Bingo is one of the oldest games existing now. It began in Italy, being the first of its kind, which was played as a lottery. Its popularity, then after rose to great heights, that it gained momentum in larger parts of Europe including France and Germany. Its advent in UK was synchronous with its arrival in America. In UK it was ramified into two types according to the purpose it served. One was being played as a gamble and the other for charity. In UK, it was given several names like tambola, housey housey and lotto. All these were primitive versions of bingo being played today.
During the primordial stages of the game in UK, it was named Housey Housey, and was played in events organized by the Catholic Church, various social events etc. Its purpose was charity and all the money it generated, which was because it was played in lottery style, was used for noble causes and charity purposes. Raising funds seemed to be the prime objective of playing bingo in UK. It was played by the rich and privileged for leisure purposes and the funds raised was donated to the destitute and poor. This was from the year 1919 to 1960.
The development of the game was quite dormant during these years. 1960 can be called as a milestone in the development process of bingo. The Government of UK commercialized the game of bingo in 1960. After this bingo was more than just a game in UK. It started becoming more of a gambling event, and as a game that would satiate people’s greed for money.
The organizations that conducted the game started making it more and more commercial. It then became the greatest commercial success ever achieved by a game. UK then started an organization called the “UK BINGO” which catered to the needs of bingo players both online and in the clubs. This was the second step that UK took, which makes people now associate Bingo directly with UK. It not only made bingo popular world wide, but its online version further made bingo a well established game in the global community. The two of its kind namely the gamble bingo and charity bingo both are now extant, both are now happening in a magnified scale, with lot of money at stakes and a lot of people being involved.
The inception of the “UK BINGO” association proved to be a starting step fro the establishment of the national bingo association and the bingo association. These organizations unlike the UK bingo, work to accomplish charity and cause based tasks. They have contributed the funds raised to various purposes and have supported several causes.
These breakthroughs suggest that Bingo in UK has been and is, more than a game.UK has immensely contributed to the globalization of the game and has not only made its existence useful but also provided the world with a major source of entertainment. Bingo is now world renowned and every social event across the world are always succeeded by a game of Bingo. It would be completely right to say that the credit goes to UK and now Bingo is an unstated and undeclared national game of UK.
