A lot has been written in the press not long ago regarding the bingo industry being hurt as a consequence of the anti smoking law in the UK. Conditions have become so poor that in Scotland the Bingo industry has asked for massive tax breaks to assist in keeping the businesses from going bankrupt. However can the web version of this traditional game present a escape, or will it never compare to its land based equivalent?
Bingo is an age old game normally played by the "blue haired" generation. In any case the game of late had undergone a recent comeback in acceptance with younger people deciding to go to the bingo parlors rather than the bars on a weekend. This is all about to get flipped on its head with the introduction of the anti smoking law across Britain.
Players will no longer be allowed to smoke whilst marking off their numbers. Starting in the summer of ‘07 every public place will not be allowed to permit smoking in their buildings and this includes Bingo parlours, one of the most common locations where players like to smoke.
The outcome of the anti smoking law can already be observed in Scotland where cigarettes are already not permitted in the bingo parlours. Numbers have plunged and the business is literally struggling for its life. But where have all the players gone? Of course they have not given up on this classic game?
The answer is on the web. Players know that they can bet on bingo in front of their computer whilst enjoying a cocktail and smoke and in the end, enjoy huge cash rewards. This is a recent phenomenon and has timed itself bordering on perfect with the ban on cigarettes.
Of course betting on on the web could never replace the social part of going down to the bingo parlor, but for a demographic of people the law has left a good many bingo enthusiasts with little choice.