History of Bingo

Few games have the near-universal recognition as bingo. Today, it’s one of the most played forms of gambling in the UK thanks to online bingo games making them more accessible and offering more options.

Even if you’re not an avid online player, 90 ball bingo is a game that almost all of us have played at one time or another. It’s an established part of British culture, with millions of people filling bingo halls and other venues every week to socialise with friends and have a flutter.

Given just how much we Brits love bingo, you could be excused for thinking it was a homegrown game. In actual fact, the history of bingo can be traced right around the world and goes back much further than a lot of people think.

Where was bingo invented?

Although there is some debate, most historians agree that the game we know today as bingo started life as an Italian lottery back in 1530. Known as Lo Giuoco del Lotto D'Italia (The Italian Lotto Game), this was just one of many lotteries to have been run in the country.

Although the first recorded lotteries were found in the Chinese Han Dynasty around 200 BC, they were popularised by the Romans during the reign of Emperor Augustus. These competitions were used to pay for repairs to the City of Rome instead of a new tax.

That lottery in 1530 has the same purpose, it was started to help raise revenue for the government. 16th-century Italians were more than happy to pay because they all had such a good time playing this early version of bingo.

Evolution of Bingo in Europe

Like many casino games we love today, bingo soon spread across Europe. From Italy, it is believed to have been embraced in France before eventually making its way to Germany.

In France, where this early bingo was known as ‘Le Lotto’, the game was most popular amongst the wealthiest and most powerful people in the country. It was here that the practice of using 90 numbers and a grid layout was first developed.

Bingo first made it to the shores of Blighty in the early 18th century. However, unlike in France, on this side of the Channel, bingo was enjoyed primarily by the lower classes.

Regardless of where or by who, these early European bingo players did so informally. There were no 18th-century bingo halls where organised games took place regularly. Instead, it was a game for playing with friends or acquaintances.

Bingo or Beano

Around the same, many Europeans left the continent to travel across the pond in search of a new life in America. With them, they took many key pieces of culture, including their favourite games.

This included the French Le Lotto which soon spread across the New World. A quirk in the way Americans played the game, which saw them mark their numbers with beans, resulted in the game earning the nickname ‘beano’.

How Bingo Became Bingo

Beano was becoming popular in the US during the early 20th century. It was customary at the time for players to shout ‘beano’ when they had won, similar to shouting ‘house’ or similar today.

However, it is reported that one player in the 1930s somehow made a mistake after getting caught up in the excitement of winning, shouting ‘bingo’ instead. Whether this was enough to encourage their fellow players to start shouting bingo too or not is unclear.

But what is clear is that the name bingo was solidified by Edwin S Lowe, a New York toy seller who embraced the name for his more than 6,000 unique bingo game cards.

Bingo In The UK

The game of bingo grew in popularity here in the UK during the early 20th century, just as it did in the US. During this time, you wouldn’t have had to look hard to find it being played informally amongst community groups, usually for very small stakes or non-cash prizes.

It was also popular to play at carnivals and fairs, similar to how you might play it today at a seaside arcade today.

The middle of the century was a key moment in British bingo history. The game exploded in the 1960s thanks to some legislative changes. The government passed The Betting and Gambling Act in 1960, though it didn’t officially come into force until 1st January the following year.

This law introduced many changes that we can still see today, including the permitting of betting shops that we still see lining our high streets today.

That same year, a chain of dance halls across the UK turned to bingo to help turn around falling sales figures. Creating new ‘bingo halls’, these new venues became the trendy place to be in the evenings and at weekends and hear bingo calls

Many of these halls still operate today, though they have seen declining visitor numbers and revenues in more recent years.

Online Bingo

This decline has been driven, in part, by the creation of online bingo. Instead of having to physically travel to a bingo hall, it’s now possible to play a wider variety of bingo games from practically anywhere in the country, as long as you have an internet connection.

Online bingo players have much more choice than their physical bingo hall-playing counterparts. A quick glance at our selection of bingo games will show you that, in addition to the standard British 90-ball bingo game, you can play European-style 80-ball games, American 75-ball games, and others like the super fast Zoom Room speed bingo that uses just 30 balls.

These games all capture the essence of what bingo is all about. Although some players just love matching numbers, many of the players who packed into busy bingo halls throughout the 20th century did so because it was a great opportunity to socialise.

Online bingo games retain this social element, with most including a chat function so you can celebrate wins together and have a natter with fellow bingo players. Some games take this further, for example, the Diamond Dazzle bingo game includes a special mystery prize for the house winner where they must decide which option to choose. At this point in the game, players get to vote on what they think the winner should do.

Here at Pink Casino, we’ve also curated a fine selection of other fabulous bingo games. This includes picture bingo, a variant of the game that ditches numbers in favour of images that you must match instead.

You’ll also find video bingo games. These slot-like titles let you play bingo anytime and anywhere, with no need to wait for a lobby to fill up and a game to begin. They still use the same bingo rules and mechanics but are played in a single-player format. This also means video bingo is much quicker as all the numbers can be drawn at once.