The History of Bingo... Or is it Beano!

"BEANO OR BINGO" What is the real name? Well, beano and bingo are actually the same game. In fact, beano was once actually the orginal name of what we call Bingo today. Back in the days when the game was still widely known as Beano, the dealer would actually pick disks out of a cigar box, he would then state the letter and number on the disk he picked out and at this time the players would than place beans on their beano cards. It is therefore, clear to see why they decided to call the game Beano - because players marked their cards with beans! Today however, things have changed quite a lot.

The name Bingo actually came about by the mistake of an over-excited player shouting out Bingo when, at the time, he/she was supposed to yell BEANO!!!! The game beano can be traced back as far as the late 1530's to an Italian lottery called "LoGiuoco" De lotto D'Italia. During these years, when the game format was still a relatively new concept, it was a man named Edwin S. Lowe who was responsible for changing the name of the game. He was indeed present at the time the player mistakenly shouted out Bingo instead of Beano.

Today, Bingo hasn't changed much as for the way it's played, however what has changed is the letters and numbers no longer are on disks but they are on little balls instead. They somewhat resemble how our national lottery is drawn, whereby one person spins a big round device which contains many little balls which are marked with letters and numbers. Another subtle change is that the players no longer mark their cards with beans (which is how the name was originally coined). Instead, you will see that people actually have a whole entire set of Bingo markers, and each time a letter and/or number is called out the player will use their marker to cover up the number (should their card contain it).

In 1934 approximately 10,000 bingo games were being played in different places on a weekly basis; some were played in churches, some were played at houses, and some were played in formal bingo halls. Today, Bingo has morphed into a 90 million dollar industry in Northern America alone; which just goes to show that Bingo is still going strong, very strong. One of the reasons for Bingo maintaining its popularity is due to the fact it's a very simple game; all you have to do is hope that your the person who gets five numbers in a row first. Although there is a large degree of chance involved in winning, to be successful at bingo, one still requires to devote a certain degree of concentration.

You will see a lot of senior citizens going to play Bingo because not only is it a simple, fun game to play, but it is also a great way for them to socialise. Plus of course, the added bonus of winning a few extra pounds. Traditional bingo halls have come under some pressure recently, mainly due to the smoking ban and increasing competition from online bingo sites.

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Bingo will, without a doubt, remain popular for many many years to come, even if the way we play it becomes aligned with the technology at our disposal. Online bingo websites merely provide bingo players the opportunity to play their favourite game when the bingo hall is shut, which can't be a bad thing!

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