Bingo Trivia

Attention Bingo enthusiasts! Just when you thought you knew everything there was to know about Bingo, here are a few facts we’re sure you’ll love.

  • The largest Bingo game ever played included 60 000 players, with a further 100 000 having to be turned away.
  • 30 percent of Bingo players are under the age of 35.
  • Mathematically, there are 1,474,200 unique Bingo card variations.
  • In America alone, a staggering $90 million is spent on Bingo cards a week.
  • Fun Bingo trivia: In Australia, Bingo is known as ‘Housie’.
  • The number one reason for playing Bingo is enjoyment. Winning money rates as 5th.
  • Research shows that women tend to be the predominant players in the game. 15 percent say they play for socialising and companionship.
  • University of Columbia mathematics professor Carl Leffler is reported to have gone insane after coming up with 6 000 Bingo cards with non-repeating number groups.
  • The first Bingo game held to raise money was played at a church in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
  • Bingo was first played in its modern form in 1930, and by 1933 there were an estimated 10 000 Bingo games a week being held across the United States.
  • Bingo clubs employ thousands of people worldwide, including Bingo callers, Bingo spotters, Bingo cashiers and Bingo operators, not to mention cleaning staff, accountants and food and beverage vendors.
  • The average Bingo game lasts between three and six minutes. The average British game takes between four and four-and-a-half minutes.
  • The average time to check a winning claim is 30 seconds. Players are often members of more than one club.
  • Many celebrities enjoy Bingo, including Elle MacPherson, Mariah Carey, Bianca and Jade Jagger.
  • In 2004 more people attended Bingo than football matches in both UK leagues. In the US, more people played Bingo than attended NFL games.
  • Bingo is one of the biggest contributors to charities and social organisations in Europe and North America, and is a key source of community fundraising.
  • 95 percent of Bingo players have won a game at least once.
  • More fun Bingo trivia: According to one calculation, there are approximately 552,446,474,061,128,648,601,600,00 (five hundred fifty two septillion, four hundred forty six sextillion, four hundred seventy four quintillion, sixty one quadrillion, one hundred twenty eight trillion, six hundred forty eight billion, six hundred one million, six hundred thousand) possible arrangements of the numbers on a Bingo card.
  • Bingo received the second highest number of votes to be the national past time in Belgium.