Top 10 Facts about Bingo

There's more to bingo than you might think, sit back, have a cuppa tea and enjoy the top Boris’ den fun bingo facts. If that didn’t make any sense to you then keep reading.

#1 Bingo originated in Italy

Bingo originated from Lo Giuoco del Lotto D'Italia , the Italian National Lottery. It was first founded in 1530, making it almost 500 years old!

#2 Fun is a top priority

When playing bingo, the top priority is to have fun! For regular bingo players, winning the jackpot is 5th on the list. Many come down to the bingo hall for enjoyment and to socialise, making a bingo win a low priority.

#3 Health Benefits of a Bingo game

A large percentage of people that play bingo are seniors, and it can have a lot of health benefits. Bingo can improve the speed in which your brain processes things, alertness and memory. It can also improve hand-eye coordination due to needing quick reflexes in order to find numbers fast!

A study taken by Southampton University shows that bingo players are more mentally agile than non-bingo players. It also suggests as a social activity, heading to the bingo hall is just as good as doing physical exercise.

#4 The US use different bingo cards to the UK

In the UK they play 90 ball bingo and in the US they play 75 ball bingo with 5x5 squares. There are 552,446,474,061,128,648,601,600,000 possible combinations for the US 75 ball bingo!

#5 Bingo use to be called ‘beano’

It hasn’t always been called bingo. In 1929, after playing the game at a fair, Edwin S Lowe replayed the game for his friends; he turned it into a boxed game called ‘beano’. It was then decided to be renamed bingo when a player excitedly shouted “bingo!”. During this time a game being played in the UK called housey-housey was being played, this too then became known as bingo.

#6 Bingo numbers in the UK have nicknames

Still confused about the intro? Well you’ve made it far enough to get an answer! In the UK, bingo callers have traditionally announced numbers using nicknames, such as cuppa tea (3). They usually rhyme or will have some type of meaning to them, let's take a look at the top 3 unusual names:

• Boris’ Den (10), this is in reference to the number that the Prime Minister lives at (10 Downing Street) thus, the current PM's name and then den.

• Dirty Gertie (30), this is in reference to the bawdy song sung by allied soldiers in North Africa during WW2.

• Two fat ladies: (88) the number resembles two ladies with ample bosom and hips.

#7 It was used as a educational tool

In the 1800’s, bingo tickets were used to assist students with multiplication tables in Germany.

#8 Celebrities enjoy bingo too

Robbie Williams went to his local bingo club and played bingo with Daryl Hannah for his music video. Catherine Zeta Jones’ Dad won enough in bingo to send her to theatre school. Even the royal family enjoy bingo at Buckingham Palace.

#9 It’s popular among the scottish

1 in 5 Scots play bingo regularly, in the south of England it is 1 in 20.

#10 Bingo is bigger than football

In the UK, more money is spent on bingo tickets than all footballing events combined.

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