The ever-popular game of bingo originated from a game called Beano. Invented in the United Sates of America, Beano was played at country fairs and consisted of numbered discs pulled out of a cigar box by the dealer. All players had cards with random numbers printed on it. When the dealer would a call out a number, the players would check the numbers on their cards to see if they have the called number. If yes, they would mark that number with a bean. The game would continue until a player had gotten a row of beans either horizontally, vertically or diagonally. The winners would claim their winnings by shouting 'Beano!' and would receive a small doll in prize.
Although Beano had its origin in the United States, its routes can be traced back to the mid 16th century Italy, when it was called "Lo Giuoco Lotto Italia", an Italian lottery game. From there, the game spread across to other places in Europe like Germany and France.
Today bingo is seen as one of the most popular games in the world. In order to play bingo now, a player must buy at least 1 bingo card . A typical bingo card is 5x5 grid containing 24 random numbers and a free square in the center. The game begins with caller picking and announcing random numbers out of a bowl. All the players marks the numbers on their bingo cards. Bingo has many variations today. While the straight lines are still popular, new patterns in shapes of alphabets, numbers etc are continually being created and added to the list. The first player to complete the pattern and call out 'bingo' wins the game and the cash prize too.
Coming back to the history of bingo, the man who brought us the bingo we know today is Edwin Lowe – a toy salesman from New York. While traveling through Georgia on late December night in1929, Lowe happened to visit a carnival where he discovered an eye catching game - Beano. Lowe observed that while all other games at the fair were shut down, this game continued to pull crowds. He himself tried to play the game, but couldn't find a seat because the tent was already too crowded. So he waited around and watched the game. After the game finally closed up, Lowe talked to the caller to find out details of the game. On returning home, and after making a few changes to the game he started his own Beano. He invited his friends to his apartment and himself assumed the caller's duty. Soon, he observed the same addiction in his friends that he had observed among people at the carnival. During one such game, a girl got very excited, became tongue tied and instead of yelling Beano!, she stuttered B-B-B Bingo! And Lowe knew he has found the name of his new game.
After the game became a hit in the United States, a Catholic priest from Pennsylvania approached Lowe about using bingo as a means of raising funds for the church. He bought several sets of the game from Lowe and put the scheme into operation. However, a problem soon emerged when it was seen that each game had 6 or more winners. It was then Lowe decided to hire a math professor Carl Leffer, from the Columbia university to help him devise more unique bingo cards. By 1930, they developed 6000 unique bingo cards, but at the cost of Carl's sanity.
The word soon spread that bingo was an easy way to raise money. By 1934, there were an estimated 10000 games being played weekly. Lowe could not patent his invention and therefore allowed his competitors to pay him $1 every year, if they would call their games bingo too.
Read More : Bingo Rules, History Bingo Cards, Origins Bingo, bingo game types,beano game
Although Beano had its origin in the United States, its routes can be traced back to the mid 16th century Italy, when it was called "Lo Giuoco Lotto Italia", an Italian lottery game. From there, the game spread across to other places in Europe like Germany and France.
Today bingo is seen as one of the most popular games in the world. In order to play bingo now, a player must buy at least 1 bingo card . A typical bingo card is 5x5 grid containing 24 random numbers and a free square in the center. The game begins with caller picking and announcing random numbers out of a bowl. All the players marks the numbers on their bingo cards. Bingo has many variations today. While the straight lines are still popular, new patterns in shapes of alphabets, numbers etc are continually being created and added to the list. The first player to complete the pattern and call out 'bingo' wins the game and the cash prize too.
Coming back to the history of bingo, the man who brought us the bingo we know today is Edwin Lowe – a toy salesman from New York. While traveling through Georgia on late December night in1929, Lowe happened to visit a carnival where he discovered an eye catching game - Beano. Lowe observed that while all other games at the fair were shut down, this game continued to pull crowds. He himself tried to play the game, but couldn't find a seat because the tent was already too crowded. So he waited around and watched the game. After the game finally closed up, Lowe talked to the caller to find out details of the game. On returning home, and after making a few changes to the game he started his own Beano. He invited his friends to his apartment and himself assumed the caller's duty. Soon, he observed the same addiction in his friends that he had observed among people at the carnival. During one such game, a girl got very excited, became tongue tied and instead of yelling Beano!, she stuttered B-B-B Bingo! And Lowe knew he has found the name of his new game.
After the game became a hit in the United States, a Catholic priest from Pennsylvania approached Lowe about using bingo as a means of raising funds for the church. He bought several sets of the game from Lowe and put the scheme into operation. However, a problem soon emerged when it was seen that each game had 6 or more winners. It was then Lowe decided to hire a math professor Carl Leffer, from the Columbia university to help him devise more unique bingo cards. By 1930, they developed 6000 unique bingo cards, but at the cost of Carl's sanity.
The word soon spread that bingo was an easy way to raise money. By 1934, there were an estimated 10000 games being played weekly. Lowe could not patent his invention and therefore allowed his competitors to pay him $1 every year, if they would call their games bingo too.
Read More : Bingo Rules, History Bingo Cards, Origins Bingo, bingo game types,beano game
