About Bingo

Bingo is one of the fastest growing community on internet these days. With lakhs of players playing bingo games everyday, online bingo has become a way of life for bingo fans all over the world. At present, the majority of bingo players are women but there is a strong men segment that appears to be growing.

75-ball bingo is essentially played on a 5x5 grid card with columns labeled B-I-N-G-O and centermost square marked FREE. Each card has 24 numbers chosen at random within the range of 1 to 75. The numbers for B column may range from 1 to15, I column from 16 to 30, N column from 31 to 45, G column from 46 to 60 and O column from 61 to 75.

In 75 ball bingo, there are no fixed winning patterns. It includes almost everything from letters of the alphabet like T, X, H or O, numbers and even shapes such as diamonds or flowers to several linear patterns and last but not least - the Coverall (means to cover the complete card).

On the other hand, 90-ball bingo (also known as Tambola, Lotto in India, Housie in Australia) is played on a 9x3 grid card, wherein each horizontal row contains five random numbers from 1 to 90, totaling to 15 random numbers per card. The 1st column includes numbers from 1 to 9, second column from 10 to19 and so on till the last column which carry numbers from 81-90. A typical 90-ball bingo game has three winning patterns – one horizontal line, two horizontal lines or three horizontal lines, also known as Full House. Each pattern has a different prize.

History of Bingo

The ever-popular game of bingo originated from a game called Beano. Invented in the United Sates of America, Beano was played at country fairs and consisted of numbered discs pulled out of a cigar box by the dealer. All players had cards with random numbers printed on it. When the dealer would a call out a number, the players would check the numbers on their cards to see if they have the called number. If yes, they would mark that number with a bean. The game would continue until a player had gotten a row of beans either horizontally, vertically or diagonally. The winners would claim their winnings by shouting 'Beano!' and would receive a small doll in prize.

Although Beano had its origin in the United States, its routes can be traced back to the mid 16th century Italy, when it was called 'Lo Giuoco Lotto Italia', an Italian lottery game. From there, the game spread across to other places in Europe like Germany and France.

Today bingo is seen as one of the most popular games in the world. In order to play bingo now, a player must buy at least 1 bingo card . A typical bingo card is 5x5 grid containing 24 random numbers and a free square in the center. The game begins with caller picking and announcing random numbers out of a bowl. All the players marks the numbers on their bingo cards. Bingo has many variations today. While the straight lines are still popular, new patterns in shapes of alphabets, numbers etc are continually being created and added to the list. The first player to complete the pattern and call out 'BINGO' wins the game and the cash prize too.

Coming back to the history of bingo, the man who brought us the bingo we know today is Edwin Lowe – a toy salesman from New York. While traveling through Georgia on late December night in 1929, Lowe happened to visit a carnival where he discovered an eye catching game - Beano. Lowe observed that while all other games at the fair were shut down, this game continued to pull crowds. He himself tried to play the game, but couldn't find a seat because the tent was already too crowded. So he waited around and watched the game. After the game finally closed up, Lowe talked to the caller to find out details of the game. On returning home, and after making a few changes to the game he started his own Beano. He invited his friends to his apartment and himself assumed the caller's duty. Soon, he observed the same addiction in his friends that he had observed among people at the carnival. During one such game, a girl got very excited, became tongue tied and instead of yelling Beano!, she stuttered B-B-B Bingo! And Lowe knew he has found the name of his new game.

After the game became a hit in the United States, a Catholic priest from Pennsylvania approached Lowe about using bingo as a means of raising funds for the church. He bought several sets of the game from Lowe and put the scheme into operation. However, a problem soon emerged when it was seen that each game had 6 or more winners. It was then Lowe decided to hire a math professor Carl Leffer, from the Columbia university to help him devise more unique bingo cards. By 1930, they developed 6000 unique bingo cards, but at the cost of Carl's sanity.

The word soon spread that bingo was an easy way to raise money. By 1934, there were an estimated 10000 games being played weekly. Lowe could not patent his invention and therefore allowed his competitors to pay him $1 every year, if they would call their games bingo too.

From Beano to Bingo

When beano was played for the first time in Italy, no body would have ever imagined that a game which started for general entertainment would become such a global rage, what we now know as bingo. From beano to bingo and then to online bingo, this game has an interesting history to tell. In the past beano was played at fairs and other local events, the caller picked out the numbered discs from a cigar box like container and the players covered the numbers with beans. From Italy, beano reached France, where it became popular by the name of Le Lotto, made its way across the continental Europe, reached America in 1920s and finally settled in the UK in the 1960s. It continued to be known as beano until the early 20th century when it just entered North America and was renamed bingo, after a player mistakenly yelled out ‘bingo’ instead of ‘beano’. In UK and Australia, it came to be known as housie.

Two men, Edwin Lowe, a toy salesman from New York and Carl Leffler, a math professor at the University of Columbia, are accredited as the founding fathers of the modern version of bingo. They worked together to redevelop and the game and came up with as much as 6000 unique combination of cards by 1932. If it were not for their relentless efforts and innovation, beano would have vanished ages ago. According to statistics, over 20,000 games of bingo per week were being played around the world during 1940s.

The History of Online Bingo

There is no single story that one can track to determine the roots of bingo. However, many people trace back the roots of bingo to the year 1530, when an Italian lottery game called “Lo Giuoco del Lotto D’Italia first began. By the 18th century, the new-improved bingo conquered all of the Europe with better rules, more winning chances. In the 19th century, the game moved to the United States, where it was played both for entertainment and fund-raising by churches at community events.

After the internet boom of 1990s, online bingo gained tremendous popularity worldwide. It was first of the many casino gambling games to enter the virtual space. During the 2000s, a lot of online bingo operators developed huge online bingo halls to pool bingo players for bigger prize pots. Nowadays, the new-improved gaming software allow players to chat with each other during the game. You can also buy and download bingo cards online.

A game which was once played in community halls and churches around the globe, has now acquired a strong dimension, thanks to the internet. As bingo sessions can be quite drawn out, players have ample time to chat with fellow roomies and socialize, much unlike traditional bingo halls, where players have no choice but to play.

Online Bingo Cards

Nowadays you can find a variety of bingo cards online, the most popular being the American 75 bingo card. The 90 ball version is more popular in the UK, New Zealand and Australia. To play bingo online, all you have to do is wait until a number on your card is drawn and called out. Most online bingo site have auto-daub facility which will automatically mark off the numbers for you. Once you’ve completed the desired pattern, you win! Playing bingo online is also a great way to make new fiends, thanks to the intelligent chat utility.

If you’re new to bingo and want to learn the fundamentals of the game, simply refer to our bingo tutorials where you’ll find ample information to help you get started. Our bingo articles are pretty straightforward and basic, although it covers everything that you should know to earn some considerable cash online.

Bingo Card History

Before the advent of printing machines, numbers on bingo cards were either painted with hand or rubber stamps. However, when bingo became popular, a need was felt to create more randomized cards. In order to meet this growing demand for bingo cards, one bingo card maker hired a mathematician and set him to the task of devising as many unique bingo cards as possible. It was said that he developed more than 6000 unique cards but went insane soon after.