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Bingo can be traced back to 1530 in Italy, where they had a lottery called Lo Giuoco del Lotto D'Italia, which is still played every Saturday in Italy. From Italy the game was introduced to France in the late 1770s, where it was called Le Lotto, a game played among wealthy Frenchmen. The Germans also played a version of the game in the 1800s, but they used it as a child's game to help students learn math, spelling and history.

What started as the Italian lottery made its way to America in 1929 via a carnival pitchman touring Germany. Bingo was originally called beano and was a country fair game. A dealer would select numbered discs from a box and players would mark their cards with beans. Once a player had marked all of their card, they shouted "Beano" to the dealer. Although originally a carnival attraction, by the 1930s in America the game was played as a means to raise money for charities, a practice that continues in the USA today.

New York toy salesman Edwin S. Lowe renamed it "bingo" after he overheard someone accidentally yell bingo instead of beano. He hired a Columbia University math professor, Carl Leffler, to help him increase the number of combinations in bingo cards. By 1930, Leffler had invented 6,000 different bingo cards.

In the UK, Bingo did not become widely known until 1960, when the Gaming Act passed by Parliament in that year permitted such games in members-only establishments. In 1968 another gaming act was passed allowing clubs to play prize and cash bingo via tabletop coin slots, as well as establishing a Gaming Board to regulate Bingo clubs, which were proving to be highly popular. In fact, the game proved to be so successful that in the 1980s Bingo Halls were setting up in all major towns where many still remain today. Bingo was in its heyday!

New advancements have been the National Game and the ability to bingo at anytime on the internet. This site will guide you to some of the best online bingo halls around!