Random Poker Thoughts

Similar to many other games and pastimes, it’s not entirely certain what the origins of bingo actually are. Of course, we can trace back the extremely popular current game of online bingo back to the birth of the internet, and then subsequently its rise in popularity since about 1995 onwards.

It’s quite difficult to work out where the physical game actually came from, though, so this is a possible history of bingo that is non-controversial and is generally accepted as being true. We start in Italy in the 16th century, with a game called “Lo Giuoco del Lotto d’Italia”, which was a type of lottery.

The game spread outside of Italy throughout more countries in Europe. In France, the game cards we’re used to seeing in today’s bingo were introduced. These cards were further modified in Germany, in order they could be used as an educational tool to teach people all about numbers.

In America in the 1920s, there was a similar game played in the travelling carnivals, called “beano”. The origin of its name is the fact that beans were used for determining the numbers to be called, with the winner calling “beano”. It is thought someone said “bingo” instead of “beano” one time, which led to the game’s change of name.

The Italian game also appears to have become popular in England in the 1500s. It is also known that lotteries of various types were played from then on, with particularly large public games being recorded as being played in the 1700s and 1800s, though these were illegal at the time.

These large lottery games were illegal as a result of the state having developed its own game that it was using as a source for funds. Of course, we now have something similar in the UK, with the National Lottery having been introduced in 1994 under John Major’s government.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the most obvious forerunner to the current game of bingo was popular in Britain – housey housey. Many people think of the 60s as being the golden period for bingo in Britain, though, due to some changes in the law that enabled bingo halls to spring up in every town in the country.

In the 21st century, of course, we have internet bingo as being the most popular version of the game. Whilst some are surprised at this, it’s obvious that the opportunity for anyone to win, and the potential large jackpots on offer, are the main reason why so many people love playing bingo on the internet.

Jon Jackson is a bingo specialist, with many years experience of owning and operating internet bingo sites in the UK.

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