A lot has been written in the papers recently concerning the bingo industry being hurt because of the anti cigarette law in Britain. Conditions have become so awful that in Scotland the Bingo industry has demanded massive aid to help keep the businesses from going bankrupt. However does the web adaptation of this quintessential game offer a reprieve, or will it never compare to its land based opposite?
Bingo has been an established game historically played by the "blue rinse" generation. Although the game recently had undergone a recent resurgence in appeal with younger people deciding to visit the bingo parlours instead of the clubs on a Friday night. All this is about to change with the enforcement of the anti smoking law throughout Britain.
Players will no longer be able to smoke at the same time dabbing numbers. Beginning in the summer of ‘07 all public locations will no longer be allowed to permit cigarettes in their locations and this includes Bingo parlors, one of the most favored places where many people like to puff on cigarettes.
The effects of the anti cigarette law can already be seen in Scotland where smoking is already banned in the bingo parlors. Numbers have plummeted and the industry is beyond a doubt struggling for to stay alive. But where have all the players gone? Of course they haven’t deserted this ancient game?
The answer is on the web. Players are now realizing that they can gamble on bingo in front of their computer whilst enjoying a drink and fag and in the end, have a chance at huge prizes. This is a recent phenomenon and has timed itself almost perfectly with the ban on cigarettes.
Of course gambling on on the internet is unlikely to replace the communal aspect of heading down to the bingo parlour, but for a demographic of men and women the law has left many bingo enthusiasts with little alternative.