Examaning the Fun Factor of Bingo
View PDF | Print View
by: Stebee
Total views: 38
Word Count: 403
While bingo became popular in the United States early in the twentieth century, the roots of the game stretch back to the year 1530. That's when a state-run lottery called "Lo Gioco del Lotto d'Italia" started in Italy. (Interestingly, even to this day you can still play the same game every Saturday) The French picked up a similar version of lotto in the late 1700s. One version used a playing card with nine columns and three rows, with four free spaces per row. The caller reached into a bag and picked out wooden chips marked 1 through 90 (1 to 10 for the first column, 11 to 20 for the second, and so forth). The first player to cover one whole row was the winner. These lottery-type bingo games soon became a craze throughout Europe.
Bingo as we know it today was popularized by Edwin S. Lowe, a struggling but enterprising toy salesman from New York. Lowe observed a game called "Beano" at a country carnival in Atlanta, Georgia. The game was called Beano because players used dried beans to mark their cards as the numbers came out of a cigar box. When a player completed a line of numbers, he or she would stop the game by yelling "Beano!," and that player would win a small prize. Lowe saw that players were captivated by the game. Lowe himself was so spellbound by this new game that he brought it back home and introduced it to his friends. During a trial game, a lady got so excited by her win that she blurted out "Bingo!" instead of the accepted cry. It was just like that, bingo was born. "Lowe's Bingo" became a sweeping success, and by the mid-1930s bingo games were popping up all over the country, in part because churches and social clubs quickly realized the fund-raising potential.
Today, 48 states (and more than 100 Native American reservations) offer legal bingo on some scale. Games range from small enough to fit in a church basement to ones which are big enough to pack a 1,800-seat hall. Bingo players come from all walks of life. There is no stereotypical bingo player. Most like to socialize, which is why they go out to play bingo. It is very likely the same group of people will also enjoy other competitive group activities, such as bowling, that combine fun and friends.
Article Source: http://www.ArticleStreet.com/
About the Author
Surveys show that the most regular bingo players are over the age of 45, but, thanks to the online services offered by enterprising companies like Mecca Bingo , the game is being discovered by more and more young people every day as a new way to socialize and have fun. The bottom line? Bingo is fun for everyone.
Rating: Not yet rated
Latest articles contributed by "Stebee"
1: Family Holiday Fear2: The Advantages of Self Catering Holidays – And How to Get the Best of Them!
3: France Holidays
4: Chill Out, You're on Holiday
5: Russian - A More Unusual Family Holiday Choice
6: Making the Most of Your Holiday Experience
7: Bringing the Family Closer Together
8: The Growing Popularity of French Holidays
9: A Workplace Injury Could Happen to You...
10: Worlplace Injuries