London’s Long History of Bingo

Of all of the world’s major cities, few can trace their history and heritage as well as London. This is as true for Bingo as it is for so many interests, with a long and storied history dating back at least a hundred years. Taking a look at bingo’s new state, and how it arrived in London proper, we wanted to track the long road taken. Bingo is, after all, one of London’s most loved classic games, and it’s not going anywhere.

Modern Bingo in London

Just as it has for all of our lives, bingo in London is extremely popular in a wide number of physical parlours. Perhaps more relevant in a contemporary context, however, is how modern bingo in London reflects the growing digital landscape. We might be 2,000 years old, but that doesn’t mean we’ve held back on technological evolution.

The biggest illustration of modern change can be seen in online bingo rooms like those of bingo.betfair.com. Here, games like Deal Or No Deal, Dodgems, and The Big Wheel work to fuse the base social appeal of bingo into much more convenient online systems. Available over both desktops and mobile devices, this new realm effectively shatters the limitations of older in-person play, as a viable alternative to older systems.

The Arrival of Bingo

As revealed at thoughtco.com, the very first versions of bingo arrived back as far as 1530 in Italy. Then going by the name Lo Giuoco del Lotto D’Italia, this version persisted for hundreds of years, eventually making the jump to France in the late 1770s. Later shifting to Germany, and then the rest of the world, the easy-to-understand nature of the game, combined with its cooperative spirit, made it a long-time hit.

Around the turn of the 20th century, bingo was already in London, though it existed by a few different names. It was the Great War that solidified the game when it was played by the Army and Navy under the names of Tombola and Housey, respectively. This gave the game its feet, and after the war, when people had so much to celebrate, it took off in the public consciousness.

The modern name bingo then arrived in the 1920s, coming directly from the United States, where it was formerly called “Beano”. According to mentalfloss.com, As the story goes, an excited winning player mistakenly called out the word “Bingo!”, whereby the name stuck. Since then, despite likely being called the wrong thing hundreds or thousands of times, bingo is where the name has stayed.

As A Part of London’s Culture

While London is unique, there is no doubting that many of its best aspects are those shared by other cities, in the aspects of community and cooperation. Despite being a competitive game at its heart, bingo is an experience which draws people together. Whether following in the wake of war or just playing a part to bring friendship into busy modern lives, this component of bingo is timeless. Bingo might not have started here, but it’s a part of us now, and no matter how much it changes it’s always going to be a part of London as we go forward.