Much has been written in the press recently concerning the bingo industry struggling as a result of the anti cigarette law in the United Kingdom. Conditions have become so awful that in Scotland the Bingo industry has called for huge aid to assist in keeping the businesses from going bankrupt. However can the online variation of this classic game provide a reprieve, or might it never compare to its bricks and mortar kin?
Bingo has been an established game normally played by the "blue haired" generation. Although the game recently had undergone a recent comeback in acceptance with younger people opting to visit the bingo halls in place of the clubs on a weekend. This is all about to be destroyed with the enforcement of the anti smoking law across United Kingdom.
Players will no longer be able to smoke whilst marking numbers. Beginning in the summer of ‘07 every public location will no longer be permitted to allow cigarettes in their venues and this includes Bingo parlours, which are possibly the most favorite places where folks like to puff on cigarettes.
The effects of the smoking ban can already be felt in Scotland where smoking is already not allowed in the bingo halls. Numbers have plummeted and the industry is literally struggling for its life. But where have all the players gone? Of course they haven’t deserted this classic game?
The answer is on the net. Players realise that they can play bingo in front of their computer while enjoying a drink and cigarette and in the end, have a chance at monstrous prizes. This is a recent phenomenon and has timed itself bordering on perfect with the anti cigarette law.
Of course wagering on online is unlikely to replace the social part of going down to the bingo hall, but for a demographic of people the governing edicts have left a lot of bingo players with little option.