The History of Bingo

Modern bingo games originated in 16th century Italy. In 1530, a state-run lottery was initiated in the city of Florence. Known as La Lotto de Firenze, this game was the first public lottery to award cash prizes. Based on city names containing five letters, the Lotto de Firenze was the first step in the development of modern bingo games. This amazing Italian lottery is still played today! Known now as Lo Giuco de Lotto, this precursor to modern bingo games still attracts devoted players just like you every week. Of course, they speak Italian, but they are just as fanatical about their game as you are about your bingo games. Lo Giuco de Lotto was the first of many lottery-type games that followed.

By the late 1700s, "Le Lotto" had found its way to neighboring France. Here, a version of "Le Lotto" took form that closely resembled modern bingo games. The French game included many of the features we commonly recognize, such as tokens, playing cards, and calling out of numbers.

Over the next century, lottery games spread, and were soon found in numerous European countries. Often used as educational games, the lottery format found wide acceptance. Then, carried from Europe to the new world by immigrants, variations of the game (known as keno, kino, or po-keno) began to gain a following in the United States in the early 1900s.

Bingo games as we know them from today's church halls, auditoriums and online bingo websites have their direct origins in a carnival tent located outside of Atlanta, Georgia in 1929. In that year, a toy salesman from New York visiting the carnival saw people playing a game called "Beano." This game used dried beans as placeholders, a rubber stamp, and cardboard. When players succeeded in filling a line on their cards, they shouted, "Beano!" Lowe took the game back with him to New York and was soon was playing it with friends. One evening, in the course of a game, a female participant yelled out "Bingo!" Seeing the potential of his find, Lowe started to market his game.

"Lowe's Bingo" soon became popular. Times were changing in America, and the great depression led to legalization of gambling, previously forbidden, as a way to stimulate the economy. The state of Massachusetts decriminalized bingo games in 1931 in an attempt to help churches and charitable organizations raise money.

At about this time, the potential of bingo games as a fundraiser was recognized by a Pennsylvania priest. There was a problem, however: the limited number of boards, each game resulted in multiple winners.

To resolve this issue, Lowe contacted Columbia University mathematician Carl Leffler to develop new cards for bingo games with non-repeating number groups. Leffler devised some 6000 card by 1930, but soon lost his sanity. It has been speculated that his work on the bingo cards led to his mental collapse.

By the 1940's bingo games had sprung up all over the country, with thousands of games being played every week. By the 1950s, bingo games were legal in 11 states, usually only for charity purposes.

Today, bingo games are the most popular games of chance in the world, with more than 300 million players participating regularly around the world. With the advent of the internet, millions more play bingo games online! In the United States and Canada there are over 50 million regular bingo players. Some estimate that revenue from bingo games exceeds annual revenues from movies, professional sports and rock concerts combined!

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