The History of Bingo

January 22, 2010 by Orit
Filed under Bingo History

history of bingo

Originally, Bingo used to be referred to as Beano in the United States. According to the history of Bingo, this game began as a fair game in which from the cigar box the dealer selected the numbered discs and the players marked the cards with beans. If they won, they used to yell ‘BEANO’.

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few facts about history of bingo
The history of bingo dates back to 1530 when this game was played in Italy and was known as “Lo Giuoco del Lotto D’Italia”. It is still played in Italy every Saturday.
In 1770’s the game traveled from Italy to France where it was called “Le Lotto”. In France, it was a game played by wealthy people.
In 1800’s in Germany this game was played in a different version. It was more of a child’s games which helped teach them mathematics, spelling and history.
Bingo came to North America in the year 1929 and was called beano. Beano was, for the first time, played near Atlanta Georgia.
Edwin S. Lowe changed Beano to Bingo when he accidentally heard someone yell Bingo instead of Beano. With the help of Columbia University math’s professor Carl Leffer, he tried to increase the number of combinations in cards. Leffer invented about 6000 different combinations by 1930.
A Pennsylvanian priest came to Lowe to allow this game to be played in the churches. He wanted Bingo to be played as a method of raising funds. This move made this game extremely popular.
In 1934, the modern version of this game evolved and every week about 10000 games were played.
Lowe’s game had two versions. The first version had 12 cards set for $1.00 and the second version had set of 24 cards for $2.00. The game was a huge success.
By 1940, this game spread to the entire country. To use the name Bingo, Lowe collected $1.00 for the game to be conducted annually by a person.
Today, in the US, this game is primarily used for raising charity funds and is conducted by charity organizations usually in churches.
Every state has its own stakes and legality governed by regulations.

Commercial Bingo – history of bingo

Casinos in America offer commercial bingo. Here are a few interesting facts on bingo offered commercially -

The state of Nevada is famous for this game, which caters to the need of local gamblers.
Eventually, the game became popular in the city of Las Vegas where it is played in casinos.
In North America every week, more than $90 million is spent playing this game.
In the United States, more than 48 states offer this game legally in some form or the other. It is either played in a church basement or in traditional bingo halls.

History of Bingo online

One of the most significant transitions in history is the emergence of online bingo. As the powerful medium of internet found its way into many homes, the face of bingo underwent a significant change.

Today bingo is a game that can be accessed by everyone from the comfort of their homes. Bingo craze started spreading as many moved from traditional bingo halls to virtual bingo.

Here are a few interesting facts about history of bingo online –

Online bingo is a huge industry where millions of dollars do the rounds.
Just like the bingo halls, online bingo creates a sense of socializing and fosters the feeling of being in a community to a great extent with the help of chat rooms that allows you to interact with other players.
Online bingo is accessible 24/7 and you can play whenever you want to.
You can personalize and enhance your experience by choosing from a variety of bingo game types.
Online bingo first took US by storm. Today, it is most popularly played in the UK which is incidentally world’s fastest growing bingo market today.

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