The history of bingo

Today, online casino operators are trying to fill their platforms with all possible kinds of slots, live dealer games, lotteries, table games, but no site is without a classic that we all know very well: bingo. You can play bingo right here, Pin up casino.

The history of bingo

What do you imagine when they say “bingo”? A group of elderly people playing in the yard? Or a bar full of locals who decide to spend a Saturday night over a game and a beer? Or a TV broadcast of the game? Bingo today has gone much further than that. Let's take a look at the history of this legendary game.

What is bingo?

Bingo is a form of lottery; it is a game of chance. The organizer or host pulls out random numbers, and if they match the numbers on the player's card, the player must shout out “Bingo!” — that's the win, and the winner gets all the money. Bingo can take many forms and can be played in different ways, but the principle is the same: the fields on the card must match the randomly chosen numbers.

Interesting fact: The word “bingo” itself was a pure mistake! Players in North America, when they played bingo, put beans on the fields of the card to indicate matching numbers. And if they won, they called out “beano” (from the word bean, bean). Toy salesman Edwin S. (Edwin S. Lowe) heard the word wrong and started calling the game “bingo.” That is the name by which the game is known to the world today. But it was in the early 20th century, and the history of bingo began long before that. Bingo: a timeless classic of the gambling industry 0.

The Beginning of Bingo

The game has its roots back in the 16th century. Back in the 1530s, it was an Italian game called “Lo Giuoco del Lotto D'Italia”. Then, in the 18th century, “Le Lotto” spread to France, becoming a game of the wealthy, and Germany taking a new turn: there the game was used as a tool for learning history, grammar, and math (more on this below).

The development of bingo

When the game became popular in North America by 1930, and Edwin S. Lowe gave it that famous name, he hired Columbia University professor Carl Leffler, and he developed 6,000 new cards and increased the number of combinations. They created them in such a way that the chances of repeating winning combinations decreased.

Not only did Lowe's company successfully sell bingo cards for decades, it also invented a new game called Yahtzee until it sold for $26 million in 1973.

By 2022, bingo has not lost its popularity, and on the contrary, almost no casino is without the game. There are many types and variations of bingo, which online casino operators choose depending on the demographics of their players.

Bingo, like many other types of games, can be played both online and offline. Both are great experiences, but unlike playing in a land-based casino or any other bingo hall, online bingo allows for more varieties of play.

Types of Bingo

A bingo classic is considered a game with 75 balls. This number affects the chances of winning: the fewer balls in the game, the greater the player's chances of winning. With the development of the game also appeared different variations of bingo. They differ not only in the number of balls used (30, 90, 80), but also in the length of the game, winning combinations, and sometimes they completely change the rules of the game, keeping only the basic principle.

Bingo of 75 balls. This is a very popular version around the world, including the United States and Canada. The 5×5 cards have only 25 fields, but only 24 numbers: the cell in the center is empty. The numbers are grouped by the letters B I N G O, where each letter has 15 numbers.

30-Ball Bingo. The game involves 30 balls and a 3×3 card—this type of bingo allows for a quick game.

90 Ball Bingo. The game uses 3×5 cards with 15 numbers. If a player collects a row of numbers, it is a win, if the whole card is a full house.

80-Ball Bingo. This version of bingo is played with a 4×4 card, the total number of numbers is 16, and the game itself lasts longer than classic bingo. The game allows horizontal, vertical, diagonal lines, and other combinations such as four corners, a “square” (four numbers in the center), combinations of two or three rows, or a full house of all four rows.