Bingo!
The game of Bingo is a favorite diversion in the Philippines, and is a reliable charity fund-raiser for many socio-civic and charitable organizations, including the Church. The game is widely accepted because people see it not as gambling, but as a social activity and a wholesome form of recreation.The popularity of bingo among Filipinos spawned the growth of the commercial bingo industry in the country. A number of commercial venues, particularly shopping malls, began offering bingo games. This impelled the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) to assert its regulatory power over the commercial bingo venues, to ensure the integrity of the game and to protect the interest of the playing public.
According to www.sincitybingo.com, Bingo is among the most well-liked forms of inexpensive gambling all over the world. Although it suffered a decline in America with the introduction of slot machines, it was a wildly popular game in the middle of the 20th century. Worldwide, however, the spread of slot machines has not slowed down bingo’s increasing popularity.
Bingo’s different names
Bingo was first known as Lotto in Britain sometime around 1776. It is sometimes called Keno in the United States, where the prizes are reputedly much larger. In both the United Kingdom and the United States, bingo is sometimes played without stakes, strictly as a game.
How to play
Bingo is a game of chance, a form of lottery. To play, players buy one or more bingo cards. Proceeds from the sale of these cards go into a common “pot”. Winners receive a portion of this pot as prize money.
Bingo cards show a grid of numbered and blank squares. Numbered balls are drawn at random; when the ball’s number is found on the card, the player covers that number. Once the covered squares match a fixed number of adjacent squares or a pattern, the game is won.
Players agree before the game begins how many squares or what pattern is required to win. Common winning combinations include adjacent squares going across or down the card, or forming a diagonal line.
In bingo, as in slot machines, the game’s results are random and unexpected. Neither knowledge nor skill can ensure victory. This is unlike betting on sports events, where the outcome is predictable to some extent, giving players with special knowledge an advantage over other players. Bingo players thus play a level field, giving even new players still learning the game just as much of a chance to win as experienced players.
Bingo’s social value
Although bingo is a form of gambling, it is made respectable by its players. Many nonprofit organizations use it to generate funds. People of all ages, from the very young to the very mature, play this game more for entertainment than for money. When you win, it’s an added thrill!
Unlike slot machines, bingo is a social activity. It is often a way for family, friends, neighbors, or colleagues to spend time together, and have fun. While bingo halls clearly if pedantically recite the numbers of the balls drawn, neighborhood bingo games are characterized by the inventive nicknames for numbers that people come up with. “James Bond”, for example, may refer to the numeral 7, as does “Heaven”.
Some History of Bingo
The Beginnings of Bingo
Bingo is a game in which players match randomly chosen numbers to those located on electronically printed 5 x 5 matrices known as “Bingo cards.” The first person who successfully matches the drawn numbers with the designated pattern wins the game and yells “Bingo!” to inform others of the win. In some countries, the game is utilized to allow gambling.
A similar game known as housie is popular in New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom. The main difference lies on the layout of the ticket and calling.
Did you know that the game of Bingo derived its name from the lowly bean? A game known as Beano was being played at country fairs across North America. Number discs pulled from a box of cigars by a yeller and players puts a mark on their cards with beans, shouting “Beano” if they win.
The game of bingo traced its roots to an Italian lottery known as “Lo Giuoco del Lotto D’ Italia,” in 1530. To this day, it is still played in Italy during Saturdays. During the late 1770s, it traveled to France where it was known as “Le Lotto,” a game played by the wealthy and intellectual people of France. During the 1800s, a version of bingo was used by the Germans to teach math, spelling and history.
In 1929, it spread to North America where it was known by its original name of “beano”. Edwin S. Lowe, a New York toy salesman, was credited for christening a new name for Beano. While making a visit to a carnival, he saw a woman commit mispronounce “Beano!” and instead shouted “Bingo.” Motivated, Lowe introduced and spread his new game, “Bingo.” Columbia University math professor Carl Leffler assisted Lowe in increasing possible combinations in the bingo cards. 6,000 various bingo cards were devised by Leffler by 1930. (It was believed that Leffler became insane afterwards.)
A Catholic priest from the state of Pennsylvania came to Lowe introducing the idea of using the game of bingo to raise much needed funds for the church. The game became very popular when churches did indeed start to utilize the game of bingo.
Since 1934, about 10,000 games of bingo are being played weekly, and to date more than $90 million dollars are exhausted on bingo each and every week in North America alone.
