How to Play Bingo
To play bingo, which is a form of
lottery, each player purchases one or more cards divided
into numbered and blank squares. Randomly chosen numbers,
usually up to 75 or 90, are called out by a “banker.” The first
player to achieve a card (or a line) in which all of the numbers
have been called shouts “bingo” or “house” and collects the
entire stake money, usually less a specified percentage, if that
is permitted by local law. In another popular variation, the
central square on the card is free, and the first player on
whose card five of the called numbers appear in a
row—vertically, horizontally, or diagonally—is the winner. The
prize (jackpot) may amount to thousands of dollars. Bingo is
legal in most U.S. states that prohibit other forms of gambling.
It is permitted in Ireland when the profits are for charity; and
it is closely regulated in the
United Kingdom, where lotto halls were subjected to a tax in
1966.
Bingo has had many
names and variations. The earliest name, lotto (or loto), a
children's game, was first recorded in 1778. The original
American form, called keno, kino, or po-keno, dates from the
early 19th century. The only form of gambling permitted in the
British armed services, the game is called in the Royal Navy
tombola (1880) and in the Army, house (1900), or housy-housy.
Other American names are beano, lucky, radio, and fortune. At
the height of its popularity during the Great Depression of the
1930s, a variant (often called
screeno)
was played in motion-picture theatres, with one night in the
week designated bank night, when patrons received free bingo
cards with their admission tickets; prizes amounted to hundreds
of dollars in cash or merchandise.
Bingo has been played enthusiastically in
Japan and has even been introduced at the casino in Monte-Carlo.
In Great Britain the game received its greatest impetus when the
Betting
and Gaming Act of 1960 permitted the formation of a large number
of commercial lotto clubs. Within a few years, the game achieved
a popularity equaling or exceeding that which it had formerly
enjoyed in the United States.
Source: Encyclopedia Britanica
Play Bingo
