In the United States and Canada, bingo is a game of chance in which each player matches the numbers printed in different arrangements on cards.

The game host (known as a caller) draws balls at random, marking the selected numbers with tiles.

When a player finds that the selected numbers are arranged on their card in a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal line, they call out "Bingo!"

After a winner is declared, the players clear their number cards of the tiles and the game host begins a new round of play.

Since its invention in 1929, modern bingo has evolved into multiple variations, with each jurisdiction's gambling laws regulating how the game is played.

In the nineteenth century, a game like this was widely played in Germany to teach children spelling, animal names, and the multiplication table.

While at a traveling carnival near Atlanta in December 1929, the toy merchandiser saw people eagerly playing a game called "Beano", following Ward's rules, with dried beans, a rubber stamp, and cardboard sheets.

There are claims that one of Lowe's friends[3] was so excited to have won that she yelled out "Bingo" instead of "Beano", or that the word echoes the sound of a bell.

The most common bingo cards are flat pieces of cardboard or disposable paper that contain 25 squares arranged in five vertical columns and five side-to-side rows.

With the expansion of computer technology in bingo, electronic random number generators (RNG) are now commonplace in most jurisdictions.

Bingo is often used as an instructional tool in American schools and in teaching English as a foreign language in many countries.

Typically, the numbers are replaced with beginning reader words, pictures, or unsolved math problems.

[citation needed] In Nevada, bingo is mainly offered by casinos catering to local gamblers, rather than the famous tourist resorts.

Some also offer a special progressive jackpot game that may link players from multiple bingo halls.

These devices are commonly called Class II machines, because the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act separated bingo, including electronic and mechanical aids, where players play against each other, from Class III slot machines, where players play against the house.

These technological aids are not defined by Arizona law or regulation, but one such electronic technological aid consists of a system which includes a network linking player interfaces to a number drawing device (ball-draw server) and an electronic substitute for a "live" cashier.