Experience Top-Quality Online Bingo

Its easy, sociable format, as well as its widespread popularity over the past few decades, can make it seem as though the game now enjoyed as online Bingo is an invention of the 20^th century. However, its history goes back much further.

The ancestor of the 90-ball and 75-ball Bingo games that you can play with us made its first appearance in Italy sometime around 1530. A game called Il Gioco del Lotto D’Italia became one of the most popular pastimes, and was eventually introduced to neighbouring France, where it was known as Le Lotto, in the 1770s. 

It was also introduced to Germany, where a new use was found for it. Instead of being played only by players hoping to win money, it also was popular as a history, mathematics, and spelling teaching tool. Thankfully, whether you play 90-ball Bingo games or others with us at JackpotCity, there is very little to learn, but there is a whole lot of fun to be had – fun, and opportunities to win real-money jackpots and prizes.

In the USA, the game you can play with us on computer and mobile device was known originally as Beano, because players used beans to mark their cards. The name was changed to its current form in the early 20^th century. The change happened only because a player called the wrong word when they had completed dabbing their ticket.

Edwin S. Lowe, a Polish immigrant to the USA, overhead the call, and thought the name sounded better than Beano. More than just having an ear for the sound of words, Lowe also had an eye for games. He must have done his marketing well, because approximately 10 000 games were being played every week by 1934. After hiring Carl Leffler, a mathematics professor from Columbia University, to produce different types of tickets, the New York-based salesman received the first ticket patent in 1942. He eventually sold his company for US$26 million in 1973, but not before he built the Tallyho Inn casino and hotel on the famous Las Vegas Strip.

In addition to being used as a fundraising avenue and as a social event for various community organisations, 75-ball online Bingo games and others have made some players unbelievably wealthy. One of those players was John Orchard, who, in 2012, won an eye-popping £5.9 million jackpot after buying a £0.30 card.