History of Bingo

Bingo can be traced back to a game called Lotto, played in Italy in 1530. The bingo name comes from a corruption of the name Beano, the name of a form of bingo played in the United States in the 1920s. Beano was so called because beans were used to cover the numbers. The name of the game was changed to "Bingo" when an excited player called out "bingo" instead of "beano." The name stuck.

In the UK, the game did not become widely known until 1960, when the Gaming Act passed by Parliament in that year permitted such games in members-only establishments. The following year the game of bingo was brought over from the USA by Eric Morley, the man who was also responsible for the development of the Miss World competition.

Across Britain there were many large buildings that had been rendered obsolete by the rise of the Television; theatres, cinemas and dancehalls. Many of these required little modification to turn them over to bingo games, and certainly some buildings played a dual role as cinema or bingo hall, depending on the night of the week.

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. By this time many clubs were being further altered by having floors leveled and cinema seats replaced by proper tables. In fact, the game proved to be so successful that in the 1980s there were several clubs opened in brand new purpose built halls.

The latest development in British Bingo is the appearance of bingo games you can play at home on the internet.