Much has been talked in the papers not long ago about the bingo industry struggling as a consequence of the cigarette ban in England. Conditions have grown so awful that in Scotland the Bingo industry has requested big aid to help keep the businesses afloat. However can the web version of this traditional game present a reprieve, or might it never compare to its real life opposite?
Bingo has been an familiar game historically enjoyed by the "blue haired" generation. However the game of late had undergone a recent resurgence in acceptance with younger people deciding to go to the bingo halls in place of the bars on a Friday night. This is all about to be reversed with the legislating of the smoking ban throughout UK.
Players will no longer be allowed to smoke whilst marking numbers. Beginning in the summer of ‘07 every public place will not be permitted to allow cigarettes in their locations and this includes Bingo parlors, one of the most common locations where many people enjoy smoking.
The effects of the anti cigarette law can already be looked at in Scotland where cigarettes are already prohibited in the bingo parlours. Numbers have dropped and the industry is absolutely struggling for to stay alive. But where have all the players gone? Certainly they haven’t deserted this familiar game?
The answer is on the internet. Players realise that they can play bingo in front of their computer while enjoying a beer and cigarette and still have a chance at monstrous cash rewards. This is a recent phenomenon and has happened bordering on perfect with the ban on smoking.
Of course wagering on on the net can never replace the social part of going down to the bingo parlour, but for a group of men and women the law has left a number of bingo enthusiasts with little choice.