The game of Bingo has a very rich and colourful past, extending all the way into Europe’s Baroque period in the 17th Century. Played by the country’s most elite, the game looked more like the UK’s 90-ball version of the game, with 3 rows and 9 columns on each card. In the 1800s, the game took on a more educational role, as German players saw the value in using the game to teach young students the multiplication tables. Over time, more educational versions of the game appeared, as teachers and parents began using the game to teach children spelling and history. The game has now made the natural progression onto the Internet. Online bingo is fast becoming one of the most popular games played over the Internet.
It was only in the 20th Century that the game was introduced to the Western world. Edwin S Lowe, a toy salesman from New York, discovered Bingo in Jacksonville, Florida and could not believe what a large gathering this virtually unknown game had gathered. Upon returning to New York, Lowe recreated the game and began selling to his friends. The game was a hit, but as more people began playing, Lowe saw the need for more card combinations. He enlisted in the help of Columbia University Professor Carl Leffler, who devised 6000 new bingo card combinations and, it is rumoured, went insane shortly afterward.
Following this, it wasn’t long before the game of bingo earned the popular reputation it has today. Throughout the 20th Century, the number of players increased exponentially to 100 million players worldwide, a massive statistic that is largely attributed to the recent inception of online bingo. This digital version of the game had made Bingo more accessible to players around the world. It offered them the ability to play whenever and wherever they’d like, while handing out a wide range of benefits that were previously unavailable in land-based halls, such as cash bonuses and in-game chat rooms.
