A lot has been reported in the press just a while ago regarding the bingo industry being hurt because of the cigarette ban in Britain. Things have become so poor that in Scotland the Bingo industry has called for huge aid to assist in keeping the businesses afloat. However can the web variation of this traditional game offer a salvation, or will it never compare to its land based relative?
Bingo is an classic game normally played by the "blue rinse" generation. However the game recently had seen a recent comeback in appeal with younger men and women opting to hit the bingo parlors in place of the clubs on a Saturday night. This is all about to change with the enacting of the cigarette ban throughout Britain.
Players will no longer be able to puff on cigarettes while dabbing numbers. Beginning in the summer of 2007 all public locations will no longer be permitted to allow smoking in their venues and this includes Bingo halls, one of the most favored areas where people like to smoke.
The outcome of the anti cigarette law can already be looked at in Scotland where cigarettes are already banned in the bingo halls. Profits have dropped and the business is literally struggling for its life. But where have all the players gone? Obviously they have not abandoned this age old game?
The answer is on the net. Gamblers realise that they can bet on bingo using their computer while enjoying a beverage and cigarette and still enjoy monstrous prizes. This is a recent anomaly and has happened just about perfectly with the anti smoking law.
Of course playing on the internet is unlikely to replace the communal part of heading down to the bingo hall, but for a demographic of people the rules have left a lot of bingo players with no choice.