A lot has been written in the papers recently regarding the bingo industry being hurt as a result of the cigarette ban in England. Things have become so poor that in Scotland the Bingo industry has called for huge tax breaks to assist in keeping the businesses from going bankrupt. However can the online variation of this classic game offer a salvation, or might it in no way compare to its land based peer?
Bingo is an established game normally played by the "blue rinse" generation. In any case the game recently had witnessed a recent return in acceptance with younger members of society opting to go to the bingo parlors in place of the discos on a Friday night. All this is about to be destroyed with the legislating of the smoking ban throughout United Kingdom.
No longer will enthusiasts be able to puff on cigarettes at the same time marking numbers. From the summer of ‘07 all public areas will not be permitted to allow cigarettes in their venues and this includes Bingo halls, which are possibly the most common areas where players enjoy smoking.
The effects of the smoking ban can already be observed in Scotland where smoking is already banned in the bingo parlours. Players have dropped and the industry is literally fighting for to stay alive. But where have all the players gone? Of course they haven’t forgotten this classic game?
The answer is online. Players are now realizing that they can participate in bingo in front of their computer at the same time enjoying a beer and cig and still enjoy monstrous cash rewards. This is a recent anomaly and has timed itself just about perfectly with the ban on cigarettes.
Of course betting on on the net can never replace the communal portion of going over to the bingo parlour, but for a group of men and women the law has left a number of bingo players with no alternative.