About Bingo

Bingo is a game of chance where randomly-selected numbers are drawn and players match those numbers to those appearing on 5x5 squares which are printed or electronically represented and are known as "cards."

Each bingo player is given a card marked with a grid containing a unique combination of numbers and, in some cases, blank spaces. The winning pattern to be formed on the card is announced. This can be a line across, a diagonal line from corner to corner, a middle line, top line or bottom line. A full house is where all the numbers on the bingo card have to be completed.

Bingo can be traced back to a game called Lotto, played in Italy in 1530. The bingo name comes from a corruption of the name Beano, the name of a form of bingo played in the United States in the 1920s. Beano was so called because beans were used to cover the numbers. Bingo has been a game popular at church fetes, garden parties, country shows and as a means of fund raising for good causes. Traditionally a card was bought and the player could buy any number and play them all in one game. In the 1800's Bingo variations began to be used as teaching devices. Germany used a version intended to teach its youth multiplication tables.

The move towards online bingo has been happening steadily for a while for many reasons, some of which are explained below.

Bingo has traditionally been played in halls; church halls, village halls, but the major operators have used cinemas. This was in the 1960's and 70's when the cinema industry was going through a very difficult time, before the rise of the multiplex, small theatres in one building showing a number of different films, and the large pre WW2 theatre with huge audience capacity showed one film. Cinemas were bought and turned into Bingo Halls by companies such as Rank Leisure and Mecca Bingo.

Increasingly large numbers of people in the UK play bingo since the closure of numerous bingo halls. Also the smoking ban has put off a significant proportion of these players, where they feel a part of the social aspect has been lost with just a few players missing that would usually be there.

One story always mentioned when discussing the history of bingo is about the one man who went insane over the game and a million women have followed suit!