Bingo has gone through some serious evolution in recent years. While the fundamentals of the game we all know and love have remained the same, there are some things about bingo that have changed, including the way it is played, and the social activities around it.
In the UK in particular, there is a long history of people meeting up in person to play bingo, something that has changed somewhat in recent years, with around a 50/50 split between those who play bingo in person and those who play online.
Bingo has its roots in mainland Europe rather than the UK, which is something that surprises a lot of people. The game didn’t make its way over to the UK until the early 20th century, and though a lot of people think of it as quintessentially British, it is generally understood that bingo comes from the Italian lottery.
Since this addition to UK and US culture in the early 20th century, bingo has been through periods of boom and bust.
In the early 1900s in the United Kingdom, the game was banned. The rules were restrictive and while there was plenty of bingo being played in working clubs and ex-services clubs it was technically not allowed.
The same applies in the US, where the game had also spread, but with a slightly different 75-ball format usually preferred.
Bingo first gained traction in the US in the 1920s after an early version was spotted at a carnival by a humble car salesman, Edwin Lowe based in New York. He called the game “Beano” but over time this evolved to “bingo”. Here we are over 100 years later still calling the game bingo.
It is generally understood that after the World Wars when people were looking for more entertainment and hobbies in their lives, bingo would fill a huge void, and clearly, there was a desire for the game to be played. Gambling laws are still changing regularly to this day and in the US each state is responsible for its own which is one of the many reasons why gambling is growing. Numerous states are changing the law to allow gambling activities and this covers bingo.
A Bingo Boom
In the UK, when the 1960s hit, the UK introduced the Betting and Gaming Act 1960Betting and Gaming Act 1960 and this gave a green light for the opening of bingo halls and venues all over the country. Venues that had previously been clubs were suddenly converted into bingo halls, some of which are still regularly used today, though online bingo makes up 50% of the market.
Pretty much every decent-sized town or city had its own bingo halls for people to visit and it is estimated that almost half a million people in the UK played the game daily in the 1960s and 70s.
Bingo would continue to be absolutely huge until there was something of a crash in the 1990s. Society had changed somewhat and while in the 60s and 70s people would meet up more at the bingo, this was happening less in the 1990s.
The crash in the 90s and early 2000s is hard to pinpoint the exact reasons for. Bingo companies were taxed at a very high rate in the UK and this means that there were a lot of businesses starting to struggle financially. This would continue to cause problems and led to a point where there were around 500 bingo halls left in the UK, down from 2000 at the peak.
The 21st Century Revolution
It was virtually inevitable with the rise in technology and the relaxation of gambling laws in a number of locations. Bingo grew to new heights in the 2010s and 2020s and is now played by record numbers of people.
The game that had entered a culture and become a mainstay hobby for a number of families and individuals was now available to play online. While there were some online bingo sites in the late 90s and early 2000s they really didn’t get the kind of traction we see now, and it took a while for people to start enjoying bingo more from the comfort of their own homes.
Of course, now, we can also enjoy a lot of the different varieties of the game. There are more bingo sites than ever and the option to play both American and British versions of the game and even included mini-games. More awareness of the game has even led to a comeback of bingo halls in some locations around the world, including the UK.
Bingo has grown to have millions of active account holders and the game is projected to continue to grow in the future, too. We may not even be at the peak of online bingo just yet.
