The History of Bingo

The game of bingo can be traced back to as early as the 16th century and originates from the Italian lottery 'Lo Giuoco del Lotto D'Italia' which is still played in Italy today. It was later introduced to France in the 1770's and was called 'Le Lotto', popular amongst the French aristocracy.

In 1929 the game reached North America and became known as 'beano'. It was re-named 'bingo' when New York toy salesman Edwin S Lowe overheard someone accidentally yelling 'bingo instead of 'beano' Lowe hired a Columbia University maths professor, Carl Leffler to help him increase the number of combinations in bingo cards and by 1930, Leffler had invented 6,000 different bingo cards.

Lowe was then approached by a Catholic priest who asked about using bingo as a way of raising church funds. Bingo was then played in churches and proved to be very popular. By 1934 it is estimated that 10,000 bingo games were being played weekly. Bingo then started being played in homes by the whole family and businessmen could see the earning potential and subsequently bingo halls began popping up in towns and cities.

Bingo is still hugely popular today and with the introduction of online bingo, players can now, if they so wish, play bingo 24 hours a day!