Much has been reported in the press not long ago concerning the bingo industry being hit as a result of the anti cigarette law in the United Kingdom. Things have grown so awful that in Scotland the Bingo industry has called for big tax breaks to assist in keeping the businesses from going bankrupt. However can the web adaptation of this classic game offer a reprieve, or will it never compare to its bricks and mortar equivalent?
Bingo has been an established game usually enjoyed by the "blue rinse" generation. However the game of late had seen a recent comeback in acceptance with younger men and women opting to go to the bingo halls in place of the discos on a Saturday night. All this is about to change with the enacting of the smoking ban all over United Kingdom.
No more will enthusiasts be allowed to puff on cigarettes while marking off their numbers. Starting in the summer of ‘07 every public area will not be allowed to permit smoking in their buildings and this includes Bingo parlors, which are possibly the most common places where many people like to smoke.
The outcome of the smoking ban can already be observed in Scotland where cigarettes are already barred in the bingo halls. Players have dropped and the business is literally fighting for to stay alive. But where did the players go? Obviously they haven’t forgotten this established game?
The answer is online. Gamblers realise that they can bet on bingo from their computer while enjoying a beverage and fag and still enjoy huge jackpots. This is a recent anomaly and has happened bordering on perfect with the anti cigarette law.
Of course gambling on on the web will never replace the social portion of going over to the bingo parlour, but for a group of people the governing edicts have left a number of bingo enthusiasts with no option.