Online Bingo Tournaments – It all started with… Beans!

Bingo is one of the most popular games in the world. Whether it is online or land based, bingo games or bingo tournaments, people always enjoy a good game. The social atmosphere and the excitement and joy of the winners are all part of the unique combination that makes bingo such a popular game.
Ever wondered who invented bingo and how it was developed? Learn about bingo history and how bingo tournaments became popular.

The brief history of bingo

Italy Bingo started as a variation of lottery in 16th century Italy. During the years the Italian lottery became more and more popular and started to spread throughout Europe. In countries like France, this variation of lottery captured the fancy of the intelligentsia and sometimes was used to help children in learning math, spelling and history. The game became very popular in street fairs and carnivals and this fact helped it to spread all across Europe.

Beano

A traveling toy salesman by the name of Edwin S. Lowe came by a variation of this lottery in 1929. Lowe visited a carnival near Atlanta and saw people playing an interesting game of lottery with beans and cards; this game was called "Beano". Lowe immediately fell in love with the game and decided to create his own version of this game.
After hearing one of his friends yelling out "Bingo" instead of "Beano", Lowe decided to change the name of the new game.

A Social Game

A priest from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania saw the social potential of bingo and decided to promote the game in churches. His main idea was to use it as a tool to raise more funds for the church and by doing so he managed to develop the social nature of bingo and to spread this lovely game all over the States.

Modern Variations and Online Bingo Tournaments

During the years the game gained popularity among men and women, old and young and nowadays it is a well-known pastime favorite among many people.
The newest development of this game is online bingo sites that offer players the chance to enjoy an exciting game of bingo in the comfort of their own rooms. Online bingo became a huge hit and nowadays many online bingo fans choose to play bingo online instead of playing it on regular bingo rooms.
Bingo sites offer many variations of this game including live bingo tournaments and new versions of the game.