History of Bingo

It’s no secret; playing bingo is exploding in popularity in the UK and indeed worldwide! It is no real surprise given Bingo is exciting, nerve jangling, and simply loads of fun!

Traditionally played in Bingo halls, bingo really exploded in popularity when introduced to the online platform. Indeed, by many, online bingo is widely acknowledged to have been the key catalyst that started the bingo boom and is a key reason in why is bingo so popular. Moving the bingo experience from the bingo hall into a players own comfort and surroundings, whilst still playing against friends and retaining the interaction, has obvious appeal and several notable advantages. However, bingo is now unearthing a new dawn, a new era of bingo; mobile bingo. With the advent of technology, mobile phones now have the capability to deliver an experience that is surpassing its online ancestor. Computers can be slow to load, require updates, upgrades and security, whilst they are usually in a fixed location- i.e. home or office. Even laptops, which are mobile by nature, rarely accompany a player anywhere near as much as a player’s mobile phone, which is supported by recent industry research into phone and laptop usage. Mobile bingo allows players to play at the ultimate convenience; anytime anywhere.

But, how and where did bingo originate? Where did bingo come from?

Bingo Game History

Bingo has its roots in Europe, Italy 1530, and can originally be traced to a lottery game named "Il Giuoco del Lotto d'Italia". During this period, "Il Giuoco del Lotto d'Italia it was steadily played throughout the years but it wasn’t until recently, in 1929, that Bingo really took the headlines. The saying “overnight craze” is often used too readily nowadays, but for bingo, these words are apt and accurate.

It all began in 1929 when Mr. Edwin Lowe witnessed a game of beano being played at a Travelling Carnival in Atlanta. Edwin could hardly believe the excitement that beano was generating; beano players were estatic, electrified and buzzing with excitement. Lowe, an ideas man, decided he could do something with Bingo and took the idea to the Big Apple, New York, where he introduced the Beano game to a small community of friends and locals. As expected, excitement levels and ecstasy for the game were evident for all to see, it was an instant hit! Lowe decided to start a business organising Bingo games in New York City, but also employed the help of Professor Carl Leffler of Colombia University, a maths expert. Lowe and Leffer began to really drive beano to all kinds of organisations, clubs, bars and entertainment venues. Like wildfire, beano really began to gain momentum and before long, beano was a regular game played all over New York. It wasn’t before long that beano (soon to be called bingo) was exported and became a worldwide hit.

What about the name, bingo?

The name Bingo itself is believed to have been started from a friend of Edwin Lowe. By a quirk of fate, a winning beano player was so jubilant when winning at Beano and accidently shouted Bingo instead of Beano, and the name Bingo instantly stuck. Wanting a new brand to the game away from Beano, Lowe immediately seized this opportunity and pushed the Bingo name accordingly.

Bingo moves out of the hall

Mobile phone bingo has arrived! The convenience and thrill of playing whenever you want, wherever you want, has seen a huge rise in mobile bingo popularity. It seems everyone wants to play bingo on their phone and join the mobile bingo revolution! For a £5 totally free bet on bingo, download it now from mFortune. If you win- keep it!