Do you know the history of bingo? This game is one of the most popular in the world, but where does it originate and how it became what we know today? We will discuss these questions, and more below so read on. The term bingo comes from another game known as Beano. It was invented in the US and was a county fair game consisting of discs with numbers which were pulled out of a cigar box by someone we now know as the dealer.
The name Beano was given to this game because the players marked the numbers off of their cards with beans. It would probably sound strange, but when a player crosses off the required pattern, they yelled Beano, instead of Bingo.
Although the Beano was a game that originated in the United States, the Bingo is believed to be older than that. Its grandparent is probably a game called “Lo Giuoco Lotto Italia” Which was played in Italy in the 1500’s. The game became popular and even spread to other places in Europe like Germany and France.
Bingo History in the United States
The first time Beano was played in North America was at a carnival in Atlanta Georgia in 1929. But how did beano turn into bingo? The reason is quite funny. A player accidentally shouted Bingo and was overheard by a toy salesman named Edwin Lowe. He found this name better for marketing purposes at it sounded better.
Lowe worked on the game to make it available to the masses and invited some friends to his apartment to test the game out. This is when it was given the name Bingo.
He said that he was so excited to come up with the game and call it Bingo, even more after he heard the cry of the girl at the fair.
The first tickets for the game cost 1$ for 12 cards and 2$ for 24 cards, but there were always too many winners in each game. Then Lowe decided that what he needs to do is increase the number of squares on the bingo card to make it better for commercial launch. He then started looking for a partner, and he came – math professor Carl Leffler. He was a teacher at the University of Colombia and became Lowe’s partner in the venture.
After some work on the mathematical possibilities, Leffler came up with 6000 different bingo cards. There is a rumour that after completing this task, he went insane. The game was ready for commercial production.
The first client for the new game was nobody else but the church! A Catholic priest saw potential in the game to help raise funds for the church and contacted Lowe with this request. He agreed, and soon more and more churches were playing the free game, and this is how the game quickly gained popularity. Many people played bingo at church, and by 1934 there were about 10,000 bingo games played by Americans on a weekly basis.
Today bingo is a huge industry with millions spent in playing only in the US every week.
History of Online Bingo Betting
Online bingo was first introduced – 1996. The first two years of its existence the game failed to attract people simply because not many of them had a computer and access to the internet.
This changed quickly, and after several years people already had computers and were connected to the internet, this is the moment when the popularity of the game started increasing dramatically.
Some changes had to be made for the traditional bingo to fit the online environment. For example, the online version was designed to have a random number generator for the outcomes of every next ball. However, this was not the case for all sites. Some did not use a secure software which left some players with a preference over the rest.
Even today when technology has advanced so much, players are advised to research the various bingo sites to ensure they choose a reputable and safe one. Bear in mind that you will have to provide some personal information to the site you choose to play on.
Facts About the History of Bingo
In the first years when online bingo was introduced, players had to download free software to be able to interact online. Nowadays this is not necessary anymore. The technology has advanced, and because of the browsers and languages used online the modern sites are built in JavaScript or Flash applications and can be played directly online. The development of HTML 5 presented brand new opportunities to create much more exciting and user-friendly online bingo sites.
But how did online bingo become so popular? One of the reasons is due to the introduction of the bonuses for new players and first depositors. A reputable online bingo game will also give players the same chance to with as traditional bingo.
Players can increase their chances to win depending on the strategies they use when playing the game. Another new and great feature about online bingo games is that players do not need to mark off the called numbers by themselves. A computer does this for them every time a number is called.
In the modern online bingo sites, players can find chat rooms where they can interact and feel the community spirit. These chat rooms are moderated, and the players in them also have their own manner of speaking and slang. Another aspect of modern online bingo are the progressive jackpots which attract many players.
The history of the game is interesting and has its ups and downs. However, nobody can deny that no matter its humble beginnings bingo have become one of the most popular games in the world.
