Unibet casino review: Bingo is believed to have originated in Italy in the 16th century before spreading across Europe in the 1700s; most notably to Great Britain and France. With the simple premise of marking numbers on a card as they’re randomly drawn out of a pot, it’s one the quickly gripped those who enjoyed the excitement of gambling. Indeed, with a lot more game play than other pursuits, such as blackjack or craps, bingo quickly became a recreational pastime for older people with spare time on their hands.

Known by various names throughout history, such as Lo Giuoco del Lotto D’Italia and Le Lotto, the name bingo is rumoured to have come into existence following a mispronunciation by an American player. Having reached North American by the 19th century, the game became known as “beano” until Edwin S. Lowe called “bingo” during a game. The name stuck and from then on a standardised version of the game became known as bingo across the world.

Bingo now exists in two main forms: British (European) and North American. Both games play out almost identically, except for the fact that the British version has 90 balls, while the American has 75. Over time the game continued to grow in popularity but in the late eighties and early nineties the industry fell into decline.

However, the game enjoyed a revival thanks to the growth of online bingo. Opening up the game to a huge number of people, bingo is now played by millions of people across the world. Indeed, the online industry alone was worth $1.6 billion in 2009 and that figure has continued to increase as bingo sites find new and engaging ways for people to enjoy the game.