A Brief History of Bingo

Every single day of the year, people play Bingo from many different locations around the world.  It is increasing in its popularity with every passing month and this has been hugely helped by the introduction of online Bingo games as players have moved away from venturing to a specific bingo hall in their local area.

With over 4 million people playing Bingo in the UK alone, there is a huge market for the creators and developers of the latest Bingo games to capture so there are constantly new games, bigger prizes and better incentives to draw in more players to online Bingo sites.  With very few limitations, the online Bingo world has been a massive hit with the players, but has it always been this way?  Keeping reading to find out more about the history of the Bingo world. 

Where did Bingo start its life?

Many different countries lay claim to being the first country to develop Bingo but there are some stories that are much more feasible than others.  The Italian story is one of the more believable as it is said that their love for Bingo originated from their love for playing the lottery.  With many links to the game, many different adaptations were made as the Italian version of Bingo moved through different countries to entertain anyone and everyone that it reached, no matter where they were from. 

Good examples of how it changed were visible as it made its way through the different social groups of the world as well, with even the French Aristocracy enjoying playing their own variation of Bingo.  But this would not be the same sort of Bingo that we play today, it would still have had many different aspects that we would be able to recognise as the game we know and love.  Specific countries like Germany and Sweden still use a very traditional form of Bingo in their classrooms to assist children with their learning in multiple different subjects.  This method is a great way of increasing the levels of fun in the classroom whilst also increasing children’s ability to recall information.

Was Bingo ever called by a different name?

According to one particular story of origin, Bingo actually started its life in America being known as Beano.  Having been introduced to the American through the carnivals that travelled around the different States entertaining people, one of the most popular events of the carnivals was that of Bingo.  When it arrived in Atlanta one day, Edwin Lowe, saw that the Bingo tent was drawing an impressive crowd.  Not only this, but the people whose attention it drew remained interested in this game for incredibly long periods of time with many players of the game having to be physically asked to leave the tent when the carnival was closing for the night.

As Lowe was so impressed by the game of Bingo he had witnessed at the carnival, he decided to make his own variation and took it to New York with him in 1927.  Yes, he made a few changes so that the game became more accessible to anyone he came in to contact with, but the changes were not enormous.  He created individual playing cards for each participant and used rubber stamps so that the numbers on the cards were all perfectly legible.  He also created a new rule that the game was played with beans and not money, which gave the name its new name of “Beano”.

Everyone who played Lowe’s variation of the game loved it and waited impatiently for him to visit their State so that they would be able to have a go at playing the famous game.

Everyone wanted to play and could play too.  Lowe was invited to share his game at parties, charity events, auctions and many more occasions, with his friends asking him to bring the much-loved game with him when he came to visit them.  When one of his friends played the game, the friend was hugely excited to have won a prize and accidentally yelled “Bingo” not “Beano” in his haste.  This name stuck and we have used this game name ever since. 

Bingo playing in Britain

The Brits have always played a very similar style of Bingo to the Americans but there has always been one big difference.  They have always had a draw machine which has enabled them to ensure that there is equality between their players and no way in which anyone is able to cheat.  It was thought originally that the use of a draw machine made Bingo seem more sophisticated as a game but that’s very subjective.

The draw machines used in British Bingo are commonly described as being the original RNG or Random Number Generator of their time.  With the majority of Bingo being played online these days since many Bingo halls have closed down, the RNG is the way in which fairness is ensured to all players who decide to participate in Bingo online games from wherever they are in the world. 

Bingo Love

Millions of people play Bingo every year and there are some big reasons for this.  The main reason is the fact that it is such an inclusive game because literally anyone can play it and there are no skills or strategies needed to enable you to be successful.  There are not any particular rules that you need to be aware but you do just have to pray that you have luck on your side to ensure that you can bag yourself a prize.

There are multiple different types of Bingo games that you can play online and it is a very sociable game.  Bingo chatrooms are loved because they enable players to meet fellow enthusiasts, discuss games and learn from each other, and all of this can be done from within the comfort of their own home.  Not only this, but online Bingo also is fast, convenient and great fun for anyone to play and should always be encouraged as an entertaining thing to do.