Bingo has been one of the most popular games globally for hundreds of years and continues to delight players in various incarnations to this day. Since the rise of the internet and mobile gaming, it has never been easier to play bingo with your friends, whether that be in traditional bingo halls or at home playing online bingo from the comfort of your own home. This article will look at the origins of bingo and how the game has changed over time.
The Beginning of Bingo
Although tracing the roots of bingo has proven to be difficult, it’s said that bingo in its very first form is believed to have started in Italy in the 1950s, commonly known as a form of lottery called ‘Il Gioco del Lotto d’Italia’.
From there, the format became more mainstream in Europe during the 18th century, gradually evolving to a game known as ‘Le Letto’, which resembles something closer to the version of bingo people are familiar with in the present day.
The Name of the Game
By the 1920s, the game had reached North America, where its name evolved into ‘Beano’, with players shouting out when they had successfully found all of the numbers they needed in a row and marking down their winning numbers with beans.
The American toymaker Edwin Lowe stumbled upon the game whilst in Georgia, and he was the driving force behind the game’s rise in popularity after changing the format and its name to bingo. By the 1940s, the game had spread across America and eventually made its way to the shores of the UK in the 1960s, where its popularity has continued to grow over the last several decades.
The Evolution of Bingo
After enjoying its heyday in Britain in the 1960s and 1970s, the country found itself inundated with traditional bingo halls all across the country. It soon established itself as one of the most popular games to play in the country, with communities of like-minded people coming together to celebrate their wins.
In recent years and the dawn of online gaming, bingo has evolved drastically, and now it is estimated there are around 10 million people playing bingo or variations of bingo-style games from the comfort of their own homes.
Many online gaming platforms offer users the chance to play entirely unique versions of bingo, which has given birth to a wide range of variations that continue to delight players today.
The popularity of playing bingo in the UK shows no signs of slowing down, with new gamers joining online communities of online bingo players every day. With countless prizes and cash prizes to be won, there has never been a better time to join in on the fun for yourself and play along with your friends in bingo halls or from the comfort of your own home.
