Much has been reported in the press just a while ago regarding the bingo industry being hurt as a result of the smoking ban in England. Conditions have grown so poor that in Scotland the Bingo industry has called for huge tax breaks to assist in keeping the industry from going bankrupt. However can the internet variation of this traditional game present a salvation, or will it not compare to its land based opposite?
Bingo has been an classic game generally played by the "blue rinse" generation. Although the game lately had undergone a recent return in appeal with younger men and women opting to visit the bingo parlours instead of the clubs on a Friday night. All this is about to change with the introduction of the anti cigarette law throughout UK.
Players will no longer be permitted to smoke while marking numbers. From the summer of ‘07 every public area will no longer be permitted to allow smoking in their venues and this includes Bingo halls, one of the most favorite places where people enjoy smoking.
The results of the smoking ban can already be observed in Scotland where smoking is already prohibited in the bingo halls. Players have plummeted and the business is beyond a doubt fighting for its life. But where did the players go? Certainly they haven’t given up on this age old game?
The answer is online. Gamblers realise that they can gamble on bingo in front of their computer while enjoying a beverage and cigarette and in the end, have a chance at huge cash rewards. This is a recent development and has happened just about perfectly with the ban on cigarettes.
Of course gambling on on the internet is unlikely to replace the social aspect of going down to the bingo parlor, but for a demographic of players the law has left a good many bingo enthusiasts with no alternative.