Bingo has bounced back, and with a bang at that. Once a popular game in working-class areas around the country, “peak Bingo” was reached in the UK in the 70s and 80s. It was on the decline in the 90s and generally considered a grannies’ game.
But then it went online, and that, combined with a surge in popularity amongst hipsters, changed everything. Now, Bingo is again becoming part of our everyday lives. And is even becoming a clubbing event, thanks to Manchester’s own Bongo’s Bingo night, held in the Albert Hall. And here we have a list of 8 fun facts you probably don’t know about your favourite game.
Fact 1: Despite what you might read, Bingo probably didn’t start in Italy in the 15th century. And it also wasn’t “iïnvented” by New York toy salesman Edwin S Lowe, in the 1930s, no matter how hard the Americans try to take credit. Bingo as we know it most likely developed in the East End of London in the 1700s, where barrow woman played a numbers-matching game to get around the Lord Mayor’s ban on gambling with dice.
Fact 2: Bingo players are dedicated fans of the game. A survey of regular bingo players found that over half played the game every day. Of course, now that awesome bingo sites like the UK’s Foxy Bingo have a huge range of games available online, it is much easier to make regular Bingo playing a part of your daily routine.
Fact 3: Bingo is more popular in Scotland than anywhere else in the UK. One in five Scots is a regular player of Bingo, compared to one in every twenty people in the South of England. And interestingly, this also means Scotland has more bingo players than redheads, who make up one in eight of the population.
Fact 4: Despite the great prizes on offer, people play Bingo for fun, rather than the chance of a big win. Winning only ranked fifth on a recent poll of reasons for playing among regular players.
Fact 5: Bingo is more than just a fun game; it’s also a great educational tool. It is used regularly in both mathematics and foreign language teaching and has been employed in other educational settings. There’s even a Yoga Bingo game for kids, although even adults can have fun and benefit from playing it.
Fact 6: Bingo is surprisingly beneficial for the brain. It requires concentration to listen for numbers and then search for them on the card, and good hand-to-eye coordination to mark them off quickly. Bingo is often used in nursing homes to help keep the inhabitants mentally active, and all age groups can benefit from a bingo-based brain workout.
Fact 7: Statistically speaking, women named Margaret have the best chance of winning at Bingo.
Fact 8: On December 2006, in Bogota, Colombia, 70,080 players participated in the same game, making it the biggest bingo game ever, according to Guinness World Records.
So there you have it, eight fun facts you can use to impress your bingo partners, or “roomies‘ if you are playing online.
