Bingo History

May 24th, 2010 by admin

For almost 500 years bingo has been germinating. From humble beginnings in Italy, to some exciting developments in France and Germany, it finally made its presence felt in the USA.  Back in the 1930s and 40s bingo was born in America and it wasn’t long before the entire world soaked up this sensation.

Bingo actually began with a similar game named Beano. With Beano, players formed winning sets of numbers based on predetermined patterns.  A caller would announce random numbers between 1 and 90 and the players would excitedly fill up their cards. Naturally the first person to complete a legitimate card was crowned the winner. By digging a lot deeper into bingo’s origins, many more secrets are revealed. It is now clear that the game that has taken the world by storm – bingo – has actually been around in some form or other for quite some time. Bingo can easily be traced back to the popular lottery game of Lo Giuoco del Lotto d’Italia. Back then, in 1530, Italians were already well-versed in the game. Since then, ‘bingo’ gained momentum first in France (playing cards, tokens and numbers were added), then in Germany where it was used for teaching purposes.

‘Bingo’ comes to America’s shores

During 1929 in the beautiful city of Atlanta, Georgia a game of Beano was being played with dried beans, cardboard sheets and a rubber stamp. A gentleman by the name of Mr. Edwin Lowe was thoroughly enjoying this gaming spectacle. So much so in fact, that he decided to take the idea to New York City. With a few modifications and the serendipitous yelp of ‘Bingo!’ when one of his friends completed a winning card – the game of bingo was born.  Mr. Edwin Lowe quickly patented his game and soon introduced 2 exciting versions. The first was a 12-card bingo set for one dollar, the second a 24-card bingo set for two dollars. Barely 10 years later and bingo was a US phenomenon. And all that Mr Edwin Lowe asked was a $1 annual fee from his competition.

Today’s bingo games are more dynamic than ever before. There are so many exciting varieties to choose from including 30-ball bingo, 75-ball bingo, 80-ball bingo and 90-ball bingo. Although online bingo games are automatically daubed for winning numbers and combinations, land-based bingo games require ‘daubing’ in order to complete winning combinations. Once a card has been filled according to a set pattern, bingo is yelled out. If there’s only 1 winner then he/she takes the loot. If there are multiple winners the prize is shared. Today there are a plethora of bingo cards and bingo halls. And bingo halls (online and real-life) provide patrons with casino and other games to keep them occupied while the bingo gaming is warming up. The game has certainly come a long way from its very humble beginnings, and the world couldn’t be happier.