by Kate
13. December 2010 11:41
Bingo hit Britain and rapidly entrenched itself in local culture. The game seems to have come from Malta and was picked up by members of the Royal Navy in the early 1800’s. By the early 1900’s it was a common game in the Navy and Army, known as ‘tombola’ or ‘house’ respectively. Its popularity grew during WWI and was brought back to Britain after the war. A game called Housey-housey was played in the scrap yards of industrial areas that was similar to bingo. These games were popular amongst the young and were frequently broken up by the police but were never fully prosecuted fully by law.
In 1934, the Betting and Lotteries Act of 1934 permitted some versions of bingo but the regulation was still very restrictive, and not very strongly enforced by police. Bingo continued to become popular and by the late 1950’s it was clear that no matter how many anti-gambling laws were passed, the pastime would continue to thrive. Bingo grew commercially, in the black economy, in charitable games or as part of ‘organised entertainments’ at holiday clubs.
The Betting and Gaming Act of 1960 was designed to legitimise popular middle class games like bridge and twist. The government failed to see that commercial bingo clubs could be profitable and therefore didn’t close a loophole that allowed thousands of bingo clubs to thrive. There were now 14,324,081 members of commercial bingo clubs throughout Britain.
On the more sinister side of things was the running of a series of illegal gambling rackets like Jack Spot, Billy Hill and Albert Dimes in the 1950’s. There was also the Kray twins who were notorious for the running of the illicit gambling venue, The Wellington Way Club, that made huge profits.
By the time the 1960’s came along, betting shops and bingo had been legalised while casinos were still in a bit of a limbo legally. Plain clothed police officers would reportedly visit London casinos, some of whom would enjoy a game or two, and the casinos therefore had to change some of their rules to ‘accommodate’ the law. Some of the casinos would replace the zero on roulette wheels with an “R” to denote a re-spin but as soon as the policemen left the building, normal gambling would resume.
The late sixties and early seventies led to the regulation and taxation of casinos. Britain now had a firmly entrenched gambling culture that has continued to thrive ever since. Whether it is the glamour of land-based casinos, online casinos, the local bookmaker or the dog track, the British love to gamble.