Bingo, also known as bingo game, is a game of luck and chance played with small balls and typically played in a casino, hotel, retirement home, school or other social setting.
The word “bingo” likely originated in the British Army in the late 1800s as a term for a type of lottery where players draw numbers to guess the result of a chosen number. Bingo was first specifically mentioned in print in 1892.
At this time, it was known as “the lottery of the army.”.
The modern form of bingo was created by Englishman Charles Roberts in the early 1900s. Roberts was working as an executive at the London publishing company J.W.
Spear & Sons at the time and he decided to create a new game to keep his employees entertained during their breaks. He named his new game after the ancient English word “bingo,” which meant “to beat.
Bingo became very popular in England and soon spread to other parts of the world. In 1967, bingo received its own international governing body – The World Bingo Association (WBA).
The WBA currently has over 100 member organizations from around the world.
