You might think that you know all there is to know about bingo, but that’s not the case! Here are some lesser known facts about the game that might just blow your mind.

Bingo Isn’t British!

We think of bingo as a British past time, right? Wrong! The game actually originated in Italy, which will come as a surprise to all of the patriotic bingo fans out there. It was thought to have come from a game called Lo Guioco del Lotto D’Italia and this goes as far back as the 1500s. It made its way across Europe before being adopted in the UK, though it’s been through a few changes since then.

It’s Moving Online

With the introduction of computer gaming, attendance in bingo halls took a huge dip. Now that more players are also using their smartphones to play, this is continuing to plummet. As with almost every industry, there are more players online than there are in person. Part of this can be attributed to the Smoking Ban, as this was part of the social experience of playing bingo in halls for many people.

This was at one point a billion pound industry but now the focus has shifted to online bingo options. There are so many of them open to UK players, if you’re feeling stuck then you can browse uk bingo sites with jackpotjanebingo, a popular review site.

Bingo Calling is an Art

You may think of bingo callers as outdated but it takes real skill to be able to call a game. Knowing the lingo and being able to process numbers quickly are just the fundamentals! It’s also up to a caller to make the game fun and lively, as well as injecting a bit of atmosphere into the game.

Celebrity bingo callers have also been used in the past to give the game a bit of star power. These include the likes of be streamed into online rooms too, so players at home get the benefit of seeing a real person calling.

The Lingo is in Renaissance

Bingo lingo is what’s used when a caller shouts the numbers, as there’s a phrase to go along with each of them. This might be a rhyme or a pop culture reference, as this allows the player to distinguish the number even if it’s noisy in the hall. These are being revamped in a move to get younger people into the game.

Instead of relying on Downing Street (10) and Doctor’s Orders (9), revolutionaries want to change to the likes of Jimmy Choos (22) and J-Lo’s Bum (71). There are loads of directories with these terms in them online, so aspiring bingo players can study up before they start to play.

These unexpected facts blew our socks off when we found them out so we hope you learned something from them too, you might just be heading off to play now.