History of Bingo - North America
The origins of Bingo can be traced back as early as 1530, though the game did not reach North America until 1929. A toy manufacturer by the name of Edwin Lowe attended a carnival outside of Atlanta Georgia where he witnessed a game called 'Beano', using pre-marked cardboard cards in 5x5 rows, a rubber stamper and dried beans.
Lowe was fascinated with the popularity of Beano at the carnival. Those who played kept going and going until finally, around 3 a.m., they were told to go home - the game was over. Edwin Lowe went back to his home in New York where he created his own cards and introduced Beano to his friends.
Lowe's friends absolutely loved the game. Popular North American Bingo history states that it was one of these players who made Bingo history when he became so overwhelmed by his winning card that he shouted out, "Bingo!", rather than "Beano". And thus the modern name of Bingo was born. Lowe actually charged bingo operators $1 per year to use the name 'Bingo', as it's popularity spread rapidly.
Being the toy manufacturing businessman that he was, Lowe immediately hired a math professor from Columbia University, Carl Leffler, to develop more Bingo card combinations. By 1930, Leffler had created 6,000 Bingo card variations. It has been said that Leffler went insane soon after.
According to calculations, there are approximately 1,474,200 possible bingo card combinations in a standard 75-Ball bingo game. Little wonder Leffler is believed to have gone insane!
In the early 1930's a Catholic Priest from Pennsylvania approached Edwin Lowe with an intriguing idea. He wished to offer the game of Bingo to his congregation in an effort to raise funds for the church. Bingo history was made once again by this act. It is estimated that by 1934, more than 10,000 Bingo games were played each week as charitable events across North America.
Bingo in North America Today
In present day North America (United States, Canada and Mexico combined), more than $90 million is spent every single week by Bingo players. The majority if Bingo games are focused on charitable events, most commonly associated with religious organizations.
Church-run Bingo games are most commonly a weekly event, labeled 'Bingo Night', with small stakes and prizes. The maximum stakes and prizes differ by the legalities of each state and/or province. The majority of church-run bingo charity games end Bingo Night with what is known as a 'Coverall' game (the entire Bingo card must be covered to win), offering a much larger jackpot prize than the previous games of the night.
In the United States, only the state of Nevada allows legal Bingo within their casinos. Canada is home to thousands of Bingo Halls, both for charitable and casino style gaming.
Mexico explicitly outlawed most forms of gambling in 1947. For this reason, a traditional game of Bingo is not allowed in any Mexican casinos. However, Mexico is currently the largest market for the purchase of electronic bingo gaming machines. How could this be?
According to several video game machine manufacturers, casinos in Mexico are exploiting a loophole in the 1947 gambling laws. These laws specify 'Vegas-style machines', but allow an exception for 'electronic versions of numbers games'. That combined with the discretionary power of Mexico's Ministry of the Interior has developed Mexico into what's been called an electronic 'Bingo Bonanza'.
I'll conclude this article with a tid-bit of most interesting information: Should your name be 'Joe' or 'Margaret', you may be missing out if you don't play Bingo. It has been proven that men by the name of 'Joe' win more often than men by any other name, and women by the name of 'Margaret' win more often than women of another name. All of you Joe's and Margaret's of the world, grab your daubers and lucky bingo charms - game on!
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