Like all gambling games, bingo has changed thousands of times throughout history. It emerged in the 16th century and immediately became popular in Europe. How did it come to America? What do the modern bingo versions look like? Learn from our brief history of bingo!
Previously we have discussed a brief history of slots and their evolution throughout the years. Now, it’s time to cover another popular game of chance – bingo. Bingo has many dedicated players in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the US, and dozens of other countries. Would you like to know about the origin of this game and its main modifications? Keep reading!
The early history of bingo
It is quite difficult to say the exact date of bingo’s birthday. The game originated in the 1530s in Italy. If so, bingo is one of the oldest gambling games that has been around for more than 490 years. Bingo is believed to be based on the famous Italian lottery Il Gioco del Lotto d’Italia which is still played in this country.
In the 1700s, the game emerged in France. Bingo was very popular among aristocrats under the name Le Lotto. Then, it migrated to Great Britain where it would reach its peak of popularity years later. Since the 18th century, bingo has become pretty similar to its modern version.
The American version of bingo was originally called “beano”. However, the game was introduced to people only in the early 20th century. 1920 is considered the birthday of bingo in the US. Learn how to play American bingo with 75 balls from our guide.
Bingo in the 20th century
Bingo reached its peak of popularity in the 20th century. Numerous bingo halls emerged in the US, the UK, and other European countries. At the same time, Erwin S. Lowe introduced the modern design of bingo cards and named the game “bingo” instead of “beano”. Carl Leffler helped him to increase the number of different combinations in bingo cards to make the game more exciting to play.
In the mid-and late 20th century, bingo remained one of the few legal gambling games in most countries. Along with the lottery, bingo was allowed to play in special establishments called bingo halls. In bingo halls, players buy cards and wait for the host to announce the winning numbers. The first player to cover the pattern on his card and shout “Bingo!” is the winner. By the way, most of the biggest bingo wins in history come from bingo halls!
Bingo today
What about the modern history of bingo? Nowadays, bingo fans have many ways to play their favorite game: bingo halls, online bingo sites & casinos, mobile bingo apps, and so on. Online bingo is the most popular option because of its speed, simplicity, accessibility, and variety of bingo games.
Playing online bingo is easy. All you need to do is sign up for a bingo site, choose the game, and start playing! There are free bingo sites where you play bingo for no fee but receive just virtual winnings. There are also bingo sites that allow you to play bingo for real cash and win millions in your favorite game.
Mobile bingo apps are also divided into free and those played for money. Like bingo sites, free apps allow you to enjoy free bingo games, while the others invite you to hit the real jackpot. Usually, all bingo apps for real money are developed by famous sites or bingo companies.
