The game's history can be traced back to 1530, to an Italian lottery called "Lo Giuoco del Lotto D'Italia," which is still played every Saturday in Italy. From Italy the game was introduced to France in the late 1770s, where it was called "Le Lotto", a game played among wealthy Frenchmen. The Germans also played a version of the game in the 1800s, but they used it as a child's game to help students learn math, spelling and history.

When the game reached North America in 1929, it became known as "beano". It was first played at a carnival near Atlanta, Georgia. New York toy salesman Edwin S. Lowe renamed it "bingo" after he overheard someone accidentally yell "bingo" instead of "beano". He hired a Columbia University math professor, Carl Leffler, to help him increase the number of combinations in bingo cards. By 1930, Leffler had invented 6,000 different bingo cards. [It is said that Leffler then went insane.]

A Catholic priest from Pennsylvania approached Lowe about using bingo as a means of raising church funds. When bingo started being played in churches it became increasingly popular. By 1934, an estimated 10,000 bingo games were played weekly, and today more than $90 million dollars are spent on bingo each week in North America alone.

The rules of bingo are quite simple. A caller pulls numbers, one through 75. You will have a certain number of seconds to find the number on your bingo cards. Bingo cards these days have three, six, or nine cards each. A random selection of numbers are on each card. The "B" column contains one - 15, "I" 16 - 30, "N" 31 - 45 (with a free space in the center), "G" 46 - 59, and "O" 60 - 75. When you find a matching number on your card, you mark it. If you are the first to fill the numbers in a pattern according to the rules of the particular game, then you win money!

Blood, Sweat, and Tears. Fill a single bingo card with three bingos (corners do not count)

Six Pack. Fill to make a pattern of six numbers, two rows of three each, horizontal or vertical. Sometimes you can use the free space, sometimes not.

Nine pack. Fill a square of nine numbers.

Eight states. Fill the numbers surrounding the free space.

Postage stamps. Fill two squares of four numbers on a single card, each in a corner of your card.

Kite and Tail. Fill a diagonal plus one of the corners running through the diagonal, to make what looks like a kite.

Top and bottom. Fill the top row and bottom row.

Dotted picture frame. Fill every other space around the card.

Here are just a few tips for playing bingo online:

#1. Buy the max amount of bingo cards. We can't stress this enough. The more cards you have, the better your chances of winning, as many players do not buy the max.

#2. Actaully, don't buy the max amount of cards. Buy the max bingo cards you can while still getting free bonus bingo cards. If the bonus is buy 5 cards and get 3 free, and max cards are 135, buy 85 cards to get exactly 136 or 80 to get 128.

#3. Get bonuses as much as you can. Bingo bonuses help give you an advantage in the game. You can get up to $120 on every bonus at Mapau Bingo, so make to deposit the max each time.