With the advent of the Internet,
traditional games we’ve played over the years and grown up with have
taken a high-tech new twist. Change is inevitable everywhere, and children’s
games are no exception. They have become a lucrative industry, and Bingo;
once played with cards and small cardboard discs the old-fashioned way,
has now morphed into a wildly popular online game.
Only one percent of those who
play traditional Bingo play the online version, but the rising popularity
of online Bingo has become a lucrative moneymaking opportunity. A survey
to determine the top three Bingo playing countries found that the game
is a $150 million global market with the United States providing 85
percent of the revenue.
Online Bingo has come a long
way from its humble beginnings in Europe. Bingo’s history can be traced
back to the early 1500s to an Italian lottery game. It later made its
way to France in the late 1700s, where it was a popular game played
amongst aristocracy and the wealthy.
The Germans also played a version
of the game in the 1800s, but used it as a child’s game to help students
learn math, spelling and history.
Bingo reached the United States
in 1929, where the Americanization of its name transformed into “Beano.”
When it was first played at a carnival near Atlanta, GA., as part of
a marketing effort by a New York toy salesman, Edwin S. Lowe, he later
renamed it “Bingo” after hearing an enthusiastic player accidentally
called “Bingo !” instead.
Lowe employed a Columbia University
math professor to collaborate with and help him increase the number
of combinations in Bingo cards, and by 1930, they had invented 6,000
combinations.
A Catholic priest from Pennsylvania
approached Lowe about the possibility of using the game as a fundraiser
for churches, and when Bingo began to be played in churches, its popularity
increased.
By 1934, an estimated 10,000
Bingo games were played weekly, and the game remains strong. Today more
than $90 million is spent on Bingo each week in North America.
Online Bingo, the modern version,
draws from traditional Bingo but adds some flashy new bells and whistles
to attract new players willing to take a risk of winning or losing.
Players can log on from anywhere in the world, and there are plenty
of websites offering variations of the game, both free and for money.
A breakdown of who’s playing
indicates the demographics are not what you may expect, 90 percent are
under the age of 50, and 85 percent are women. To illustrate the rising
popularity of online Bingo, doing a quick search on the topic brings
up literally millions of results.
Those unfamiliar with the rules
have a wealth of information at their fingertips on the probabilities
of winning, rules, Bingo terminology and Bingo-related news and articles.
There are no geographical barriers;
players can be in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan or anywhere.
But wherever it’s played, the gambling aspect, with the lure of big
money, is always there.
