A lot has been stated in the press recently regarding the bingo industry struggling as a result of the smoking ban in the UK. Conditions have become so bad that in Scotland the Bingo industry has demanded big tax cuts to help keep the industry from going bankrupt. However will the net version of this quintessential game provide a lifeline, or will it in no way compare to its real life opposite?
Bingo has been an established game usually played by the "blue haired" generation. In any case the game lately had undergone a recent increase in acceptance with younger people deciding to go to the bingo halls in place of the discos on a Friday night. All this is about to change with the introduction of the anti smoking law throughout United Kingdom.
No more will players be allowed to puff on cigarettes whilst marking numbers. Starting in the summer of 2007 every public location will no longer be allowed to permit smoking in their venues and this includes Bingo parlors, which are possibly the most favored places where people like to puff on cigarettes.
The outcome of the smoking ban can already be looked at in Scotland where smoking is already barred in the bingo parlours. Players have dropped and the industry is literally fighting for to stay alive. But where have all the players gone? Surely they have not cast aside this classic game?
The answer is on the net. People realize that they can enjoy bingo from their computer whilst enjoying a cocktail and smoke and still enjoy huge cash rewards. This is a recent phenomenon and has happened bordering on perfect with the ban on smoking.
Of course betting on on the internet is unlikely to replace the communal portion of going over to the bingo parlor, but for a demographic of men and women the governing edicts have left a number of bingo players with little choice.