To win the game Bingo, one should match the numbers on his card with those randomly drawn by the caller. The first person to complete the patter yells “Bingo!” and wins the prize. Everybody who might have been introduced to the game knows this but when and how did bingo really start?
Bingo can be traced back to 1530 to an Italian lottery called “Lo Giuoco del Lotto D’Italia.” From there, the game was brought to France in the late 1770s where it was called “Le Lotto.” In the United States, Bingo was originally called “beano” where it was played as a country fair game. A dealer would select numbered discs from a cigar box and participants would then mark their cards with beans. If they completed the pattern, the word “beano” was yelled. It was quite a spectacular form of entertainment already back in the day.
The game was first played at a carnival near Atlanta, Georgia. Eventually, a New York toy salesman named Edwin S. Lowe renamed it to “Bingo” after he heard someone accidentally yell “bingo” instead of “beano.” Lowe then, with the help of a mathematician, increased the number of combinations in bingo cards so that there would be fewer non-repeating number groups. E.S. Lowe company was then born, producing bingo cards and inventing other games, such as the Yahtzee.
Now, Bingo is played in churches, casinos, and retirement and nursing homes. It is a form of legal gambling in Ohio as well.
If you are interested in playing Bingo, give us a call at WCAP Bingo! We are a non-profit organization that holds charitable games of Bingo in Reynoldsburg, Ohio.