Many outsiders, when asked about the UK, will paint a picture of aristocrats drinking tea while exchanging compliments. One or two might mention the game of bingo, which is also a big part of Britain’s culture – visit onlinebingo.co.

Everyone in the UK is familiar with Saturday night gambling at the bingo hall, where punters dress in sports attire and shout their winning “bingo’s” in the cigarette smoke-filled hall. But where did the game come from? Although it may be hard to believe, the game did not originate in Britain.

In this article, we look over the history of bingo and the circumstances around which it was created. 

Il Gioco del Lotto d’Italia 

The legend has it that the game started out as a form of lottery in Italy in the 16th century, called “Il Gioco del Lotto d’Italia”. It was popular in all age groups and soon word of this game traveled abroad. From Italy, the game went to France in the late 18th century, where the French aristocracy called it “Le Lotto”. Here the game took a form resembling today’s 90 Ball bingo: playing numbers were 1-90 and the tickets were a 3×9 grid with 27 squares for numbers. The caller picked a number written on a wooden token from a box and announced it, to which the players covered the corresponding number on their tickets. The first one to cover a horizontal line was announced as the winner. 

Bingo 

The term “bingo” wasn’t coined until the 20th century. It is said, that the American toy manufacturer from Long Island, Edwin S. Lowe, first played the game at a carnival in Georgia, where it was known as “Beano” due to beans being used to mark the numbers off. The inventor loved the game so much that he kept playing it with his friends, one of whom was so excited during one of the games that she shouted “bingo!” instead of “beano”. The name had a sound to it and it stuck. Edwin S. Lowe went on to manufacture and sell sets of the game, now known as Bingo.

The game became very popular worldwide during and after World War 2. It alleviated stress, wasn’t too challenging and provided for a good past-time for the troops fighting in the war. After the war people kept on playing as bingo became a way to raise funds for the community and charities. 

Bingo today 

These days bingo has seen it all, hot and cold, but it is still standing tall! The traditional land-based game in bingo halls is slowly losing popularity but still has a good amount of regular players like the game osrs kalphite queen guide. But what is lost is newly found in online bingo, which is the preferred way to play for most bingo players in the UK nowadays. Online bingo is widely available with many promotions going along with it.