An abundance has been talked in the papers recently concerning the bingo industry being hit as a result of the anti smoking law in England. Things have become so poor that in Scotland the Bingo industry has demanded huge tax cuts to help keep the businesses afloat. But does the online variation of this quintessential game provide a lifeline, or might it in no way compare to its land based opposite?
Bingo is an ancient game historically played by the "blue haired" generation. For all that the game lately had seen a recent comeback in acceptance with younger members of society deciding to visit the bingo halls in place of the bars on a Saturday night. All this is about to be reversed with the enforcement of the smoking ban throughout UK.
Players will no longer be able to puff on cigarettes while marking numbers. Starting in the summer of ‘07 every public location will not be allowed to permit cigarettes in their locations and this includes Bingo halls, which are possibly the most common places where people like to smoke.
The effects of the smoking ban can already be looked at in Scotland where smoking is already forbidden in the bingo parlors. Players have plunged and the business is literally struggling for to stay alive. But where did all the players go? Surely they have not abandoned this ancient game?
The answer is on the internet. Players realise that they can enjoy bingo from their computer whilst enjoying a beer and fag and still enjoy big prizes. This is a recent development and has timed itself just about perfectly with the ban on smoking.
Of course playing online can never replace the communal part of heading over to the bingo parlour, but for a demographic of people the rules have left a good many bingo players with little alternative.