Bingo started out as the game of Lo Giuoco del Lotto d'Italia, which was played in Italy in the 16th century as a form of charity intended to raise funds for the poor. While the rules have changed over the years, the Italian Lotto has continued to be played every week since the 16th century, with few pauses and the current Lotto raises almost 50 million Pounds a year for the Italian government.
The game spread quickly across Europe, due to its simple rules and appeal to young and old. In 18th century France it was played by members of the aristocracy and educated classes. It had already taken on the shape of Bingo today, random numbers being drawn and then checked off on a special card.
The cards were very similar to the cards used today, with 3 horizontal lines and 9 vertical lines, each horizontal line had 5 numbered squares, with the other 4 being left empty. However, the first vertical line would have numbers selected from 1-10, the second 11-20, up to the ninth line with 81-90, chosen so that each card would be unique. Whereas nowadays the numbers 1-9 are in the first row, then 10-19 and so on, till the final row which contains 80-90.
The numbers would be written on wooden counters from 1 to 90 and drawn from a cloth bag. The rules for winning were slightly different as well; the person with the first full horizontal line would win, with no prize for a ‘house’ or full card.
In 19th century Germany, Bingo was used as a teaching aid in the classroom, with cards specially suited to many different subjects.
This idea has been carried on to this very day, with special Bingo cards being used to teach children about subjects from numbers, the alphabet and even in biology to identify different species of animals.
Online Bingo keeps the fun and prizes of Bingo, and takes the next logical step. In the past it was only possible to play with hand held Bingo cards in the Bingo halls and the classroom.
Online Bingo lets you play with computer generated Bingo cards, guaranteed to be unique, without any of the fuss of keeping Bingo cards arranged, and with auto-daubing, the messy process of filling in your cards is now a thing of the past. No more mistakes, or missed numbers, with the computer helping to keep track of all the games being played. Giving the player more free time to make friends and chat in the special chat rooms provided.
There are lots of UK online bingo sites now on offer, some of these sites like Tombola Bingo Site and Mirror Bingo are worth visiting as they are recognised UK companys and also have some of the best online bingo games.
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