Bingo is not as old as some other casino games, like slots, but its history is almost 5 hundred years long. The game was introduced in Italy in the beginning of the 16th century. The original name of the game is Lo Giuoco del Lotto D’Italia. In the end of the 18th century Bingo was brought to France. The French called it Le Lotto. While in France it was played only by rich wealthy people, in Germany they used the game as the device to help pupils and students learn mathematics, history and spelling.
In the beginning of the 20th century this game came to America, where it was called beano. The rules were as follows: all the gamers had cards with the numbers, which were crossed out when the dealer took disks from a special box. People covered the numbers with beans, because it was most convenient in the countryside. When there were no more free spaces on the card, the player shouted “Beano” and s/he was the winner! Those days Bingo was often played in America to raise funds for charity activities. This tradition continues in the USA today.
We think, now you are interested in how beano turned into bingo. Well, once Mr. Lowe from New York heard someone shouting bingo instead of beano and since that time he brought this name into vogue. His friend professor Carl Leffler developed more than 6000 gambling cards.
The last European country that welcomed Bingo was the UK! Because of the series of gaming acts, Bingo was not widely spread here until the 70s-80s of the 20th century. But the beginning of the 90s was really prosperous for Bingo here!
Today, Bingo is played all over the world and you can play both at land-based casinos and online in Internet.