The history behind BINGO

"Lo Giuoco del Lotto D'Italia" back in the 1930's is said to be the game that brought about what is now called Bingo. During the time it was a highly popularized national lottery game even if the Catholic Church at the time was highly against randomly casting out lots. The year of 1778 was the year when the Bingo like lottery was brought over to France. The game was accepted enthusiastically by the citizens and was well disapproved similarly by the Church. The opposing sentiments did nothing but to further popularize the game much to the Church's dismay. It was in the 1800's when the lottery games spread all over Europe. The classic lotto version was developed during this time, much is said now that the 90 ball game was indeed that classic lotto.

A century later, an ocean shore away, it was the 1920's when Bingo quickly gained popularity in the United States. Beano was its christened name, as players would use beans like pinto or lima to mark the numbers on their card. The game was embraced by communities and rural areas that did not hold strong anti gambling sentiments as that of the rest.

Edwin Lowe a New York, salesman in 1929 came across the game and was immediately encouraged by the interest that surrounded the game. At some point during a game, a player was said to have mistakenly called out "BINGO" instead of "BEANO". The name BINGO was more marketable in the salesman's opinion, so the name stuck. There began a successful entrepreneurial endeavor for the New York salesman who marketed the game in the U.S.

It is said that a certain math professor by the name of Carl Leffler, helped Edwin Lowe further develop the game, creating random cards to limit the number of winning players to make the game for competitive. Apparently Edwin Lowe caused much strain and stress in pushing the professor into creating over 6,000 card variations instead of the originally planned 24 pieces. This however drove the poor math professor as mad as the Mad Hatter.



The game was honed and perfected and quite ironically it became popular during church fundraisers. It drew in so many people that eventually the church no longer frowned upon what is now considered a worthwhile hobby especially for seniors. To date, bingo games can be found anywhere in the world whether it be a land or online game, there's always a game waiting for anyone wishing to play.

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