The History of Bingo: From Italian Lotto to Online Bingo

Long before online reels and bingo halls, the game began as an Italian lottery called ‘Lo Giuoco del Lotto D’Italia’ around 1530, then spread through France and Germany before the USA gave it the name ‘bingo’ in the 1920s.

So no single person invented bingo, but the trail starts in 16th-century Italy.

Where Did Bingo Come From?

Whether it was called lotto, beano, keno, tombola, housey-housey or something else, bingo has been around for centuries. The earliest roots are usually traced to Italy in 1530, where “Lo Giuoco del Lotto D’Italia” was a popular lottery-style pastime.

From there, the game spread across Europe. Similar versions were played in France and Germany, but the French made a key change by introducing numbered cards arranged in horizontal and vertical rows, along with the concept of a line as a winning sequence.

By the 1880s, German educationalists had adapted the game for classrooms, using it to help children build spelling and number skills. The numbers still came from a tombola drum, but the format was already moving towards the bingo people recognise today.

How Bingo Reached Britain

Bingo’s British story starts well before the modern bingo hall. In the Elizabethan era, lotteries were usually for the wealthy, while Tudor ale houses gave lower-income players a chance to try simple wagers. By the early 1700s, British women were gathering to gamble for low stakes and relatively high prizes.

Another influence came from the Royal Navy, where a tombola game was legalised on ships from around 1880. Around 20 years later, at the turn of the century, British Army soldiers were playing a rudimentary version known as “house”.

The game also had a place in churches and charities, where it was used to raise funds and was often referred to as tombola rather than bingo. Through the First World War and beyond, that social and fundraising role helped the game take root in Britain.

The Gaming Act of 1968 changed the landscape. By largely restricting gaming to public places, it created room for clubs to host public bingo games with generous cash prizes, and that pushed the game into a new phase of popularity.

The Rise of UK Bingo Halls

The 1960s boom led to the establishment of dedicated commercial bingo halls in towns and cities across the UK. Playing bingo in a large hall became an affordable night out, especially once entertainment companies started linking jackpots on a regional basis.

The hall experience mattered as much as the game itself. Bingo had become a spectacle, with colourful machines drawing the numbers and callers who turned the bingo calls into a performance. Players could sit, drink, and chat throughout the evening, and that social dimension gave bingo a loyalty that many games never managed.

Bingo Goes Online

Online bingo arrived in the early 2000s, when Microgaming and other software companies built platforms based on UK live bingo formats. Those sites were fully licensed and soon grew into casino-style hubs offering slot games and new bingo variants alongside the classic format.

Today, online bingo retains the same easy appeal that helped the game endure for centuries. Learning how to play bingo takes only a few minutes, access is quick, and the format still works whether you’re in a room full of people or playing from home. William Hill offers a range of online bingo titles, including Rainbow Riches, Age of Gods, Party Bingo and Deal or No Deal bingo.

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Bingo History Timeline

• 1530 – Italy’s “Lo Giuoco del Lotto D’Italia” is among the earliest documented origins of bingo.
• 1880s – German educationalists turn the game into a classroom tool for spelling and number skills.
• 1920s – The USA secures the word “bingo” and develops 6,000 unique card combinations.
• 1940s – Bingo grows in Britain through the Second World War and the years after it.
• 1968 – The Gaming Act opens the door for public bingo clubs with large cash prizes.
• 2000s – Online bingo platforms bring the game into the digital age.

Bingo History FAQs

Who invented bingo?

Bingo is most often associated with Italy, where “Lo Giuoco del Lotto D’Italia” was played around 1530. France and Germany helped shape the format later, and the USA gave the game its modern name in the 1920s. So there’s no single inventor, but Italy is the clearest starting point.

When did bingo become popular in the UK?

Bingo began to build momentum in Britain throughout the 1940s, with the game spreading during wartime and the post-war years. Its biggest lift came after the Gaming Act of 1968, which helped public bingo clubs grow quickly and made the game a familiar night out for people across the UK.