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History of Bingo
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The Birth: Italy 1530 - France - Europe
Bingo, in its modern form, is the result of an evolution, which began in Italy as far back as 1530. At that time, a national lottery game called 'Lo Giuoco del Lotto D`Italia' was extremely popular amongst the citizenry even though the Catholic Church (you can imagine its enormous influence at the time) disapproved of this practice involving the random casting of lots. By 1778, the Bingo-like lottery arrived in France and was met with the same enthusiasm from citizens as well as the same disapproval from the Church. The two opposing sentiments combined, however, to increase the game's popularity and by the 1800s, lotteries had spread all over Europe. Developed during this period, the classic version of 'Lotto' involved a playing card, which was divided into 3 horizontal lines and 9 vertical columns (90-ball Bingo anyone??). Each row had 5 numbered and 4 blank squares in a random arrangement. The columns contained numbers from 1-10 (1st column), 11-20 (2nd column), and so on, up to 90; and, just like modern bingo, each card was unique.
American "Beano" and Edwin Lowe
Jumping ahead a century and an ocean, Bingo reached the United States in the 1920s and quickly took on the flavor of its new home. Named 'Beano' because players would use pinto or lima beans to mark their cards, this early version of modern bingo witnessed the invention of special numbered discs randomly drawn from a cigar box which formed the 'calling' aspect of the game as we know it today.
The game's popularity spread across the country and took particular hold in rural areas where anti-gambling sentiment wasn't quite as pronounced in the face of the new game, whose nature most people considered harmless.In 1929, a salesman from New York, Edwin Lowe, came upon the game and was inspired by the enthusiasm and popularity surrounding it. While there's debate as to when and where it actually happened, at some point a player within earshot of Lowe mistakenly cried out 'BINGO!!' instead of 'beano' upon winning. The new term struck Lowe as a wonderful marketing opportunity and the entrepreneur began the first steps towards marketing the game in New York and the US.
With the help of a math professor, Carl Leffler, Lowe created more random cards so that only a single player could win each time. Eventually, Lowe's big idea was represented by over 6,000 unique cards instead of the original 24. The 'father of Bingo' put so much pressure on his mathematician employee and the strain of the endeavor was so great that ultimately Leffler would succumb to the mental effort and became mad!
Modern Bingo
Once Lowe's game had been honed and perfected, its popularity spread very quickly. Lowe discovered that his best business ended up being church fundraisers (ironic, we know) and he managed to build up quite a customer base with this demographic and soon there were over 10,000 Bingo games a week in the country.
Nowadays, bingo can be found nearly everywhere in the United States as well as the world. From small church parishes, to schools, to online tournaments, which take place across international borders, Bingo is everywhere. Bingo revenues are in the tens of millions of dollars and the activity has now joined Poker and Backgammon in taking the online gaming industry by storm while simultaneously marking a resurgence in the popularity of the game. Prizes have become more lucrative and access to the game even greater. It's safe to say that Bingo has certainly come a long way since 1530!