Bingo who invented

In the U. It was a country fair game where a dealer would select numbered discs from a cigar box and players would mark their cards with beans.

They yelled "beano" if they won. When the game reached North America in , it became known as "beano". It was first played at a carnival near Atlanta, Georgia. New York toy salesman Edwin S. Lowe renamed it "bingo" after he overheard someone accidentally yell "bingo" instead of "beano. He hired a Columbia University math professor, Carl Leffler, to help him increase the number of combinations in bingo cards. By , Leffler had invented 6, different bingo cards.

They were developed so there would be fewer non-repeating number groups and conflicts when more than one person got Bingo at the same time. Lowe was a Jewish immigrant from Poland. Not only did his E. Lowe company produce bingo cards, but he also developed and marketed the game Yahtzee , for which he bought the rights from a couple who played it on their yacht.

Lowe died in A Catholic priest from Pennsylvania approached Lowe about using bingo as a means of raising church funds. When bingo started being played in churches it became increasingly popular. By , an estimated 10, bingo games were played weekly. While gambling is banned in many states, they may allow bingo games to be hosted by churches and non-profit groups to raise funds. Bingo has been one of the games offered at many casinos, both in Nevada and those operated by Native American tribes.

It was a country fair game where a dealer would select numbered discs from a cigar box and players would mark their cards with beans. They yelled "beano" if they won. The game's history can be traced back to , to an Italian lottery called "Lo Giuoco del Lotto D'Italia," which is still played every Saturday in Italy. From Italy the game was introduced to France in the late s, where it was called "Le Lotto", a game played among wealthy Frenchmen. The players responded by eagerly checking their card to see if they had the number called; if so, they would place a bean on the number.

This sequence continued until some someone filled a line of numbers on their card - either horizontally, vertically or diagonally.

This feat was marked by the shout of "Beano! Ed Lowe tried to play Beano that night, but, he recalls, "I couldn't get a seat. But while I was waiting around, I noticed that the players were practically addicted to the game. The picthman wanted to close up, but every time he said, "This is the last game', nobody moved. When he finally closed at a. After locking up, the pitchman told Lowe that he had run across a game called Lotto while traveling with a carnival in Germany the previous year.

His immediate thought was that it would make a good tent or carnival game. He made a few changes in its play, and a change of the name to Beano. The game proved to be such a surefire crowd pleaser and money maker that on his return to the United States, he continued to work the game on the Carnival circuit.

Returning to his home in New York, Lowe bought some dried beans, a rubber numbering stamp and some cardboard. Friends were invited to his apartment and Ed Lowe assumed the pitchman's duties. Soon his friends were playing Beano with the same tension and excitement as he had seen at the carnival. During one session Lowe noticed that one of his players was close to winning.

She got more excited as each bean was added to her card. Finally there was one number left - and it was called! The earliest Lowe Bingo game in two variations - a twelve card sert for one dollar and a two dollar set with twenty-four cards.

The game was an immediate success and put Lowe's company squarely on its feet. Although the name Bingo could very well have been trademarked, the game itself, having come out of the public domain, had little chance of being protected.

Imitators came out of the woodwork once the success of Lowe's game was evident.