An abundance has been written in the papers just a while ago regarding the bingo industry singing the blues as a consequence of the anti smoking law in Britain. Things have become so bad that in Scotland the Bingo industry has asked for massive aid to assist in keeping the businesses afloat. But can the internet adaptation of this traditional game present a reprieve, or will it in no way compare to its real life equivalent?
Bingo is an enduring game usually enjoyed by the "blue haired" generation. Although the game recently had undergone a recent comeback in acceptance with younger men and women deciding to visit the bingo halls rather than the bars on a Friday night. All this is about to change with the introduction of the anti smoking law throughout United Kingdom.
Players will no longer be able to smoke while dabbing numbers. From the summer of ‘07 all public places will no longer be permitted to allow cigarettes in their buildings and this includes Bingo parlors, one of the most favorite areas where people like to smoke.
The effects of the anti cigarette law can already be looked at in Scotland where cigarettes are already forbidden in the bingo parlors. Players have plummeted and the business is literally struggling for to stay alive. But where have the players gone? Surely they haven’t given up on this established game?
The answer is online. Players know that they can enjoy bingo in front of their computer at the same time enjoying a drink and smoke and in the end, have a chance at big prizes. This is a recent phenomenon and has timed itself almost perfectly with the anti cigarette law.
Of course betting on on the web will never replace the communal part of heading over to the bingo hall, but for a demographic of men and women the law has left a number of bingo players with little alternative.