Bingo is a game of chance in which randomly selected numbers are drawn and players match those numbers to those appearing on 5x5 matrices which are printed or electronically represented and are known as "cards." The first person to have a card where the drawn numbers form a specified pattern is the winner and calls out the word "Bingo!" to alert others and inform the caller of the win. The card must first be properly checked for accuracy before the "win" is officially confirmed at which time the prize is secured and a new game is begun.

The version of the game described in this article is played in the United States and Canada. A very similar game is played in the United Kingdom and in Australia (where it is called housie). These games differ only in ticket layout and calling.

Description of the game

Each bingo player is given a card marked with a grid containing a unique combination of numbers. The winning pattern to be formed on the card is announced. On each turn, a non-player known as the caller randomly selects a numbered ball from a container and announces the number to all the players. The ball is then set aside so that it cannot be chosen again. Each player searches his card for the called number, and if he finds it, marks it. The element of skill in the game is the ability to search one's card for the called number in the short time before the next number is called.

The caller continues to select and announce numbers until the first player forms the agreed pattern (one line, two lines, full house) on their card and shouts out the name of the pattern or bingo. One of the most common patterns, called full card, blackout and cover-all simply consists of marking all the numbers on the card. Other common patterns are single line, two lines, the four corners, centre cross, L, T, Y, postage stamp (2x2 and in a corner) inner square (4 × 4), roving square (3 × 3), and roving kite (a 3 × 3 diamond). Lines can be made horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. Inner and roving squares and kites must be completely filled; roving squares and kites may be made anywhere on the car.

History

Bingo can be traced back to a lottery game called "Lo Giuoco Code Loto", played in Italy in 1530. By the 1700s you could find it maturing in France where they were using playing cards, tokens and added the reading out of numbers. The 1800s saw bingo widely used in Germany for educational purposes, to teach children spelling, animal names and multiplication tables.

At a carnival near Atlanta in 1929, Beano was being played with dried beans, a rubber stamp and cardboard sheets. Edwin Lowe, was watching this game and noticed how engaged the players were. The Carnival worker had to kick the players out at 3 am. Lowe, took the idea with him to New York where he introduced the game to his friends. He conducted bingo games similar to the ones he had witnessed, using dried beans, a rubber numbering stamp and card board. His friends loved the game. It is said that one of his players made bingo history when he was so excited to have won that he yelled out “Bingo” instead of “Beano." The Lowe Bingo Game had two versions; the first a 12-card set for $1.00, the second a $2.00 set with 24 cards. Bingo was a wild success. By the 1940s Bingo games were all over the country. Lowe had many competitors and all he asked was that they pay $1.00 a year to conduct the games and of course to use the name Bingo.