Much has been talked in the papers not long ago regarding the bingo industry being hurt as a result of the anti cigarette law in the UK. Things have grown so poor that in Scotland the Bingo industry has demanded huge tax cuts to assist in keeping the industry alive. However will the net adaptation of this classic game offer a salvation, or will it never compare to its land based peer?
Bingo has been an ancient game generally played by the "blue haired" generation. In any case the game of late had witnessed a recent comeback in acceptance with younger men and women opting to hit the bingo parlors in place of the clubs on a Friday night. All this is about to be destroyed with the introduction of the cigarette ban around England and Wales.
Players will no longer be able to smoke while marking off their numbers. Beginning in the summer of ‘07 all public places will no longer be permitted to allow cigarettes in their buildings and this includes Bingo parlours, one of the most favorite locations where people enjoy smoking.
The results of the cigarette ban can already be seen in Scotland where smoking is already barred in the bingo parlors. Players have plummeted and the industry is literally struggling for to stay alive. But where did the players go? Certainly they haven’t cast aside this ancient game?
The answer is online. Players realise that they can enjoy bingo from their computer whilst enjoying a drink and cig and still enjoy huge prizes. This is a recent anomaly and has timed itself almost perfectly with the ban on smoking.
Of course betting on on the web is unlikely to replace the communal portion of going down to the bingo parlor, but for a demographic of people the law has left a good many bingo enthusiasts with little option.