Bingo and Loteria are both games of chance that were invented decades ago and in the case of the Loteria in the 15th century, where its early form was conceived, and served only one purpose, a mission to entertain man, to while away one’s time. Loteria can be traced back to the Italians of the 15th century who with their cultural inclinations and passion towards art created this form of a game mainly though for fundraising purposes to bail out the poor. The game has henceforth moved on to Mexico, the Americas and also Europe. It is now being addressed in general as a Mexican game of chance. Bingo too had its beginnings early, in about the early 1930’s where Americans took hold of it and used it as a sort of an educational tool.
Comparing Bingo and Loteria:
A lot of comparisons have been made between Loteria and Bingo over the years, some claim that the Americans got hold of the Loteria concept of card guessing and applied it in a similar manner by simply replacing the images with some numbers. There are several beliefs however but the simple truth of the matter is that Bingo and Loteria are conceptually similar games and differ only in the criteria that Bingo has different formation of cards than that is used in Loteria. First of all let us begin by discussing the way both the games are played. Starting with Loteria, the game is essentially begun with a deck of 54 cards or in some cases where the count does not matter, any amount the user wishes to use. It should also be observed that the card carries with it a unique name and number, where usually the number is ignored during play. Once the cards are gathered, each player is given a set of cards arranged in a 4X4 fashion, in the order of rows and columns, termed as the table, thereby making it 16 cards altogether. The game is started with the help of a caller, who can be randomly designated. The caller has the set of 54 cards apart from the cards that the user has in the table, and he or she calls the images by name or number as the caller sees it on the card that he/she has randomly selected. Instead of reading the card name directly the user can also use some signs and hints that relate to the name on the card. The player starts by marking on his table, the names that have been called by the caller. The winner is decided by who reaches a squared sequence of marks either vertically horizontally or diagonally. Bingo on the other hand, uses numbers depicted on cards instead of images, and the other key difference is that the players are given a pre printed set of 5X5 cards and the markings are carried out by the player in a manner similar to Loteria with the help of the caller, and the winner announces his victory by shouting out the term “Bingo”, instead of shouting “Loteria”.
Thus the principal similarities of Loteria and Bingo have been clearly laid out.
