The history of Bingo

The history of Bingo can be traced back to as far as 1530 where it was first played in Italy under the name of "Lo Giuoco del Lotto d'Italia". In the following years the game grew in popularity and by the late 1770's the game had reached France where it was named "Le Lotto". Here it was played by mainly wealthy Frenchmen and the game evolved from it's original roots to include the use of playing cards and tokens. It was in France that the reading out of numbers also first appeared, something that has remained integral to this very day. Meanwhile the Germans developed their own version of the game with an emphasis on education with the purpose of teaching children learn maths, spelling and history.

By the 1920's bingo's popularity had spread across numerous countries and is first reported to have hit North America in 1929. Originally called 'Beano' it was played at a traveling carnival near Atlanta where players used dried beans, rubber stamps and cardboard sheets. Edwin Lowe, a visitor to the carnival soon saw the potential of this engaging game and decided to work on the concept on his return to New York. Played amongst his friends Lowe devised two versions of the game; the first a 12 card set for just $1 and the second a 24 card set for $2. Bingo became a massive success and it is here that the game was later renamed 'Bingo' after a player accidentally shouted 'Bingo' instead of 'Beano' after a particularly exciting win.

As bingo spread across the USA many rival bingo operations were setup. The name 'Bingo' had now become widely accepted and rival companies paid Lowe a small fee of $1 a year to use the term. The massive take up of bingo was very much helped by the Catholic church who viewed the game as an ideal way to raise funds and by 1934 an estimated 10,000 bingo games were played weekly in the USA alone.

Bingo in the UK

Bingo in the UK became popular as we know it today in the late 50's and early 60's. The growth of UK bingo was lead by a number of cinema companies who were looking for alternative revenue streams as UK cinema audiences were dropping drastically. This along with the passing of the 1960 Gaming Act resulted in a huge number of empty cinemas being converted into bingo halls. This became an instant success and has proved to be a winning formula ever since.

With the more recent introduction of online gaming Bingo is now reaching a whole new audience. While bingo is often classed as a female pastime an ever growing number of males are also taking up the game. With more and more ways to win and huge jackpots never seen before in traditional bingo halls there's never been a better time to try your luck.