On to France

Word spread around Europe of Italy's popular lottery game. In the 1770's, France became aware of this trend and started their own version of the game.

The game was referred to as "Le Lotto" in France and was often played by the wealthy. The game changed a bit; the card used for the game was divided into three horizontal rows and nine vertical rows. Each row had blank squares and numbered squares picked randomly. The vertical rows held numbers from one to 10 in the first row, 11 to 20 in the second and so on, much like we have today.

A caller would pull chips that were marked with numbers and players would cover the number on his card with a chip should it be called out.

Sound familiar?