Bingo is a simple game where you have to pay attention to the numbers called out in a random order and see if any of them appear on your card. If you manage to cover an entire line vertically, horizontally, or diagonally before other players, you call BINGO and win the round.
This multiplayer game is immensely popular in several countries. But where did it actually start from?
Bingo’s history traces all the way back to the 1500s. Below, we tell you more about Bingo’s origins and how it has become one of the most popular casino games in the UK and around the world.
The first version of Bingo was born in 16th-century Italy. It was not known as a game at that time but as a state-run lottery called “Il Gioco del Lotto d’Italia.” In the 1530s, Italians would gather every weekend to participate in this popular lottery by marking off numbers on printed cards drawn at random.
It wasn’t called bingo at that time and people didn’t have beans or daubers to mark their numbers. However, the core mechanics were same – participants were given cards with numbers, which had to be marked to complete the winning pattern. This game was a hit because it had all the elements of fun – a relaxed atmosphere, suspense, luck, and community participation.
This Italian lottery laid the groundwork for bingo as we know it today.
The game made its way across Europe in the late 18th century. In France, “Gioco del Lotto” was renamed as “Le Lotto.” This version of the game was more structured as players received rectangular cards divided into 3 rows and 9 columns, filled with numbers from 1 to 90. The caller pulled wooden number chips out of a sack and called them out. Players would use coins or pebbles to cover their numbers.
In Germany, the game took a new meaning in the early 19th century. The bingo cards were used as a teaching tool for children to make learning more fun. The cards were used to teach everything from math and spelling to history and vocabulary. Instead of numbers, the cards contained words, important dates, or arithmetic answers.
A New York based toy salesman named Edwin S. Lowe made bingo popular across America. According to a New York Times article, Lowe first came across the game at a carnival in Georgia in 1929. It was called “Beano” at that time, and players used dried beans to cover numbers on their cards as they were called out. When someone completed a row, they would yell “Beano!” and win a prize.
Lowe took the idea back to New York and tried the game out with his friends. During one such game night, a player got so excited that she shouted “Bingo!” instead of “Beano”. And that’s how the modern bingo began.
Being a toy salesman, Lowe realized the potential of the game and started marketing the game across the country. He also partnered with a Columbia University math professor to create over 6,000 unique bingo card combinations. This was to prevent the problem of too many players winning at once.
Around the 1930s, bingo was no longer just a party game. Edwin Lowe began distributing bingo cards and equipment to churches and charities to host fundraisers. The game was so popular that by the mid-1930s, thousands of churches across America started hosting weekly bingo nights.
By the 1940s and 50s, bingo was firmly embedded in the country’s culture, and you could attend bingo games anywhere from small towns to big cities. That’s how the weekly bingo night became a social event.
The United Kingdom enacted the Betting and Gaming Act in 1960, after which licensed bingo clubs began popping up across the country. These clubs quickly became popular, just like the ones in the US. By the late 1960s, companies like Mecca Bingo and Gala Bingo had established clubs throughout the UK.
The UK version of bingo uses a 90-ball format, similar to the original Italian and French versions. The US version, on the other hand, uses 75 balls.
With the internet, bingo made yet another leap. In the early 2000s, we got online bingo sites where players could log in from home and join virtual bingo rooms. These platforms also added chat features so people could interact just like they would in a bingo hall.
Today, there are hundreds of live casino sites that offer online bingo. There are several themes to pick from, such as music bingo or movie bingo. There are even mobile apps, so you can enjoy the game from your phone.
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