If you’re an avid bingo player, you probably want to know all about bingo history. Bingo probably began in Italy. The city of Florence began a state run lottery in 1530, which was called La Lotto de Firenze. The Lotto was the first public lottery game which gave players prizes in cash. The lottery cards included cities with names which contained five letters each, which led to today’s five column, five row bingo games. The Italian lotto is still played. Today it is called Lo Giuco de Lotto.

France adopted “Le Lotto” in the 1700’s. The French version included many of the elements associated with modern bingo. A caller called out numbers, players had cards, and players used tokens to cover their numbers.

Lottery games spread throughout Europe in the 1800’s. Educators used the lotto games to teach children various skills such as math and spelling. Lotto games became so common that when Europeans arrived in the Americas, they took the lotto games with them. One variation became today’s keno, while another became today’s state lotteries.

A third version entirely became the game we know today as bingo.

In 1929, a toy salesman named Edwin Lowe from New York found a group of people playing a game called beano at a carnival in Atlanta, Georgia. The game used beans to cover the numbers that were called, and when players filled a line, they called out “beano!” He liked the game, and took it back to New York with him to sell as a game. One player accidentally called out “bingo,” and Lowe realized that he could market the game as bingo.

During the Great Depression, gambling was legalized, and bingo games became legal in Massachusetts and other states. A Pennsylvania priest who wanted to use bingo as a fundraiser was concerned that there might not be enough of a variety of cards for a game with many players. Lowe worked with , a mathematician from Columbia University, to develop more bingo cards. Leffler made up 6000 cards, but had a mental breakdown, which many attribute to his work on the bingo cards.

In the 1940’s thousands of bingo games were played throughout the United States, and by the 1950s, eleven States had legalized bingo, although most only legalized it for charity purposes.

Bingo is one of the most popular games of chance worldwide. More than three hundred million players play bingo on a regular basis. Online bingo on sites such as the ones recommended on reviewedbingosites.com has helped bring bingo to many more people. Revenues from bingo are estimated to equal more than the combined revenues of professional sports, rock concerts, and films.

If you’re looking for a great game to play to meet friends and maybe win some money, bingo is the best!