Bingo Game History
From Lotto to Online Bingo
The modern day Bingo Game is a direct descendant of "Lo Giuoco del Lotto d'Italia", and was run in the form of a lottery. In 1530 when Italy was united, the Italian National Lottery Lo Giuoco del Lotto d'Italia was structured, and has continued to run at weekly intervals to this day. The Italian State Lottery is essential to the Italian Governments Budget, contributing more than 75 million dollars yearly.
Bingo Game or Lotto
In 1778, The French press reported that Le Lotto had captured the fancy of the intelligentsia. The classic version of Lotto, unlike bingo games of today, had playing cards that were divided into three horizontal and nine vertical rows. Each horizontal row had five numbered and four blank squares in a random sequence. The vertical rows contained numbers from 1 to 10 in the first row, 11 to 20 in the second row, et cetera, up to 90, much like a modern day Keno board. Every lotto card had its own unique string of rows, and no two cards were alike.
To complete the playing equipment, chips labeled from 1-90 were made. The lotto players were each dealt a lotto card, and the caller of the game would draw the numbered chips out of cloth bag one at a time, and call the number out... similar to the way bingo games are played today. If the players had the corresponding number on their Lotto card, they would cover it up. The first player to cover a horizontal row was the lucky Lotto winner!
Educational Bingo
In the 1800's, our precurser to the modern day bingo game, Lotto, became popular as an educational game. In the 1850's, Germany developed a Lotto game designed to teach children their multiplication tables. Many other educational renditions of the original Lotto game were popular, such as 'Spelling Lotto,' 'Animal Lotto,' and 'Historical Lotto."
Today, in a much more competitive toy and game market, Lotto is still a popular game; Milton Bradley has developed a Lotto game for children that features the Sesame Street Muppets. This version of the Lotto game is to provide children ages 3-6 with a fun game to play, while at the same time, they are learning to count and to recognize numbers.
Even as the modern day Bingo Game has evolved, we know that although physical exercise tones up the body, the Game of Bingo enhances the player's mental capacity, speed of comprehension, observation skills and memory. Research shows that playing bingo games keeps you in peak mental form, while providing an enjoyable social experience, too!
More Online Bingo Facts to Tickle your Bingo Fancy!
Bingo or Beano
In December 1929, Edwin S. Lowe, a New York toy salesman, decided to drive to Jacksonville, Georgia. Lowe's toy company, which he set up a year earlier with 2 employees and $1,000 capital, had a bleak looking future because of a recent market crash.
A few miles from Jacksonville, Lowe came across the bright lights of a country carnival. Being ahead of schedule, he parked his car and went to explore. Every carnival booth there was closed, except one, which was crammed full with people.
Lowe watched over the shoulders of the players on the tips of his toes, to see what was so intriguing. All the participants surrounded a horseshoe shaped table covered with numbered cards and beans. This game was another variation of Lotto called Beano, one more step in the evolution of the modern day Bingo Game.
The caller pulled small numbered disks out of an old cigar box, and then would call the number aloud. The eager players then would respond by checking their numbered card to see if they had the same number, and if they did, they would place a bean on top of the number on the card. This would continue until someone had filled either a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal line on their card with beans. As soon as someone had accomplished this, they would then shout 'Beano!' and they would win the game, and a Kewpie Doll. Sure sounds like a modern day Cyber Bingo Game to me, except maybe for the Kewpie Doll!
Lowe waited eagerly for some time to get a chance to try the beano game, but as he recalls, "I couldn't get a seat. But while I was waiting around, I noticed that the players were practically addicted to the game." The pitchman (caller) wanted to close up, but every time he said, "This is the last game", nobody moved. When he finally closed at 3:00 a.m. he had to chase them out.
After the Caller of the game finally closed up, he told Lowe that he had come across a game called Lotto while he was traveling with a carnival in Germany the year before. He immediately thought that this would make a great carnival or tent game. He altered the playing rules just a little bit, and changed its name to Beano. The game turned out to be so popular and profitable, that when he returned to the United States, he continued to use Beano! in the Carnival circuit.
Bingo
When Lowe returned to his home in New York, he went out and bought some dried beans, a rubber numbering stamp and some cardboard. He invited many friends to come to his apartment for an evening of fun with Beano. Lowe assumed the caller duties, and soon his friends were playing Beano with the same tension and excitement as he had seen in the carnival players near Jacksonville.
During a round of this game, Lowe noticed that one of his players was getting close to winning. As she added each bean to her card, she would get more and more excited. Finally, there was one number remaining, and before long it was called. The woman jumped out of her chair, became tongue tied, and instead of shouting 'Beano!', she stuttered 'B-B-B-BINGO!'
"I cannot describe the strange sense of elation which that girl's cry brought to me," Lowe said. "All I could think of was that I was going to come out with this game, and it was going to be called Bingo Game!"
The first edition of the Lowe Bingo Game came in two different variations, a twelve card set for $1.00, and a 24 card set for $2.00. Bingo Game was an immediate success, and Lowe's toy company was rescued from bankruptcy.
Bingo Game, coming out of the public domain, had little chance of being protected, even though the name "Bingo" itself could be trademarked. Many imitators appeared as soon as the success of Lowe's Bingo game was definite. Lowe, however, was very courteous about the whole affair, and merely asked his competitors to pay him $1 a year, and to continue calling their games Bingo as well. Because of this small price Lowe paid to avoid litigation, the name Bingo has become generic for the ever popular bingo game.
Learn the Rules of The Bingo Game.
Bingo and The Church
Several months after "Bingo" hit the market, Lowe was approached by a priest from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. A Parishioner had come up with the idea of holding bingo games as a method to get the church out of financial troubles. The priest went out and purchased several sets of Lowe's $2.00 Bingo Games, and immediately set the plan in effect. However, it was found that each game produced half a dozen or more winners, which caused a problem for the church, as it then would have to spend more money on prizes.
Bingo Cards and Mathematics
Lowe immediately could see tremendous possibility for his Bingo Game as a fundraising tool, but at the same time, he recognize the fact that to make this game work on a much larger scale, many more combinations of numbers would have to be used on the Playing Cards.
In order to accomplish this, Lowe got in contact with a elderly professor at Columbia University, named Carl Leffler. Lowe asked Leffler if he could devise 6,000 new Bingo cards with non repeating number groups. Leffler agreed to this, on the basis of a fee that remunerated him on a per card basis. As Leffler worked, each card became increasingly more complicated. Finally, at the final price of $100 per card, the task had been completed, and Lowe now had 6,000 Bingo Cards that were all completely unique.
Bingo Success
The Priest from Wilkes-Barre, with the help of Lowe, had saved his church, and not only his own. "I used to get thousands of letters asking for help on setting up Bingo Games," said Lowe. So many, in fact, that he published Bingo Game's first ever Instructional Manual. Followed by this was a monthly newsletter called The Blotter, which was all news about Bingo.
The Blotter Bingo newsletter had approximately 37,000 subscribers, and by 1934 there were an estimated 10,000 Bingo Games a week, and Lowe's company had grown by thousands of employees - nine entire floors of the New York office space, and 64 presses printing Bingo Cards 24 hours a day - "We used more newsprint than the New York Times!" Lowe has said.
Bingo's Biggest Game
According to Lowe, the Largest Bingo Game in History was played in New York's Teaneck Armory - 60,000 players, with another 10,000 being turned away at the door. Ten automobiles were given away. Bingo Game was off to a fast start, and has continued to be the online game of choice for many.
Online Bingo
Today the Online Gambling Industry is huge. There are currently thousands of online casinos on the internet. Online Sportsbook Betting sites proliferate and there seems to be a new Online Poker site launched every day. One area of online gambling that doesn't grab the headlines is Online Bingo, but it too has become a vibrant, growing and commercially important part of the Online Gambling craze.
So, the typical bingo hall goer doesn't have internet access you say. That may, or may not be true, but land-based bingo is huge, and its not only played by little old ladies. More people in the USA go to Bingo Halls than to cinema. In 1999, the US Bingo Industry alone had a turnover of $5.1 billion. Bingo Rules are simple (everyone knows how to Play Bingo) and most people don't perceive Bingo Games as gambling. See the potential that Online Bingo has, no wonder it's grown so fast and become such an integral aspect of the Pay-to-Play Bingo Sites Online. One year later the number had increased to fifteen, and by February 2002, had double to 30 Online Bingo Sites. Today, mid 2004, there are well over 2000 Bingo Sites Online, and the number is growing.
The History of Online Gambling and the Online Casino!
Online Bingo Game Industry
The structure of the Online Bingo Industry is similar to that of the Online Casino Industry. Bingo Game Software is licensed to operators and costs are generally based on an upfront fee plus on-going, turnover-based royalties. Until a couple of years ago, software was supplied by bingo specialists only. However, the online casino worlds big boys have entered the market, and now supply most of the online bingo software in use today.
As with other online casino games, Online Bingo comes to the end user in the form of a download. Most Pay-to-Play Bingo Game sites also offer Video Slots, Video Poker, and other Casino based Online Gambling Games such as Roulette and Craps.
See Who Plays Online Bingo and Why!
Online Bingo Players Galleries
The Players Galleries are a strange concept to those used to promoting the benefits of anonymity when Gambling Online. But online bingo is different. One of the main reasons a player will play at one online bingo site rather than another is because their friends play there. That's not friends from the local neighbourhood, but friends from across the World Wide Web.
The actual foundation or community spirit of Online Bingo Game Play is the Online Bingo Chat Room. The online bingo chat room is opened during bingo game play so the players can interact with one another. This creates a safe and interactive community atmosphere for the online bingo players, and provides a sense of identity and belonging for some.
This too creates yet another marketing tool into play; the Chat Host. The Online Bingo Chat Host is there, in the chat room, simply to develop a community atmosphere and offer immediate customer support. A good Chat Host (or CM as they are known) can be the difference between an OK Online Bingo Site and a Great Online Bingo Site. Simply put, the Chat Host can influence more than any other factor, whether a Bingo Player returns or not.
All in all, the Online Bingo Hall offers a unique online gaming opportunity for any one interested in a community spirit and online gaming, but without the desire for the more traditional casino style gamble.
For more Online Gambling Help and Information on your Internet Gambling Game of Choice, visit one of our sister online gambling help sites...