An abundance has been written in the press recently concerning the bingo industry being hurt as a consequence of the smoking ban in Britain. Conditions have become so awful that in Scotland the Bingo industry has requested massive aid to help keep the industry from going bankrupt. However will the internet adaptation of this classic game offer a lifeline, or will it not compare to its bricks and mortar equivalent?
Bingo has been an established game historically enjoyed by the "blue haired" generation. However the game lately had seen a recent return in popularity with younger men and women opting to go to the bingo parlors in place of the discos on a weekend. This is all about to change with the enforcement of the cigarette ban across United Kingdom.
Players will no longer be able to smoke at the same time dabbing numbers. From the summer of 2007 all public places will no longer be permitted to allow cigarettes in their buildings and this includes Bingo halls, one of the most common places where people like to puff on cigarettes.
The outcome of the anti cigarette law can already be looked at in Scotland where smoking is already not allowed in the bingo halls. Numbers have dropped and the business is beyond a doubt fighting for its life. But where have the players gone? Of course they haven’t abandoned this ancient game?
The answer is on the net. People realize that they can wager on bingo from their computer whilst enjoying a beverage and smoke and in the end, enjoy huge prizes. This is a recent phenomenon and has timed itself just about perfectly with the anti smoking law.
Of course gambling on on the web is unlikely to replace the collective portion of heading down to the bingo hall, but for a group of people the governing edicts have left many bingo players with little alternative.