Many bingo fans are so busy playing the game they seldom stop to think of how this addictive and enjoyable game al began. There are a number of different theories – we’ll tell you one of them.

One rumour has it that bingo started in Italy with its origins entwined with the Italian Lottery. This seems logical as both games use numbers and money is won if you have the correct numbers in a specific sequence. The Italian lotto was played every Saturday from the year 1530, and by 1770 the game had spread to France.

In France the first original bingo cards were made, with three horizontal rows and nine vertical columns. Each row had a series of nine squares, five with numbers and four blank. They were arranged in random order. The first column was numbered from one to ten, the second 11 – 20 and so on, until the last column was numbered 81 - 90.

The game was played as follows: Wooden chips, numbered 1 to 90, were placed in a bag and pulled out one at a time. Each player received a completely different card and the first person to cover their entire card won the bingo prize.

The game increased in popularity of the game until it reached fever pitch in the 1800s. The craze swept throughout France. It was used for educational purposes to teach children various important lessons. At the time, the game was called Beano as beans had replaced woodchips. By 1970, the game spread across the country with thousands of games being played every week.

A Mr. Ed Lowe, a toy dealer from New York, saw the game being played at a carnival. He returned to New York, bought dried beans, some cardboard and a rubber numbering stamp. He then invited some friends to play Beano at his apartment. Soon, his friends were playing Beano with the same enthusiasm and excitement as the people at the carnival had. During one of their games, a woman was very close to winning. Her last number was called and instead of shouting “Beano” she shouted “Bingo”. Thus, the name we know today was born!

The game caused Ed Lowe’s toy business to take off!

He enlisted the help of a maths professor to help him find the different number variations. The professor came up with 6000 variations. (It is said he had a mental breakdown soon after this task was completed)!

In the States bingo underwent several changes until it became the game with which we are familiar today.

Nowadays, bingo games can be found just about anywhere. From its simple, humble beginnings, bingo is still one of the most loved games in the world. Whether you play at the local hall or online, we are sure you’ll appreciate knowing more of the roots of your number one pass-time!