Making our Mark – The History of Bingo

Online Bingo has become incredibly popular in recent years, with a new generation taking up the exciting game, and players from the traditional land-based halls moving to take up the online version, which offers great entertainment and that community feel from the comfort of your sofa.

But the history of this hugely popular game goes back far further than even the packed bingo halls of decades gone by. So, saddle up, and let us take you on a journey through the history of bingo, from old Italy to playing online.

The great-grandfather of bingo was the (wait for it) Lo Giuoco del Lotto d’Italia. Unless you’re fluent in Italian, the name won’t mean much to you – but it’s the National Lottery of Italy. It was created in 1530, and still going strong today. This ancestor of the bingo we know and love – developed with a card of three horizontal and nine vertical rows. These were numbered between 1-90, but with many squares blank – meaning that players waited to have their numbers called out. The first player to cross out every number across a horizontal row was the winner.

But, as fun as it was, not everyone played the traditional ‘Lotto’ as a hobby. In 19^th century Germany, it was used by teachers to teach children to spell, learn multiplication tables, and more. So, the next time someone says that Bingo isn’t educational, you’ll know better.

But it was in America that bingo as we know it was created. It was generally a game played at funfairs and carnivals – ‘bingo halls’ were yet to come. Like all good bingo players, Edwin S. Lowe - the man who developed Bingo needed a bit of luck along the way.

At this time, players used beans to mark their cards, meaning it was known as ‘beano’, However, at one game which Lowe attended, an over-excited winner shouted out the word “bingo!” instead of “beano!”. He had the perfect name, and the savvy businessman helped popularise the new system of 75 Ball Bingo across the USA and Canada.

It took until the 1960s for the bingo phenomenon to reach our shores, but bingo halls quickly sprang up, with Buckingham Bingo being one of the best-loved brands. The game became a hugely popular social phenomenon, and the Manchester Evening News recently claimed that with the explosion of online bingo – there are “over 100 million people playing bingo around the world”.

And Buckingham Bingo – like other trusted Bingo brands – has moved online, with the hugely successful Bucky Bingo. The development of online bingo on sites like Bucky mean players can now enjoy great chats, exciting games (including 75 and 90 Ball Bingo) and more, on desktop, tablet and mobile devices.

Whether you’re on-the-go, on the sofa or anywhere else, you can play brilliant bingo with Bucky. No hassle…or beans necessary.