The History of Online Bingo

Online bingo is huge today, but it is still relatively new. It obviously had its start after the emergence of the Internet and the proliferation of computers with online access in homes and offices.

In contrast, the game of bingo is quite old and its roots can be traced back to the 16th century. Just imagine, many of the high-tech patrons of online bingo are actually enjoying a history-rich game that is more than five centuries old.

According to history, bingo began in the United States around 1929 as a game called “beano.” It was usually played at country fairs and in a manner that is much like the way we play it today. A dealer would pull out numbered discs from a cigar box and announce each number to the players. Meanwhile, players would use beans to mark their cards. Hence, the name “beano.” When a player managed to fill up a horizontal, vertical or diagonal line of their card, he yelled “beano” and won the game.

Apparently, during the first time beano was played in the US in an Atlanta, Georgia carnival, someone accidentally hollered “bingo” by mistake. This was overheard by Edwin S. Lowe, a toy salesman from New York, who felt the word was catchier among Americans and decided to rename beano as bingo. He then began to stage his own bingo games.

Lowe was fascinated with the game and tapped Carl Leffler, a math professor from Columbia University, to figure out the odds of winning. He also instructed Leffler to increase the number of combinations in bingo cards. According to reports, Leffler was able to invent over 6,000 different bingo cards by 1930. After that, rumor has it that Leffler lost his mind.

Lowe then steered the game towards worthy causes. He used bingo to help a Catholic church in Pennsylvania raise funds for their operations. In this manner, the popularity of bingo grew rapidly in the US, particularly as a sound source of income for churches. By 1934, an estimated 10,000 bingo games were being played every week all across America. Today, bingo generates about $90 million dollars a week in North America alone, and that’s mostly from land-based bingo games.

Bingo was formalized in the UK in 1968, through the UK Gaming Act. By 1986, the National Bingo Game was legalized and became a national sensation. In it, the same bingo game was played simultaneously in bingo halls throughout the UK. The National Bingo Game continues to this day, and the prizes are immense.

Online bingo finally made the scene around 2003 with the emergence of the very first online bingo sites. Today, more than three million people play online bingo every week all over the world, about 70% of them being women.

Contrary to popular belief, online bingo is not an old person’s game. According to recent studies, about 90% of all online bingo players fall below the age of 50. Moreover, in the UK, playing bingo on the Internet is the favorite leisure activity of women between the ages of 20 and 25.