Much has been reported in the press recently regarding the bingo industry being hurt as a result of the cigarette ban in Britain. Things have become so awful that in Scotland the Bingo industry has asked for huge aid to assist in keeping the industry from going bankrupt. But can the online version of this traditional game offer a salvation, or will it in no way compare to its real life peer?
Bingo has been an classic game normally played by the "blue rinse" generation. However the game of late had experienced a recent comeback in popularity with younger people opting to go to the bingo parlours in place of the discos on a Saturday night. This is all about to be destroyed with the introduction of the anti cigarette law around UK.
Players will no longer be allowed to smoke whilst dabbing numbers. Beginning in the summer of 2007 every public place will not be permitted to allow cigarettes in their locations and this includes Bingo halls, which are possibly the most common locations where players enjoy smoking.
The results of the smoking ban can already be felt in Scotland where cigarettes are already barred in the bingo parlors. Players have dropped and the industry is beyond a doubt fighting for its life. But where did all the players go? Certainly they have not deserted this established game?
The answer is on the web. Players realize that they can play bingo in front of their computer whilst enjoying a beer and fag and still enjoy big cash rewards. This is a recent phenomenon and has happened almost perfectly with the ban on smoking.
Of course playing on the web is unlikely to replace the collective portion of heading down to the bingo parlor, but for a group of people the governing edicts have left many bingo players with little alternative.