What is bingo?
We all know bingo to be a fun game that has been taken online and become one of the most popular pastimes but how did it all begin? What is bingo exactly and how did the bingo game that we know and love today actually evolve?
In order to find out how bingo tickets, traditional bingo calls and the game itself developed, let’s go right back to the beginning.
Where did the bingo game come from?
No-one knows exactly as to when the first bingo game was played but the very first mention of a similar game can be traced right back to Italy in 1530 and from there it spread to Great Britain and many parts of mainland Europe. It derived from the Italian Lottery known as Il Giuoco del Lotto d’Italia.
The French were great innovators in the world of bingo and were first credited with the issuing of bingo tickets and the calling out of numbers. These innovations date back to the 18th century and the bingo game continued to evolve into the early part of the 1900s.
At that point, it wasn’t actually referred to as bingo and different names were applied depending on the country where it was played. The name itself is thought to originate from the United States in the 1920’s when the lucky winner may have called out ‘Bingo’ at random when their card was completed.
How to play bingo
So now we know how the modern bingo game came about but as far as online play is concerned, what is bingo and how, exactly, do you play it?
At bingo.com we have three versions of this great game. The most popular among most online players is 90 ball bingo and, as the name suggests, this uses a set of numbers between 1 and 90. When a player buys their bingo tickets, they will find that they have a random selection of 15 numbers on the grid.
As the game progresses, the caller will announce the numbers as they are drawn and the player’s task is to complete those numbers before any of their opponents. When this happens, ‘house’ is called and a prize is won.
A popular version of the classic game is 75 ball bingo. Once again, the title makes this fairly self-explanatory but, while there are fewer numbers overall, players will find that they have 25 numbers on their bingo tickets as opposed to the 15 issued in the 90 ball game.
As a slight twist on the 75 ball option there is the 75 ball variant game where players buy a fixed amount of three tickets, one of which will have all 75 numbers printed onto the grid. Prize money can vary here but in general, the bigger cash pots can be found in the 75 ball versions.
So now you know all about this great bingo game, why not sign up or log in to your bingo.com account and start playing the best range of online bingo today?