity,” says the government, “and must be carefully regulated, or sometimes even banned, for your own good. Unless, of course, we are the ones offering the gambling games – in which case it’s totally safe.”

It may sound a little odd hearing it said like that, but such a statement is made by the government’s actions every day. How many countries ban casino gambling but offer a lottery? How many U.S. states do the same?

Now the state of Florida is adding a new game to their lottery: Lucky Lines. Already a hit in Michigan, Lucky Lines is an electronic game that allows players to win, or lose, instantly. Like some scratch-off games, there is no need to wait for a drawing later on. Players instantly know whether they have won or lost.

Experts say it is exactly that type of instant gratification that is attractive to people with gambling problems. The statistics back that up as well. Of those who have contacted Gamblers Anonymous because of a problem with lottery games, 81% indicated that their problem is with games that have instant results.

Lucky Lines plays like a combination of bingo and keno, which is a casino game that the state of Florida only allows in tightly-regulated tribal casinos. In the game, players choose seven numbers ranging from 1 to 49. They can also have the computer randomly choose some or all of the numbers for them. The computer terminal then prints a game board that has spots for 49 numbers. If any three of the player’s chosen numbers appear in a line – vertical, horizontal or diagonal – the player wins. Players can win up to $3 million on a single play.

Though there is a $5 limit to the amount you can bet on each card, there is no limit to the number of cards you can buy, so a compulsive gambler can keep buying card after card. Anytime he doesn’t win, buy another. With a game like the Lotto, where you have to wait for the drawing, compulsive behavior like that is not rewarded, because you still have to wait for your results. If you know right away that you didn’t win, though, that is incentive – for some people – to buy another one.

If the game we were talking about was keno, slots or roulette, Tallahassee would say that the games were dangerous and they must protect people from their compulsive behavior by only allowing those games in regulated tribal casinos. Since it’s a lottery game, though, players can find this at any convenience store, gas station and many other retail locations.

Gambling law in Alabama may soon change. The state has traditionally been against gambling, but recent events have some people, the residents as well as politicians, reconsidering their position. Electronic bingo machines, which are currently illegal, have sprung up across the state, but so far nothing has been done about it. Governor Robert Riley was frustrated with the fact that the city police and attorney general seemed to look the other way. In response, he formed a Task Force on Illegal Gambling last year.

One of the first actions of the task force was to raid three establishments believed to be housing illegal gambling, which include Country Crossing, VictoryLand and the White Hall Entertainment Center. However, since they did not have a warrant, a judge ordered that the raid be halted. VictoryLand then filed a restraining order. Since then, a warrant has been issued to search the establishments and in response, the businesses have closed indefinitely to avoid being raided.

And that’s where things get tricky. If the businesses are indeed running illegal gambling operations, Riley is well within his rights by going after them, though many in the gambling community see him as an evil anti-gambling activist. The attempted raids and subsequent closings, however, have stirred up controversy in the state and now it seems that the people don’t even agree with the gambling ban anymore.

Once a strong anti-gambling voice, the people of Alabama have seen their state, like the rest of the country, mired in a bad recession. Jobs are scarce and with those businesses shut down, the economy is hurting even more and countless workers are wondering if they still have jobs. As a result, a recent poll by the Christian Coalition shows that 2/3 of the people of Alabama are opposed to Riley’s gambling raids and a poll by the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama found that 72% of the people are in favor of regulated gambling in the state and only 25% want gambling outlawed.

In response, Riley’s popularity in the state is falling and state Representative Marcel Black introduced a bill that would allow the voters to decide whether or not to legalize gambling. At this time, shutting down illegal gambling is perfectly constitutional, but doing so could hurt Riley. With thousands of jobs at stake, no one wants to be the guy who made the unemployment situation in Alabama even worse. For that reason, it may be best to let the people vote and see what they decide. In the meantime, do nothing. It may turn Riley’s stomach to turn a blind eye to illegal activity, no matter how harmless, but it may be what’s best for the state, his reputation and that of his party.

Something is profitable in the state of Denmark. So says online gaming company Ladbrokes. The British company will apply for an online operating license in Denmark. The Danish government plans to make an unlimited number of online gambling licenses available for sports betting, casinos, and poker games.

Denmark has high licensing costs that may deter smaller online casinos, who think that the costs of doing business with the Danish would not allow a profit. So is Ladbrokes foolish for pursuing a deal with the Danes? Give thy thoughts no tongue. A Ladbrokes representative stated that the “restrictions and conditions do not look more frightening than in Italy and Spain, which are other territories we have gone into.”

Ladbrokes is eager to join the Danish culture, best known for their blonde hair, funny accents, and almost total lack of laws. Denmark also has tight restrictions and laws on gambling designed to give the government a stranglehold on the industry. Some companies have shied away from the controlling government, but Ladbrokes is still willing to do business with them. Every man has business and desire, Such as it is.

The government currently only allows state-run companies to offer bingo, lottery and scratch cards, a law that Ladbrokes may challenge. The Danish have always held that monopoly, but Ladbrokes is confident they can have the law overturned. All that lives must die, passing through nature to eternity.

Though most of Ladbrokes customers are from the UK, they also have a large Nordic base. Forced to leave the UK due to excessive taxes, the company is eager to attract more Scandinavians. A licensing contract with the Danish government would mean more online gamblers playing. And when it comes to online casinos, the play’s the thing.

Bingo is no longer solely a way for cat ladies to kill time between “The Golden Girls” marathons in TV Land. Great Britain is seeing a whole new crop of wealthy young professionals playing the game. To be honest, I’ve never really understood British taste. After all, James Blunt is a megastar in England. And I’ll just say it now. I think the American version of “The Office” is funnier. There, I said it.

 Research group Mintel has found that during the last ten years, players under 45 years of age now make up 62% of the country’s bingo players. Players 18 to 24 years old now account for 700,000 of Britain’s 3.5 million bingo players. The most obvious reason for this shift toward younger players is the Internet. Online bingo sites have been springing up over the last decade and younger users are more likely to embrace the new technology. Older users, who are still trying to grasp the idea that you can talk on a phone that isn’t connected to the wall, are still sticking to the traditional bingo halls.

 Research has shown that younger users enjoy playing online bingo because of its simplicity. You can kill time, and maybe even earn a little money, without having to learn a whole lot of rules or strategy. Online bingo is also a good interactive game, with plenty of time for chatting and trash talking between called out numbers. Some can even use Twitter to keep friends and family up to date: “@JBluntFan It’s a 5. I don’t have a five. Damn. One more for Bingo!”

 With this trend expected to continue, more online gaming sites may add bingo to their game selection. In addition, sites that already offer bingo may decide to tailor the experience to a younger demographic, with chat rooms, 3-D animation and better graphics. It seems that a bingo revolution is in process.