Bingo games are a very popular game of chance using numbers that has been around for hundreds of years. In 18th century France a very popular lottery style game using pieces of card was common not only among the general populace, but also as a tool to teach children the names of animals and other educational things. In the 1930’s in America the game was widely used in carnivals and other gatherings throughout the country, when a man named J Edgar ward saw the potential gold mine in it. He copyrighted the game and named it Bingo in 1933.
Popularity of Bingo Games
Today bingo games can be found all over the place. Almost all brick and mortar casinos offer bingo either on a small scale or sometimes even in its own dedicated room. Bingo halls which only offer bingo as a game are stand alone venues that have sprung up particularly in the United States, but all over the rest of the world too. Some very large bingo halls are even linked together across the country or even across the world. This increases the prize money and the excitement incredibly, but also decreases the chances of winning. On a much smaller scale bingo is often used as a fund raising venture for small occasions, such as church fetes or charity drives. It can also be found as a form or entertainment in communities such as elderly homes.
Online Bingo
With the advent of the internet in the 1990’s, and the subsequent invention of virtual or online casinos, bingo games have grown even more popular than before. Now anyone with an internet connection can be a part of one, any hour of the any day. The smart device and the mobile revolution added to this accessibility, and there are now hundreds of thousands of online and online gambling sites around the world that players can log on to and play bingo games. As a result of this different kinds of bingo games have emerged as well, making the game popular to a wider slice of the population. Social media has made it possible to play bingo games online with your group of friends, challenging them to see who wins the biggest. Some sites even offer bingo games as a free service. In these sites you do not have to use real money, and can log in and play simply for fun.
Bingo Games Rules
All bingo games follow the same set of basic rules. The game begins when all of the players buy a ticket or a card. In the online versions the card is virtual. Most cards work on a 5×5 grid, the five columns corresponding with the five letters of the word Bingo. Generally the card contains 24 numbers, each random and each card different from all the other players. In some specialised bingo games the cards can contain words not numbers. The very centre of each card is a free space, or a free square. Once all players have their cards, the caller will begin to call out numbers. As each number is called, the payer checks their card to see whether the number is printed on it. If it is, the player marks it off in some way. The winner is the first player to get a line of numbers, either horizontally or vertically. He then yells Bingo, and wins a prize.