From 16th Century Italy to online Bingo halls
Bingo is a game that has a long and rich history. According to some sources, the game originated in 16th Century Italy, where it was called ”Lo Giuoco del Lotto D’Italia” [The Game of the Italian Lotto]. When the game was introduced to the US, where it is as popular as it is in Sweden, it was initially called Beano. However, the name didn’t last long and the game soon got its current name – as the story goes, it became the popular moniker after a player mistakenly shouted ”Bingo” instead of ”Beano” when filling in a row.
Despite online bingo being a relatively new phenomenon, it has a bright future ahead. The reason for this is due to the large number of women players. Traditionally, the most established games have been Poker, Casino and Betting, which have mainly attracted male crowds. Bingo, on the other hand, is clearly more popular with women players and, according to research, around 90 percent of online bingo players are women.
Online bingo grows
Despite online bingo only having existed for a short time, the phenomenon is already a multimillion-dollar industry and the growth curve is steadily rising. Especially in the classic bingo countries such as the US, Canada and Sweden. But the market is expanding rapidly, especially in Europe. Japan is another example of online bingo growing fast.
In principle, online bingo is not much different from normal, traditional bingo. The most obvious difference is that one plays virtually, but just as in the traditional game, when online you are able to – through chat boxes – talk with your fellow players, experience the thrill when things are getting exciting and follow the drawing of the ball.
That online bingo attracts many younger players isn’t especially surprising, as it offers a whole host of other bonus games to play while waiting for just your lucky number to result in a Bingo. The pace is fast and there are lots of different bingo versions to choose from. Chatting has also made online bingo halls serve as a social space where one can get virtually together with others.
The different ways of playing
Naturally, over time a lot of different ways of playing have developed. If you go to any of the large bingo sites today, you can find a lot of variety and different bingo versions. For example, you can play Classic Bingo where you get a card with 25 numbers and where you win by getting five numbers in a row. The row can be horizontal, vertical or diagonal. You can also play Variant Bingo, Pattern Bingo and several other versions of the game.