In 1996, Bingham won both the English Amateur Championship and the World Amateur Championship. The following season, he reached the final of the 1997 World Amateur Championship, but lost in a to Marco Fu. In 1999, he played professionally on the World Snooker Tour and reached the quarter-final stage of the Welsh Open, defeating the world champion John Higgins along the way, and later in the season defeated defending champion Stephen Hendry 10–7 in the first round of the 2000 World Championship, whilst ranked 97th in the world. He was then defeated by Jimmy White in the second round. Two years later he qualified for the tournament again in 2002 by beating Nigel Bond in the final qualifying round. Bingham played Ken Doherty in the first round, and had an attempt at a maximum break, but missed the final . The break would have been worth £167,000. He went on to lose the match 8–10.