Bingo

       Versions of Bingo have been played around the world since the year 1530. The game was first recorded as an Italian gamed called “Lo Giuoco del Lotto d’Italia,” meaning an Italian lotto. France, in the eighteenth century, added playing cards, tokens and verbal commands to their version of the game. By the nineteenth century, Germany had taken the game to use as an educational tool to teach children to spell and use basic math. In the 1920’s Hugh J. Ward introduced modern bingo to America in the Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania areas through traveling carnivals. He later went on to copyright the word “bingo” and publish an official rule book in 1933. Around Atlanta in late 1929, Edwin Lowe took what he learned of the game to New York where he taught his friends to play. They used bean markers, rubber stamps and cardboard game pieces just has Ward had. Lowe later commercialized the game by selling two versions, a 12-card set for $1.00 and a 24-card set for $2.00. By the 1940’s Bingo was being played throughout America.


      Bingo is usually played on a 5x5 cardboard game piece with the letters BINGO printed across the five vertical columns. Each column spans a specific number of letters and the center space is usually marked “free.” The numbers called out are randomly drawn and a bean or similar marker is used to cover the corresponding number on the game board. A bingo happens in various ways depending on the individual game. Some games require only one number to be matched while others require an entire board to be covered.

      The Garland County Library offers its own version of bingo. “Bingo for Books” is hosted library employee Amber Thomas. Amber has her own set of rules and a variety of prizes. One round of bingo goes on until three different people have won a book from the prize cart or a $5 gift card to Books-A-Million. Special bingo is won when a specific pattern chosen by the caller is covered. The prize for a special bingo is a $25 gift card to Books-A-Million. Books from the prize card include new releases from authors such as: Danielle Steel, Tami Hoag, David Baldacci, Ken Follett, James Patterson, Jodi Picoult, Stephenie Meyer, Khaled Hosseini and many others.

Register now for Bingo for Books held January 9th, from 2:00 to 3:30.