Bingo
Recently rediscovered by the Internet, bingo has become one of the most popular online pastime.
First games similar to modern bingo were played in Europe for a couple of centuries. But it wasn’t until the first half of 20th century, when Edwin Lowe gave final shape to a popular carnival game called “Beano”, named so because of beans that were used in it. According to the story, one of Lowe’s players was so excited during the game, that he shouted “bingo” instead of “beano” and thus giving the game its name. From United States, the game spread all over the world, becoming a popular entertainment in local communities.
Rules of playing bingo are not complicated. Players buy special cards with a set of number from the range of 1 to 75 (in American version) or 90 (in European version). When the game begins, numbers are picked randomly and called while players check their cards and mark called numbers. When a player manages to create a winning pattern on the card, usually a line, he or she shouts “bingo!” to announce the win. Often once the winning pattern is found, the game continues and the final winner it the person that first fills in the whole card.
Traditionally bingo has been played in local community halls and prizes usually included local artisan products or foods. Bingo became also a popular form of fundraising used by charity and church organizations, offering similar type of prizes. Stepping through the doors of casinos, a basket of sweets has been replaced by more sophisticated goods or just hard cash.
