A lot has been written in the press just a while ago concerning the bingo industry being hurt as a consequence of the smoking ban in the United Kingdom. Conditions have become so poor that in Scotland the Bingo industry has asked for huge tax breaks to help keep the businesses afloat. However does the web adaptation of this traditional game provide a lifeline, or might it in no way compare to its bricks and mortar relative?
Bingo has been an enduring game usually enjoyed by the "blue haired" generation. For all that the game of late had experienced a recent resurgence in appeal with younger men and women opting to hit the bingo halls instead of the bars on a Saturday night. All this is about to get flipped on its head with the legislating of the cigarette ban throughout UK.
Players will no longer be allowed to smoke at the same time marking off their numbers. Starting in the summer of 2007 every public place will not be permitted to allow smoking in their buildings and this includes Bingo parlours, one of the most common areas where folks like to puff on cigarettes.
The results of the cigarette ban can already be looked at in Scotland where smoking is already prohibited in the bingo parlors. Numbers have plummeted and the business is absolutely struggling for its life. But where did all the players go? Surely they haven’t cast aside this familiar game?
The answer is online. Players know that they can bet on bingo using their computer at the same time enjoying a cocktail and smoke and in the end, have a chance at monstrous jackpots. This is a recent phenomenon and has happened just about perfectly with the anti cigarette law.
Of course wagering on online is unlikely to replace the communal part of going down to the bingo hall, but for a demographic of players the law has left a good many bingo enthusiasts with little alternative.