Where does bingo come from? How many numbers are there? What are bingo calls?

Originally, it was called “Beano” because players would mark their cards with beans as the dealer selected discs from a cigar box. The first player to mark off a straight line and shout “beano” won a teddy bear.

Why is it called bingo?

Edwin S Lowe, a toy manufacturer from Long Island, stumbled upon the game and loved it. He took it back to New York and created his own beano cards to play with friends.

They loved it as much as he did. However, in the excitement of winning, one friend jumped up and accidentally cried “bingo” rather than “beano”. Bingo must have had a nicer ring to it, as that’s the name that stuck.

By 1934, there were an estimated 10,000 games being played every week.

How many numbers are there?

The most common form of bingo in the UK uses 90 balls (meanwhile in the US, they prefer a faster version that uses 75 balls).

There are a number of different games you can play with Sun Bingo:

• 90-ball bingo
• 80-ball bingo
• 75-ball bingo
• 50-ball bingo
• 40-ball bingo
• 36-ball bingo

Why do the ball calls have nicknames?

While the US was developing bingo, the Brits were busy developing “Housey-Housey”. Games of chance had been growing in popularity since the Elizabethan era, many illegal games were running alongside the state-approved games.

It’s reported that during World War One, soldiers started playing housey-housey in the trenches to curb boredom. The game works very similarly to bingo, probably named from the bingo call “full house”.

After the war, the soldiers kept playing the game in Britain; it was a hit with both men (who were now mostly all ex-servicemen) and women. South East London became a housey-housey hub, which why many of the nicknames derive from Cockney rhyming slang.

WHAT ARE THE RULES OF ONLINE BINGO? HOW LONG DO GAMES LAST? FIND OUT HERE   

Every bingo number has a nickname. Their purpose is to precisely identify the numbers, especially as the first games were all played in large bingo halls. You can’t claim that you heard 44 if the announcer used the unique nickname for 54!

As a bingo game plays out, the caller will announce the ball numbers that appear, along with their nickname. Sometimes, the players will shout back to the caller.

While lots of the calls come from rhyming slang, some refer to an age, a song or a film.

Traditional bingo calls

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Unusual ball calls

1. Kelly's Eye
This is supposedly a reference to Ned Kelly, a one-eyed Australian folklore hero. However, it has also been said to come from military slang.

2. One Little Duck
This is based on the shape of the “2” resembling a duck with a long, curved neck. That’s why “22” is two little ducks.

6. Tom Mix
Tom Mix was the star in many of the early American Western films. He appeared in 291 films overall.