While a game of chance, called lotto, was played in Italy as early as the 16th century, the word ‘bingo ‘as we know it was not used until the 1920s, with the game changing and growing over the four centuries in between.
When we talk about Bingo, it is easy to forget how popular the game is among adults of all ages, across platforms of all kinds. There is a certain satisfaction that comes with checking off numbers in squares as they are read out by a speaker until we reach the game’s climax and can yell the magic word, doing nothing to hide the smug look on one’s face.
For starters, the method of playing bingo has aged well with the current technological revolution we face; from playing with paper and pen to being able to play bingo, blackjack, or any of the other games players can access on an online casino at Paddy Power Games, for example, the options available to players are much broader than when bingo was created all those years ago. It’s hard to believe that all online bingo players fall into the same demographic, though, so this must be a misconception of the industry.
According to a recent study cited on UK Bingo, of over 100 million bingo players worldwide 4/5 are 30-50-year-old women. The numbers showed that the number of younger players partaking in bingo has actually increased in recent years, surely coinciding with the digitalization of the popular game.
It seems, then, that the game of Bingo is doing everything but ‘dying’ – it’s thriving! Cheektowaga, New York, one of the world’s most popular locations for the game, has one bingo hall for every 6,800 residents (that’s a lot).
Although there are different variations of the game across time and locations, the game has retained its core features: players wait for their numbers to be called out and the first to have all of their numbers called wins. The game is often rewarded with cash or other fun prizes. When played as part of a social event, the prizes are often edible, fuelling the rest of the night!
The game has also been turned into a form of media entertainment: Bingo America by GSN’s TV network sees regular contestants compete in the game with a chance to win up to $100,000, leaving viewers chewing their fingernails as the fate of the players’ fortune rests entirely on a game of chance, and that is where the thrill of bingo comes from. At least, that’s what the thousands of viewers who tune in each week feel when they see the fate of the contestant decided by a few numbers.
It looks as if, then, the game of bingo is growing in popularity, whether played online or face-to-face – more and more players from all age ranges, countries, and backgrounds are continuing to jump at their opportunity to shout BINGO!
