Bingo originated in Italy around the 16th century. The game arose as a result of the Italian lottery, Lo Giuoco del Lotto d`Italia. The Italian national lottery commenced during the unification of Italy in 1530 and still continues to this day. It is estimated that the Italian lottery brings in $75 million a year and is a very important part of the Italian Government`s budget.

Eventually, the game of Bingo became well known in France. In 1778 the French had established their own lottery called Le Lotto, which led to the progress of the traditional game of the lottery. The game of Bingo consists of cards divided into three horizontal and roughly nine vertical rows. The three horizontal rows have five numbered squares and four clear squares which have been arranged at random. The vertical numbers are numbered from 1 to 90, assembled on the separate rows of each card. The cards are all exclusive. There are also certain chips numbered from 1 to 90. Each player receives one or more cards, then an announcer will all out a number. If the number appears on the player’s card, then they cover it. Once the player covers all numbers in a horizontal row, he/she declares “BINGO” and therefore becomes the winner.

Lotto games were largely used as educational purposes during the 17th century. In 1850 Germany designed a certain lotto game that taught children multiplication tables. These games were known as Animal Lotto, Spelling Lotto and Historical Lotto.

The rise of the game, Beano occurred in Germany in 1929. This was different to the classic Lotto. An announcer would call out a number inscribed on a wooden disc from a box. A bean would then be placed on the number called. Once a player covered a horizontal, vertical or diagonal row, they would shout "Beano" and claim the prize. Ed Lowe, a New York toy salesman, discovered the game at a fair in Germany, eventually introduced the game to America.

Ed however changed the game slightly. He invited friends to play “Beano” at his apartment. After a woman shouted "Bingo" instead of "Beano", he renamed the game and it led it to immediate success. There were many imitators after the release of Bingo. Lowe saw this as an opportunity and asked competitors to pay him a dollar a year to rename their imitations.

Later on, a priest originating from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania experienced financial problems and decided to use bingo as a form of fundraising. The priest purchased many of Lowe`s bingo games, but found it frustrating when there were numerous winners. This problem could only be solved if there were more combinations of numbers. Lowe then asked a Columbian university mathematics professor, Carl Leffler, to work out more combinations for the game. He successfully created 6000 new bingo cards without repetition. After much difficulty the task was completed and the professor was paid $100 per card.

The large success of the priest`s fund-raiser led to the publishing of “Bingo`s Instructional Manual” and later on, a monthly newsletter known as Blotter. At the moment entire floors of New York office space are trying to keep up with the rising demand. This thanks to Ed Lowe, who introduced Bingo to America and the rest of the world.