There are many variations as to where the popular game of Bingo began its life, but there is one story which is more common than others.

This is the American origin story where Bingo started life being called Beano. But how did this come about for several games to be the best online bingo here in the preset?

Bingo of American Origin

The game we know today as Bingo started life in America, as a game that was played only when the circus or carnival was in town. It was another way in which the crowds were entertained and added an additional range of excitement to the carnival for the older attendees.

It was at one such carnival in Atlanta, that Mr Edwin Lowe, so the game of Beano for the first time and was amazed at the size of the crowds that this game drew. Not only this, but he was also interested to understand why such a seemingly simple game was able to captivate the audiences for such long periods of time, with some players having to be asked to leave when the carnival closed for the night at 3 am.

Original American Bingo

Bingo was known as "Beano" instead of the Bingo game we know and love today. This was due to two different reasons. Firstly because of the fact that it was played with beans instead of money. Secondly, when one of Lowe’s friends played the game for the first time and got somewhat over-excited at winning, they accidentally shouted "Beano!" and the name sort of stuck!

Though the game has not changed a great deal since Lowe first saw it in 1927, he did make some simple changes to the game. The game was not played with money but was played with beans instead. Each player had their own card and the numbers were printed on to the cards via the use of a rubber stamp so that all of the cards were identical.

The game was a huge hit and Lowe toured America with his variation of the game. It was played by everyone, from Lords and Ladies to the everyday folk in the pubs. Class was no divide and everyone loved the game, almost as much as we still love it today.

British Bingo Differences

Although we would all recognise the original version of American Bingo, the British put their own stamp on the game and made their own more modern variation. The main difference was the fact that British Bingo always had the numbers drawn through the use of a draw machine. This was so that they could show that the game was as fair and equal in the opportunity of winning as possible. It also prevented cheating from occurring.

Today, exactly the same method for exactly the same reasons is applied, except we tend to rely on the use of a Random Number Generator. This is more so because we tend to play Bingo games of the more computerised variety and therefore there needs to be some methods that keeps them fair across the board. It is easy to access, convenient and is played by an impressive number of people.