An abundance has been reported in the press recently concerning the bingo industry being hurt as a consequence of the smoking ban in England. Conditions have become so bad that in Scotland the Bingo industry has requested big tax cuts to help keep the industry from going bankrupt. But will the web adaptation of this quintessential game present a salvation, or will it in no way compare to its real life peer?
Bingo has been an age old game generally played by the "blue haired" generation. In any case the game of late had seen a recent increase in popularity with younger men and women opting to hit the bingo parlours rather than the discos on a Friday night. All this is about to get flipped on its head with the enacting of the smoking ban throughout Britain.
Players will no longer be able to smoke while marking numbers. From the summer of 2007 all public places will no longer be allowed to permit smoking in their venues and this includes Bingo parlors, which are possibly the most favored locations where folks like to smoke.
The outcome of the anti cigarette law can already be looked at in Scotland where cigarettes are already forbidden in the bingo halls. Players have plummeted and the business is beyond a doubt struggling for to stay alive. But where did all the players go? Surely they have not cast aside this ancient game?
The answer is on the internet. Gamblers realize that they can play bingo in front of their computer while enjoying a beverage and smoke and in the end, have a chance at monstrous cash rewards. This is a recent anomaly and has timed itself bordering on perfect with the anti smoking law.
Of course betting on on the internet could never replace the social part of going over to the bingo parlour, but for a demographic of people the law has left a number of bingo enthusiasts with no alternative.