It’s thought that bingo was
originally called Lo Giuoco del Lotto D’Italia and Le Lotto until a
mispronunciation by an American led to it being known by the name it
is today. This migration to North America happened around the 19th
century and became known as “beano” until Edwin S. Lowe called
“bingo” during a game.
This transition across the globe has
led to bingo being played in two main formats: 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. Although bingo quickly grew in popularity
throughout the 19th Century, it gradually lost momentum and by the
late 1990s it was officially an industry in decline.
However, thanks to the proliferation
of the internet and online gambling, bingo is now an industry on the
up. Opening up the game to a huge number of people, bingo is now
played by millions of people across the world. According to reports,
the online bingo industry was worth $1.6 billion in 2009 and, with
more and more players taking up the game, that figure has continued
to grow in recent years. |